Pope Leo XIV with the Benedictines of Subiaco: The Rule as a Compass for Europe

After Montecassino, the pope visits the monasteries of Saint-Benoît and Sainte-Scolastique in Subiaco, then the sanctuary of Vallepietra.

The fact

On July 22, 2026, Vatican News (FR, DE, PT) reports that Leo XIV went to Subiaco, in the Aniene Valley, at the foot of the Simbruini Mountains, to successively visit the monastery of Saint Benedict (the Sacro Speco) and that of Saint Scholastica, the two emblematic Benedictine foundations of the origins of the order. The Sovereign Pontiff also visited, higher up in the same Simbruini Mountains, the Marian sanctuary of the Most Holy Trinity of Vallepietra. The trip is presented as a time of papal retreat away from Rome. We saw, two days ago, the Pope praying at Montecassino in front of the tomb of Saint Benedict.

Our reading

Leo XIV's Benedictine choice is not an aesthetic gesture. Saint Benedict was proclaimed the principal patron of Europe by Paul VI in the apostolic letter Pacis nuntius of October 24, 1964, on the occasion of the consecration of the restored basilica of Montecassino. The Benedictine Rule, with its maxim "Ora et labora," structured Christian Europe for more than a millennium and remains a school of government, moderation, and stability. By choosing twice in three days to stay in Benedictine places, the new Pope roots his pontificate in a spiritual matrix that speaks to a tired Europe. The silence of the crypt of Saint Scholastica makes more noise than an encyclical.

To ponder

Reread a chapter of the Rule, for example, Chapter 72 on the "good zeal of monks." Pray to Saint Benedict for Europe, Saint Michael for the fight.