Family Jubilee: Mission in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna
On Saturday, May 31, the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Elizabeth, the city of Rome was the scene of an event that, although it did not receive much media coverage, filled the Piazza di Spagna, crowded as never before with people, songs, and truly exceptional testimonies.
In the context of the events of the jubilee celebrations in 2025, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Families, the Neocatechumenal Way has gathered thousands of families from Rome and Lazio in a single square to bear witness to the beauty and gift of the Christian family for today’s world.
During Eastertide, the communities of the Way usually announce the joy of the Lord’s resurrection on several Sundays in their parish squares: Eastertide is a time for proclaiming this good news. We call this “the 100 squares,” representing the approximately 100 parishes where the Way is present in Rome.
On May 31, these “100 squares” gathered in one of Rome’s most iconic squares, the Piazza di Spagna, a destination for tourists from all over the world, transforming it into a joyful scene filled with families and children, young people and the elderly, for a message of hope: Christ is risen, he has conquered death and all fears. Christ still fills the lives of many married couples who generously open themselves to life because they feel loved and saved by the Lord’s Passover.
And there were truly thousands: I think it is difficult to see this square, so beloved by Rome and by the world, so full of people, singing, dancing, joy, and hope.
A small stage had been set up facing the square and the column of the Immaculate Conception, erected by Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, opposite the Spanish Embassy, the country that had worked hardest to define the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854.
And it was the Virgin Mary who presided over the meeting, the same Virgin Mary who inspired Kiko Argüello to create the Neocatechumenal Way as a response to the challenges of the modern world with a form of Christian initiation that today is spread throughout 137 nations, with thousands of communities.
The meeting opened with joyful singing, taken from the prophet Isaiah: “I am coming to gather all nations,” and presided over by priests dressed in white. It began with the celebration of Lauds, with the singing of the psalms proper to the liturgy of the day, interspersed with three testimonies from young families who briefly recounted the work of the Lord in their lives: the devastating news that they were expecting a daughter without a skull, with the doctors’ request to abort her, and the balm of the Lord’s love and that of the brothers and sisters of the community who helped them not to be afraid, to welcome her and hold her in their arms, even if only for twenty minutes, minutes that reconciled them with the suffering of waiting.
And after all the necessary tests to be humanly certain that the cause is not genetic, and after opening yourself up to life again and, despite all the medical assurances, finding yourself facing another pregnancy with the same symptoms. And God provides again in the face of despair that takes hold of you and seems to suffocate you, destroy you, only to find yourself with the certainty of having given two children to God, because you carry within you the guarantee of eternal life.
Then there is the experience of a young woman, who had almost no relationship with her father, who at the age of 14 lost herself to drugs and various addictions, far from home, and who then felt found by Christ, forgiven, rebuilding her life with a true relationship with a man, the father of her children.
Finally, a third family: he was born in Germany, had an excellent job, but no real meaning in life. He left everything behind to search for God, even challenging Him. When all seemed lost, the Lord made Himself present, saved him, forgave him, and filled his life with hope. Today, he can joyfully testify that God truly loves mankind and walks with him every day.
After the psalms, songs, and testimonies, it is time for the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, with the healing of the paralytic at the temple gate, by the power of the name of Jesus, that name which is now proclaimed by a brother to all those in the square who find themselves in the same situation: they too are paralyzed, unable to walk toward others, unable to love: “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, get up and walk,” are words that have power over each one of us today if we accept them.
The proclamation of the Gospel of the day, the passage from Luke about Mary’s visit to Saint Elizabeth, gives the priest the opportunity to invite everyone to raise their eyes to the statue of the Immaculate Virgin, announcing to each of those present that they too are like Mary, before the words of the angel: “Rejoice, the Lord is with you. From you a new life can be born. Accept this good news today. You too, like the Virgin Mary, can say: ‘Let it be done to me according to your word.’”
Throughout the meeting, while the prayer is being said, the thousands of brothers and sisters present in the square are invited to enter into dialogue with the city, to bring to all those present, even those who happen to be passing by, the possibility that this day may become an event: to encounter the proclamation of God’s love, of the forgiveness of sins, of the way out of loneliness, of condemnation, as has been said before, of being condemned to live only for oneself, incapable of loving. Love makes itself present to you, it comes to meet you today. Those who have shown interest in receiving this love have been invited to go to any parish where the Neocatechumenal Way is present.
Behold, the Jubilee, the Jubilee of hope, announced by Pope Francis at the beginning of 2025 and now continuing in the name of Pope Leo XIV, resounds through the streets of Rome in a simple, concrete, and authentic way.
Ezechiele Pasotti
