ROME (OSV News): Pope Leo XIV made a surprise visit to the Benedictine Abbey of Monte Cassino July 20, where he prayed for peace at the tomb of St. Benedict.
Abbot Dom Luca Fallica said the visit was completely unexpected, with the community only informed that the pope was coming on the morning of his arrival at the abbey at 11.00am. Monks were asked to keep the news confidential until after the pope departed.
Inside the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Mary of the Assumption and St. Benedict the Abbot, Pope Leo had the chance to pray at the tomb of St. Benedict of Nursia, the patron saint of Europe who is considered the father of Western monasticism, and his sister, St. Scholastica.
According to the Holy See Press Office, the pope “paused to pray at the tomb of St. Benedict, entrusting to him his plea for peace in those regions of the world marked by bloodshed and conflict.”
Pope Leo also prayed the midday prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours together with the Benedictine community before sharing lunch with the monks.
During the nearly four-hour visit, the pope toured the abbey’s archive, library and museum, pausing at the section of the museum dedicated to the monastery’s destruction by Allied bombing during World War II.
Pilgrims who happened to be visiting Monte Cassino on the hot mid-July day received an unexpected papal blessing and greeting from the Holy Father before he departed about 2:45pm.
Located on a hill about halfway between Rome and Naples, the Abbey of Monte Cassino was the first monastery of the Benedictine order, founded by St. Benedict himself in 529AD. The Church celebrated St. Benedict’s feast day on July 11.
Benedict remained there until his death around 547. The monastery was sacked by the Lombards in 580 and reestablished in 718 before being sacked again by Saracen forces in 884 and later rebuilt.
The abbey was almost completely destroyed in 1944 during the Battle of Monte Cassino. Rebuilt after World War II with funding from the Italian government, it was rededicated by Pope St. Paul in 1964.
