STORY: Pope Leo said he came with “hunger for justice” at a lunch with vulnerable people on Saturday (July 11) at Borgo Laudato Si’, in the Pontifical Gardens of Castel Gandolfo.

Around 200 guests from the Diocese of Rome — including people living in poverty, refugees, migrants and others experiencing social hardship — took part in a special day at Borgo Laudato Si’, the Vatican’s ecological education centre inaugurated last September, and shared lunch with the Pope.

In an impromptu speech Pope Leo said that he was hungry for a Church “that truly knows how to open its doors” and that he hopes for a society where the causes of poverty and injustice can be eliminated.

The event is intended to inaugurate a tradition through which, each year, vulnerable people from a different diocese will be invited to spend a day immersed in the beauty of the Pontifical Gardens and enjoy the opportunity to meet the Pope.

Leo has been staying in Castel Gandolfo since last Sunday for a period of rest, marking a return to the traditional papal summer retreat in the hill town overlooking Lake Albano.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

1. POPE LEO ARRIVING AT LUNCH TABLES IN THE PONTIFICAL GARDENS

2. POPE GREETING GUESTS

3. CHILD'S FACE

4. POPE GREETING, SHAKING HANDS WITH CHILD SITTING AT TABLE

5. CHILD DRAWING SAYING (Italian): “I love you Pope”

6. POPE WATCHING CHILDREN’S DRAWINGS

7. POPE TAKING HIS SEAT AT TABLE

8. GUEST LOOKING ON

9. GUESTS SITTING AT TABLE

10. POPE SITTING AT TABLE AND LISTENING TO SPEECH

11. GUESTS LISTENING

12. DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE LAUDATO SI' CENTRE FOR HIGHER EDUCATION, CARDINAL FABIO BAGGIO, SPEAKING

13. POPE APPLAUDING AND STANDING UP

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN NEWS - Access all)

14. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"I came here without a speech but with hunger, hunger for justice, with hunger of real charity, with hunger for a Church that truly knows how to open its doors, welcome, and accept everyone; where there is love for everyone and where no one is an enemy"

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

15. WOMAN WITH CHILDREN

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN NEWS - Access all)

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING:

"You know very well that one of the Pope's titles—among others—is "Pontiff", bridge-builder. And today we'd like to build a bridge too, with all of you, with your families, and with the society in which we'd like to live, but to live with justice, to live in a place where the causes of poverty can be eliminated, where the causes of the injustices that still exist in our world can be eliminated"

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

17. CHILD HOLDING POPE'S PHOTOGRAPH

18. POPE SPEAKING

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN NEWS - Access all)

19. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) POPE LEO SAYING (SOUNDBITE STARTING IN PREVIOUS SHOT):

"[When we all together live this spirit of encounter at the dining table], we are truly building a different world: a world of hope, a world that is a light in the midst of this world, this reality, that is so often torn apart by violence, hate, and discrimination"

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (JULY 11, 2026) (VATICAN MEDIA - Access all)

20. CLERGY

21. POPE PRAYING WITH GUESTS AHEAD OF LUNCH