“Celebrating this auspicious anniversary and the concurrent Jubilee Year of St Gerard means, for all of you, rediscovering that holiness is not a goal for a select few, but a vocation for all the baptized”—with these words Pope Leo XIV addressed the Bishops of Basilicata on the occasion of the Third Centenary of the birth of Saint Gerard Majella.
In a letter dated April 23, 2026, addressed to Archbishop Davide Carbonaro, Metropolitan of Potenza and President of the Episcopal Conference of Basilicata, the Pontiff recalls the figure of Saint Gerard and holds him up even today as a model of Christian holiness for the people of Basilicata, especially for young people: “I encourage you to discover the beauty of a life that, given to others, is multiplied by love and without limits. […] Gerard teaches that one can be a protagonist of good in one’s own territory, transforming the local reality with the power of prayer, solidarity, and creativity.”
The letter invites reflection on the protection of life and motherhood, recalling that Saint Gerard is “universally invoked as the patron saint of mothers and women in labor.” Faced with a society in which “human life is often threatened or rejected,” the Pope hopes that “every child born may be welcomed with the same joy with which Gerard welcomed the poor at the monastery door.”
( Episcopal Conference of Basilicata – Scala News)
Below is the complete letter translated from Italian version:
To the dear Brothers in the Episcopate, to the Priests, to the consecrated Persons and to the lay faithful of the CHURCHES OF BASILICATA
Three hundred years ago, in the heart of Basilicata, in Muro Lucano, a flower of holiness blossomed that would perfume the entire Church: Gerard Majella, patron of this region and of young people of Basilicata. He was a humble Redemptorist religious who understood how to read the Gospel through the eyes of the little ones and the poor. Celebrating this auspicious anniversary and the accompanying the Jubilee Year of St Gerard means, for all of you, rediscovering that holiness is not a goal for a select few, but a vocation for all the baptized. His life experience, marked by interior journeys, mystical revelations, and miracle-working actions, manifests the richness of grace in a life that surrendered totally to God, with simplicity and humility. It brings to life, the Easter of the Lord Jesus, and still fascinates many people today, becoming a path of evangelization.
“Here the Will of God is done.” These words, which Gerard wrote on the door of his cell in the Materdomini Monastery (Avellino), where he died and where his mortal remains rest, represent the heart of his message. It is said that, although he was often rapt in ecstasy, he would spring “like a spring” at the slightest sign from his superior to serve. He did not submit to God’s will as an inescapable destiny, but embraced it as a symphony of salvation, in the knowledge that doing the Father’s will does not mean renouncing one’s own freedom, but finding the fullness and profound meaning of life through union with Him.
In an age marked by uncertainty, self-absorption, and the frantic pursuit of autonomy, this faithful disciple of Christ reminds us that true freedom is found in adherence to the Father’s plan of love.
Saint Gerard is universally invoked as the patron saint of mothers and women in labor. This patronage stems from the soul of one who has become a womb for the suffering of others. In the face of a moral decline in which human life is often threatened or rejected, his testimony also calls upon the communities of Lucania to be outposts of hope. This calls for intensifying initiatives to support motherhood and families in need. May every child born be welcomed with the same joy with which Gerard welcomed the poor at the monastery door.
I address in particular the young people of Basilicata. Saint Gerard lived a passionate youth, marked by hardship but illuminated by a contagious joy. Dear young people, I encourage you to discover the beauty of a life that, given to others, is multiplied by love and without limits. Do not let the shadows of precarious employment or the temptation to abandon your roots rob you of hope. Gerard teaches that you can be protagonists of good in your own territory, transforming the local reality with the power of prayer, solidarity, and creativity. Be architects of local change, knowing that peripheral areas can be transformed into laboratories of innovation and fraternity by networking. It is necessary to foster strategic collaboration between different local stakeholders—associations, citizens, businesses, educational institutions, civil and ecclesial institutions— to jointly address complex problems with a view to social regeneration.
I have learned that the Third Centenary of the birth of Saint Gerard Majella presents a multifaceted journey that will accompany the faithful and communities for an entire year: liturgical celebrations, conferences, cultural initiatives, and moments of reflection. May this Gerard Year, in which memory, faith, and identity intertwine around one of the most iconic saints in your history, be not only a celebratory occasion, but also an opportunity to revisit, in the current context, a figure who, born in a small town in the Lucanian hinterland, spoke to different generations, maintaining a living presence in the devotion and culture of Southern Italy.
Dear brothers and sisters, look to Gerard and you will see the beauty of a God who bends over human frailties. May he, who was called “God’s fool,” intercede for you so that you may live with that folly of evangelical love that alone can change the world. I entrust all of you to the protection of the Virgin Mary, whom Saint Gerard loved with filial tenderness, and I cordially impart to you my Apostolic Blessing.
From the Vatican, April 23, 2026
Leo PP. XIV
