Pope Leo XIV commemorated the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis of Assisi when he addressed thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square at the midday Angelus prayer on Sunday, Oct. 4.

“On the eighth centenary of his death, I wish to recall a laborer who worked with great fruitfulness in the Lord’s vineyard: St. Francis of Assisi, whom Jesus himself asked to repair his church,” the pope said. The Gospel read at Masses today spoke of the parable of the vineyard (Mt 21:33-46), and Pope Leo explained that “the vineyard to be cultivated with justice is the church, which we build up or damage through our choices.”

“Inspired by the crucified one, Francis first and foremost built his own life upon the foundation of Christ, sharing in his poverty, joy and sufferings, even to the point of receiving the mystical sign of the stigmata,” Pope Leo said. 

He described the saint of Assisi as “a man of fervent prayer, full of charity toward all,” and said that “he was an example to the first friars who shared his asceticism as an authentic condition for the reform of the church.”

“St. Francis repaired the church by virtue of his faith in the Lord Jesus, healing the rifts of discord through the witness of fraternal love,” he said.

St. Francis died at the Portiuncula in Assisi on Oct. 3, 1226, at the age of 45, as a deacon. By that time, he had founded a religious order of men, the Friars Minor, which had some 3,000 members, and had formed groups of devout lay men and women who today are known as the Third Order. He also supported St. Clare in founding a women’s order that is now known as the Poor Clares. Pope Gregory IX canonized him two years later, and his remains are now buried in the crypt of St. Francis in the lower church of the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

The Augustinian pope noted that “the charism of St. Francis continues to bear fruit even today, after eight centuries. This is attested to, not only by the great and vibrant Franciscan family but also by the many gifts that his spiritual legacy bestows upon the people of God.”

Today there are approximately 650,000 Franciscans in 110 countries worldwide, according to information provided by Neumann University, which identifies itself as a Catholic university in the Franciscan tradition. It reports that nearly 35,000 Franciscan friars belong to the First Order of Friars Minor, the First Order of Capuchin Franciscans, the First Order of Conventual Franciscans and the Third Order Regular. It notes that “the followers of St. Clare (Poor Clares) number about 60,000 cloistered religious women.” In addition, there are close to 155,000 Third Order Regular religious sisters and brothers, as well as 400,000 single and married women and men who follow the way of St. Francis as Secular Franciscans. 

“As we celebrate the Franciscan Jubilee Year, therefore, let us perseveringly ask for the gift of peace and sincerely commit ourselves to building harmony among peoples,” the pope said. 

Pope Leo expressed joy at the many initiatives that are being held to celebrate this eighth centenary of the saint’s death and said, “As we celebrate the Franciscan Jubilee Year, let us perseveringly ask for the gift of peace and sincerely commit ourselves to building harmony among peoples.”

He recalled that at Lourdes last Sunday he had invited everyone “to pray the rosary during the month of October with the special intention that wars may cease and peace may be built.” He said that “among the first to do so were the children,” referring to the fact that he had prayed with hundreds of them in the Vatican Gardens on Oct. 1.

He urged everyone to follow their example, “invoking the intercession of the Virgin Mary so that peoples may be freed from the scourge of war [and] in particular, let us pray for the Holy Land and for the innocent victims of violence.”

Pope Leo concluded by inviting people to pray for the heads of the Eastern Catholic churches and presidents of the bishops’ conferences worldwide who will be meeting at the Vatican later this week (Oct. 7-14) on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis’ post-synodal exhortation on “Love in the Family.”

“It will be a time of synodal discernment for identifying the steps to be taken in order to proclaim the Gospel today among families and the younger generations,” he said, and invited people to pray for this meeting and “the families who, with God’s help, are a sign of hope and an inestimable treasure for the church and for society.”

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.