Vatican: Audience of Pope Leo XIV with Gypsies, Sinti and Nomads

In the Paul VI Hall, Pope Leo XIV met this Saturday with the pilgrims of the Jubilee of Gypsies, Sinti and Nomads; whom he invited to be “protagonists of the ongoing change of era” in the midst of their presence “on the peripheries of the West.”

The Sinti are one of the gypsy populations in Europe, which preferably occupied regions of central Europe, Italy, France and part of Scandinavia.

“I make the invitation of my predecessors my own: be protagonists of the ongoing change of era, walking alongside other people of good will in the places where they are, overcoming mutual distrust, making known the beauty of their culture, sharing faith, prayer and the bread that is born from honest work,” the Pope said before the more than 4,000 pilgrims.

With the motto of the meeting, Hope is itinerantthe Holy Father noted that “we all feel compelled to take the path” thanks to the testimony of the Gypsy peoples: “Their firm faith, their unwavering hope only in God, the solid trust that does not give in to the difficulties of a life often on the margins of society.”

The Pope told the pilgrims that, although for almost a thousand years “they have been pilgrims and nomads” in very adverse contexts, and that “progressive” societies have “systematically rejected them, always marginalizing them” in many areas, their presence “in the peripheries of the West is, without a doubt, a sign that points to the elimination of many structures of sin, for the good and progress of humanity towards a more peaceful coexistence.” peaceful and just, in harmony with God, with creation and with others.”

The same societies that have marginalized and forced Gypsy people to be itinerant, Leo XIV continued, are those that have created “the greatest social injustices worldwide during the last century”: unprecedented economic crises, inequalities of all kinds and wars.

Recalling the words of Jesus: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” (Mt. 21, 42), the Pope noted that “we are increasingly strengthened by the conviction that the same values ​​that the poor defend with great dignity and pride are those to which we must all turn to change course.”

Thus, he asked the pilgrims to continue believing “in the saving beauty that their culture and their itinerant situation bring with them,” freeing themselves from “all temptation to possess, from all unjust attachment to things, to remain itinerant in the Spirit, poor in spirit and therefore blessed.”

“And may they move forward with dignity: the dignity of the family, the dignity of work, the dignity of earning their daily bread—this is what keeps them going—and the dignity of prayer. May the dignity of work and the dignity of prayer be their strength to tear down the walls of mistrust and fear,” Pope Leo said.

During the Audience, the Pope crowned an image of the Holy Virgin, Queen of the Gypsies, Sinti and Nomads; with the Child Jesus in her arms, which was given by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1965.

Finally, he conveyed his desire that in each diocese “adequate pastoral care dedicated to the Gypsy, Sinti and Walker communities be developed, for true integral human growth.”