World Day of the Poor – Mass and Lunch with the Pope

The Jubilee of the Poor, November 2025

The 9th World Day of the Poor was part of the Holy Year, taking the form of the Jubilee of the Poor, from November 14 to 16, 2025, with about ten thousand pilgrims expected in Rome.

The program opened on Friday, November 14 at 5:30 PM with the 'Vigil of Mercy' in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, animated by the French association Fratello. Saturday, November 15, from 9 AM to 3 PM, pilgrims passed through the Holy Door of St. Peter's; at 4 PM, a second prayer moment was held in St. Peter's Square.

Sunday, November 16, Pope Leo XIV presided over the Eucharistic Celebration in St. Peter's Basilica, followed by lunch in the Paul VI Hall with 1,300 guests: homeless people, irregular migrants, the unemployed, people with mental health issues, and about fifty transgender women. The meal—first course, cutlet, and babà—was offered and served by the Vincentian Family, with about thirty missionaries and a hundred Italian volunteers at the tables; at the end, 1,500 backpacks with food and hygiene products were distributed.

During the days of the event, the relics of St. Benedict Joseph Labre were on display, and the free polyclinic was operational with medical and dental examinations, vaccinations, tests, and the provision of glasses, hearing aids, and medication; the new San Martino clinic with radiological equipment also debuted.