The pontiff signed the document on the altar of the Basilica of Assisi, in front of the tomb of Saint Francis who inspired the title and content. The Encyclical, which is dedicated, as the subtitle indicates, to "fraternity" and "social friendship", will be published tomorrow.
Assisi (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis signed his third encyclical Tutti Fratelli (All Brothers) on the altar of the Basilica of Assisi, in front of the tomb of Saint Francis, whose words inform the title and content of the document. The document is dedicated, as the subtitle indicates, to "fraternity" and "social friendship".
Pope Francis arrived in Assisi, his fourth visit to the city of the Poverello, in the early afternoon, in his first outing outside Rome following the lockdown. Before that, he made an unscheduled stop in the morning at the monastery of the Poor Clares of Spello, not far from Assisi, for a private visit. During his stay, he had lunch with the nuns.
In Assisi, Pope Francis celebrated Mass, without delivering a homily. About twenty friars took part in the service, together with some women religious, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino, and Cardinal Agostino Vallini, Pontifical Legate for the Basilicas of Saint Francis and Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi.
At the end of the celebration, at the altar, the Pope said: "I shall now sign the Encyclical that will be brought to the altar by Monsignor Paolo Braida, who is in charge of the translations and also of the Pope's speeches, in the First Section. He oversees everything and for this reason I wanted him to be present here today and bring me the Encyclical.
“Two translators came with him: Don Antonio, Portuguese translator; he translated from Spanish into Portuguese; and Don Cruz who is Spanish and supervised the other translations from the original Spanish.
“I am doing this as a token of gratitude to the entire First Section of the Secretariat of State who worked on the draft as well as the translations.”
The original title in Italian will remain as such, untranslated, in all the languages in which the document will be published, whose content will be made public tomorrow, feast day of Saint Francis. (FP)