The director of the Pilgrim's Office and the Apostolic Work of the Ignatian Way (OACI), Josep Lluís Iriberri, participated this Wednesday in the general audience held weekly at the Vatican. There he greeted the pontiff, Leo XIV, and expressed the importance that the visit would have for the Jesuit community of the Cave of Saint Ignatius and for boosting the Ignatian Way.
“"We need you to come to the city of Saint Ignatius. His response was: 'God willing'."
The Ignatian Way is the route connecting Azpeitia, the birthplace of Ignatius of Loyola, and Manresa, following the pilgrim's footsteps on the journey he made in 1522. This journey, en route to the Holy Land, took him to Montserrat and the capital of Bages, where he lived for eleven months crucial to his spiritual transformation and the writing of his Spiritual Exercises.
The invitation to Leo XIV comes after his predecessor, Pope Francis, received at least ten similar requests, including a delegation led by the then mayor Valentí Junyent in June 2020. Although Francis is a Jesuit, his policy of traveling only to countries in conflict thwarted the visit, despite the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of Saint Ignatius' stay in the city in 2022.
Currently, the most feasible opportunity for a papal visit to Catalonia is the possible stay of Leo XIV in Barcelona next June to commemorate the centenary of the death of Antoni Gaudí. Sources from the Cave have indicated that if the pontiff takes advantage of the stay to visit Montserrat, it would be very likely that he would also stop in Manresa.
