Rome Newsroom, Jul 27, 2023 / 15:02 pm
When Father Ignacio Bello invited Pope Francis to join his group of young adults for their morning celebration of Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, he did not even expect to get a response, let alone a counteroffer.
The priest, a member of the Legionaries of Christ, was thus surprised to receive a handwritten letter from the pope himself inviting him and his group to the Holy Father’s Vatican residence on the morning of July 25.
“I was very moved because I never expected that,” Bello told CNA. “I sent the letter to a common mailbox. But when I sent the letter, I prayed to the Blessed Mother that she would deliver that letter to him.”
The group from Guadalajara, Mexico, was in Rome for the first part of a pilgrimage that will culminate in the international Catholic gathering known as World Youth Day, to take place in Lisbon, Portugal, at the start of August.