Pope to Benedictines in Montserrat: Thank you for the gift of silence

Vatican News

After praying the rosary and pronouncing an address in the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, Pope Leo XIV joined the Benedictine community in the refectory for lunch and then gathered with them for an exchange of gifts.

“The Pope recalled the time when he was pastor of a parish dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat in Trujillo, Peru, and his visits to the Abbey with other Augustinians,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement. 

“He expressed his gratitude for today’s meeting and for the witness of the monks, who live their devotion to the Virgin Mary within a community," the statement added. 

In this regard, Pope Leo emphasized how the monks' witness is particularly precious in this particular historical period, for the Church and for the world, thanking them “for the gift of silence, in a world full of noise, activity, and distraction.”

“The world needs models that invite us to experience moments of silence, to pray,” the Pope concluded.

There are around 50 Benedictine monks living in the monastery, which in 2025 celebrated the 1000th anniversary of its founding.

In the Visitor’s Book of the Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, the Pope wrote: “I place my Petrine ministry at the feet of Our Lady of Montserrat, so that her maternal intercession may protect the entire Church. With my affection and blessing.”

Lastly, Pope expressed his gratitude for the hospitality with which he had been received, and imparted his blessing.

Pope Leo is currently in Barcelona on the second leg of his Apostolic Journey to Spain from June 6 to June 12. He previously visited Madrid and will also travel to the Canary Islands.