VISIT THE WORKERS AND ASSISTS OF THE “LITTLE COTTOLENGO DON ORIONE DE CLAYPOLE”
GREETING OF THE HOLY FATHER LEON XIV
“Little Cottolengo Don Orione de Claypole” (Claypole)
Monday, 9 November 2026
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Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
I am very happy to be able to share this meeting with you all. I appreciate the kind words of Mons. Jorge Lugones, Bishop of Lomas de Zamora, and of the Brother. Jorge Silanes, director of this center. Thanks also to Marta and Norma for their testimonies. Thank you very much. Thank you all for the music and for welcoming me with so much enthusiasm and joy.
There are places—like this Home—in which charity is not only expressed in the works, but is recognized in every gesture, in every face, in every smile, and, even, in the air that is breathed. That’s the “Little Cottolengo”: an open-door fraternal community, in which everything speaks to us of God’s love.
St. Louis Orione, its founder, wanted this place to be known as the “city of charity” and, in order to build it, prayed and worked for many years, relying deeply on Divine Providence and moved by love for the most fragile people in society, who were often ignored and abandoned to their fate. Recalling this desire for the restless heart of Don Orione’s father and pastor, three “cities” came to my mind in which Jesus also breathed the fresh and free air of charity. These three cities are Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Bethany.
In Bethlehem, which means “House of the Bread”, Jesus was received, sheltered and nourished with love for Mary and Joseph, and recognized with affection and admiration both for the wise and for the humble and simple people. We can say that, in Bethlehem, you breathe the love of life, and that love makes the cold poverty of the environment transform into warmth of home. It is the place that respects the dignity of every human person and values it and welcomes it as the gift of God.
Years later, another city, Nazareth, was the environment where Jesus learned to be part of a family and to integrate into a community, where he grew “in wisdom, in stature and in grace before God and men” (Lk 2:52), and where he cultivated the value of work and responsibility. It is the place that does not dismiss people, but incorporates them into social life, appreciating and making fruitful their talents and abilities, as Marta shows us with her life and through the book she has written.
Finally, in the city of Bethany, sharing the gift of friendship with Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Jesus experienced the value of authentic and sincere human relationships, where no one is marginalized or abandoned, but accompanied, heard and advised, faith and service, sorrows and joys are shared. In short, Bethany is the place that helps to get out of individualism, where you feel loved and want to love others in a concrete way. Places like this—as Norma shared in her testimony—make people received, cared for and loved as they are felt.
As we can see, Jesus lived in places where he breathed the air of charity; there he experienced the love of a family, integration into a community and fraternal friendship, sharing life with his loved ones. I would like this brief reflection to lead us to think and thank for so many “cities of charity” as this Little Cottolengo, where the Gospel is still alive and on the operation, here and now, in this beautiful country.
In this regard, I would like to quote a few words from my Predecessor John Paul II, when he said, addressing a group of people with disabilities, that the love of God “is the foundation of our hope and the breath of our life. God has shown us in an insurmountable way in Jesus Christ how much He loves every man and how immense is the dignity that He has conferred upon Him. Precisely those who must suffer some physical or spiritual impediment, must recognize themselves as friends of Jesus, as loved especially by Him» (Angelus, Osnabrück, 16 November 1980).
Dear brothers and sisters, many residents and workers, religious, family and volunteers who collaborate in this great work have come to this meeting today: in their luminous gazes I can see so much closeness, in their open hands I can recognize countless gestures of free service, in their generous hearts I can perceive much tenderness and understanding. Thank you all for your testimonies of dedication and love of your neighbor.
The noble work they do here every day, with so much affection, effort and dedication, is a solid foundation for the construction of a new city: the city of charity, coexistence and peace. Certainly, “it is a slower construction, less visible and less striking” than that of other cities, but “it is to this horizon of commitment, to this work of hope, to which we give the name of “civilization of love” (Letter enc. Magnificent humanites, 185).
The values of dignity, integration and fraternal friendship that distinguish places like this, have much to say to our societies, often carried only by the pursuit of economic success or the worship of physical appearance. I would like to affirm today that your lives are not a burden to society; they are a blessing, because you can help us not forget what is the foundation of the dignity of every human being and what is really important in life. The progress of a nation is also measured by the welcome it can give to all persons with disabilities and special needs.
In this very particular moment, I would like to share with you all my wish for this country. May Argentina be able to do great works of charity, as we see here, where the love of Christ triumphs over individualism and exclusion. I imagine thousands of young people joining the great history of charity that the sincere and simple faith of the Argentine people has written over the centuries. May a new generation of saints of charity be established in Argentina! And why can't all of you be? Christ charity is urgent! (cf. 2 Cor 5:14).
Dear friends, let us continue to respond with faith and hope to the universal call to holiness (cf. Conc. Ecum. Vat. II, Const. dogm. Lumen gentium, 11). Our dear Pope Francis also longed for it and, therefore, he wrote: “We are all called to be saints living with love and offering our own witness in the occupations of each day, where each one is” (Exhort. Gaudete et exsultate, 14). Let us put the gifts received at the service of the little ones and needy, each to the extent of his possibilities, so that the city of charity is consolidated, spread and manages to break down the borders of selfishness.
Finally, I would like to point out that here, in the chapel of this community, is the relic of the heart of Don Orione, testimony of the deep bond that united this holy Italian priest with the Argentine land. His incorrupt heart continues to remind us that “charity will save the world,” because “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8) and “love will never pass away” (1 Cor 13:8). The secret of that life given for love was revealed by my Predecessor John Paul II in the Homily of canonization of this tireless apostle, when he said, “The heart of this strategist of charity “met no confines, because it was dilated by the charity of Christ” (EscritosWritings, 102, 32). The zeal for Christ was the soul of his fearless life, the inner impulse of unreserved altruism and the ever-fresh spring of indestructible hope” (Homily, 16 May 2004, 2).
Let us ask the Lord, just as he shaped the hearts of the saints, to model our hearts in the likeness of his own: burning in charity, kind in patience and persevering in humility (cf. Mt 11.29).
May God bless you all, and pour out abundant blessings also on your families, benefactors, and other loved ones. I carry them in my heart. Thank you very much.