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Italy honours St Francis of Assisi 800 years after his death, celebrating a saint whose devotion to Christ, radical simplicity and message of peace continue to shape generations.

St Francis of Assisi died 800 years ago, and the Italians haven’t forgotten.

They marked the massive anniversary with a celebration of his life.

Speaking about the importance of Assisi, Giorgia Meloni, who once referred to him as key to Italian cultural identity, issued a short statement about his impact on the nation.

Italy Celebrates Its Beloved Patron Saint

Meloni declared the anniversary a “day of celebration, for Italy and Italians.”

“Today, we celebrate our patron saint, Saint Francis, ‘the most amiable, the most poetic and the most Italian of our saints.’”

“Today, we remember a man,” she said, “who left everything in order to find everything, a saint who taught the world the joyous simplicity of love, an Italian who shaped the identity of an entire people.”

“Today, Italy pays tribute to one of its greatest sons, bearer of a universal message that has endured through generations and will continue to light our way.”

Pope Leo XIV: Christ Turns Evil Into Redemption

The Italian Prime Minister’s words followed a 4 October devotion from Pope Leo XIV that elevated the Gospel, not the man.

Leo’s message was a reminder that evil doesn’t triumph, because in Christ, God continuously flips the script.

Leo proclaimed, “Jesus is the Son of God sent into the world, yet He is rejected by the very people who should have welcomed Him with open arms.

“The One who came to bring salvation is condemned; the One who wishes to give life is put to death.

“While this leads us to reflect on the many cruelties that plague the world and the history of peoples, Christ’s teaching reveals the ever-greater mercy of his Father.

“Indeed, the violent rejection does not thwart God’s will; in his infinite justice, he transforms evil into redemption.”

Quoting Christ from Matthew 21:42 and Psalm 118:22, the Pope added, “It is precisely what was cast aside that becomes the foundation that sustains everything.

“This is how the Almighty guides history, coming to our aid in all our falls: God never discards our lives!”

Francis’ Enduring Call to Repair the Church

He then drew a connection between labourers in a vineyard and Christians cultivating justice through the church.

St Francis was one of those labourers, “whom Jesus himself asked to repair his Church,” Pope Leo explained.

Today — on the eighth centenary of his death — I wish to recall a laborer who worked with great fruitfulness in the Lord’s vineyard: Saint Francis of Assisi, whom Jesus Himself asked to repair His Church.

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) October 4, 2026

“Inspired by the Crucified One, Francis first and foremost built his own life upon the foundation of Christ, sharing in his poverty, joy and sufferings.

“A man of fervent prayer, full of charity toward all, he was an example to the first friars who shared his asceticism as an authentic condition for the reform of the Church.”

To this Pope Leo added, “Saint Francis repaired the Church by virtue of his faith in the Lord Jesus, healing the rifts of discord through the witness of fraternal love.”

Eight centuries later, this legacy of Saint Francis “continues to bear fruit. This is attested to not only by the great and vibrant Franciscan family but also by the many gifts that his spiritual legacy bestows upon the People of God.”

The pope concluded his sermon-esque devotion, saying he was “pleased by the many initiatives celebrating the eighth centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi.”

According to the Vatican, this year’s special national celebrations included churches in Assisi ringing their bells at midnight to announce a thanksgiving service.

At another event, up to 3,000 people lit up the night to take part in the Walk with Saint Francis.

This, organisers said, included “songs and prayers, catechesis and historical re-enactments.

“The walking route retraced the journey made by Saint Francis’ coffin in 1226, from the place of his death to his burial place, from Santa Maria degli Angeli to the Basilica of Saint Francis.”

A Legacy of Peace, Brotherhood and Renewal

Italian President Sergio Mattarella also addressed the nation, saying, “The character of Italian society has been profoundly shaped by him and cannot ignore his lessons.”

Mattarella spoke of a man who chose poverty over riches. He also used Francis’ example of brotherhood when talking about war.

“Today, terrible conflicts are bloodying many parts of the world, and in some places weapons are even being blessed again, and armies are being placed under religious insignia: Francis teaches us that there is no greater sin than killing other men in the name of God.

“In these times marked by senseless and cruel wars, by ‘so much violence, manipulation, arrogance’, as Leo XIV said a few days ago, the hope is that the sun of Francis can illuminate the world, convert minds hardened by hatred, and point the way to peace, hope, and peaceful, fraternal coexistence.”

Although Mattarella wasn’t specific, it’s a likely inference, in part, about the United States, and more broadly about Iran, Israel, Hamas, Russia, Ukraine, and, just as applicable, Islamists killing Christians in Nigeria.

Outside Italy’s widespread commemorations, the major Assisi anniversary mostly went unnoticed.

4 October is the official Italian patron saint’s national day. The date was established in 1958 and cancelled in 1977.

In January 2026, St Francis of Assisi Day was reinstated. This was after Meloni’s government passed a bill in 2025 that both restored and doubled down on the national event.

The 800^th marking of St Francis’ death is also the final in a four-year-long list of events celebrating his life and close relationship to God that began in 2023.

These events were supported by a special committee created by the Italian government. Meloni inherited and continued with that, helping promote the anniversary.

When commemorating his 1923 biography of the Medieval Italian friar, British writer G.K. Chesterton said St Francis “walked the world like the Pardon of God.

“I mean that his appearance marked the moment when men could be reconciled not only to God, but to nature and, most difficult of all, to themselves.

“For it marked the moment when all the stale paganism that had poisoned the ancient world was at last worked out of the social system.”

This, Chesterton summarised, was “his whole function: To tell men to start afresh.”