University students in Rome prepare for a visit from Pope Leo

The atmosphere at the Sapienza University of Rome is full of excitement as students prepare for Pope Leo XIV’s visit on the morning of Thursday, May 14. At 10:20 a.m. During the encounter, the Bishop of Rome will have a moment of prayer and time to greet the community before moving to the rectorate and the Aula Magna to deliver a speech.

At the main campus of Europe’s largest university, students study, conduct research, organize conferences, exhibitions, and concerts. “This is a laboratory of human hearts,” says chaplain Fr. Gabriele Vecchione, “with 125,000 students from all over the world who will shape tomorrow. Here, we aim to live faith with a rational approach worthy of the 21st century.”

To the young men and women who gather in the Chapel, it has become like home. One student recalls that during her undergraduate years, she never experienced faith on campus, despite her longstanding involvement in her parish since middle school. 

“Now to find other students like me, who long for something more, is wonderful. It’s like finding inner unity,” she shares. “A year ago, I was in St. Peter’s Square to see the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel. So this Pope is special for me because I experienced the moment he was elected. It’s historic that he’s coming to Sapienza; it makes me hopeful — placing hope in us young people.”

She adds that at Sapienza University she has found a family, “a place slowly showing me what it means to be a daughter, and I needed that.”