Pope Leo XIV greets 93-year-old Chicago friend at general audience

Anne Russell, 93, who has known Pope Leo XIV since their high school years in Chicago, greeted him at the end of the general audience in St. Peter's Square. She traveled to Rome from Nativity of Our Lord and St. Gabriel parish in Chicago at the head of a group of 50 people led by the pastor, Father James F. Hurlbert.

"At 93, I can say without a doubt that this is the happiest day of my life, even though I have known 'Father Bob' for almost half a century, since high school in Chicago and his entry into the Augustinian community," Russell said. The group was standing by the colonnade when the pope, passing in the popemobile, recognized them and stopped to greet them. Russell said she managed to shout "Father Bob!" over the noise, though she did not know whether he heard her. The two were photographed together a short time later, an occasion that brought back "so many wonderful memories."

A delegation of about 500 faithful from the Diocese of Rimini, on Italy's Adriatic coast, also attended the audience, led by Bishop Nicolò Anselmi. Anselmi recalled that a little over a month ago Leo XIV celebrated an evening Mass in the city's port area. There the pope urged the community to promote "a plan of rebirth for the good of the whole community." Representatives of the Romagna diocese gave the pope gifts of regional food products and presented several charitable projects launched recently.

Several mothers belonging to the prayer group "I figli ritrovati in Dio" (Children Found in God) traveled to Rome from Torre Annunziata, near Naples. Pina Balzano, who founded the association, said moments like that morning's are important. "For us, parents who have lost a child, they are vital," she said. The pope also spoke to and blessed Raffaella Caifasso and Fabio Carpini, who work with children with autism and their families in the Ruvo di Puglia area in southern Italy through their nonprofit, Con.te.sto.

At the end of the audience, the pope received the first copy of "Leo XIV, Builder of Peace," a volume edited by Feliciano Innocente. Efisio Walter Serra, director of the publishing house Editrice Velar, said it is a collector's edition produced at a bookbindery in Todi, in central Italy, and illustrated with art plates by Umberto Gamba. Leo XIV also greeted the Augustinian priest Bruno Silvestrini, who was marking the 50th anniversary of his religious profession.