Opening of the Centenary of the Transitus of St. Francis
10th January 2026, Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels at the Porziuncola
10 January 2026On the 10th January, in the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels at the Porziuncola, the Franciscan Family began the VIII Centenary of the Transit of St. Francis of Assisi, the last stage of the journey undertaken in 2023 and which made us relive the last years of the Poor Man's earthly life.
The opening rite began with a gesture conceived as a symbolic and spiritual bridge between the Centenary of the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures (2025) and the Centenary of the Transit (2026). Taking up the last two stanzas of the Canticle (those dedicated to reconciliation and to sister bodily death), in memory of the reconciliation between the bishop and the Podestà of Assisi, the Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino and Foligno, Monsignor Domenico Sorrentino, and the Mayor of the city of Assisi, Valter Stoppini, entered the Basilica carrying an unlit candle, a sign of humanity marked by conflict and fragility.
The procession reached the Chapel of the Transit, the place of Francis' last earthly moments, where the candle was lit at the Paschal Candle, symbol of the risen Christ. From there, the light was brought to the six side stations of the Basilica, each entrusted to one of the six branches of the Franciscan Family.
In fact, Br. Massimo Fusarelli, OFM Minister General, Br. Carlos Alberto Trovarelli, OFMConv Minister General, Br. Roberto Genuin, OFMCap Minister General, Tibor Kauser, OFS Minister General, Br. Amando Trujillo Cano, TOR Minister General, and Sr. Daisy Kalamparamban, President of the International Franciscan Conference of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order Regular, were present.
Each station was dedicated to a theme taken from the Testament of St. Francis, as a consignment of his last spiritual will. At each stage, a text from the Franciscan Sources or the Gospel was proclaimed, accompanied by the reflection of one of the 6 representatives of the Franciscan Family, followed by a symbolic sign or listening to a testimony, to actualize the Franciscan message in today's world.
For the occasion, the oldest painting depicting St. Francis of Assisi, preserved at the Porziuncola Museum, was exhibited in the Basilica: the work of the so-called Master of St. Francis (mid-thirteenth century), it depicts the Saint with the stigmata clearly visible, an expression of his full and definitive conformatio Christi.
The image would have been executed on a wooden plank used to accommodate and protect the body of Francis immediately after his death, giving it a value that is not only iconographic, but also profoundly reliquary and testimonial.
At the conclusion of the celebration, Pope Leo XIV's words, addressed to the General Ministers of the Franciscan Family, were read. The Holy Father recalled how St Francis's witness continues to speak to our time, marked by wars and divisions: "In this age, marked by so many seemingly interminable wars, by internal and social divisions that create mistrust and fear, he continues to speak, not because he offers technical solutions, but because his life points to the authentic source of peace." The letter also echoed the invitation to let ourselves be guided by the Poor Man of Assisi on the path of reconciliation and peace: "St Francis, our brother, you who eight hundred years ago went to meet the sovereign judge as a man at peace, intercede so that we too may be able to reconcile with God, with ourselves, with others, and with creation." The Pope also offered the Franciscans a prayer: "In this Year of grace, I wish to offer you a prayer that Saint Francis of Assisi may continue to instil in all of us perfect joy and harmony."
The Decree of the Apostolic Penitentiary was also announced, proclaiming "a special Jubilee Year with plenary indulgences on the eighth centenary of the death of St Francis of Assisi." The Holy Father has established that, "from the 10th January 2026, coinciding with the conclusion of the Ordinary Jubilee, until 10th January 2027, a special Year of St Francis be proclaimed," during which the faithful will be able to obtain plenary indulgence "under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father), visiting Franciscan churches and shrines on pilgrimage and joining spiritually in the journey of the Franciscan Family in this time of grace”.
The Transitus is located at the culmination of the great Franciscan Jubilee journey, which from 2023 to 2026 retraced the last years of the Poor Man's life: from the approval of the Rule and the Christmas of Greccio (2023), to the gift of the Stigmata (2024), to the composition of the Canticle of the Creatures (2025). The last stanza of the Canticle, "Praised be you, my Lord, through our sister bodily death, from which no living man can escape", is the authentic key to understanding this Centenary.
Many initiatives of the Franciscan Family are already scheduled to celebrate this Centenary:
- "Francis has your eyes": an itinerary of 12 monthly appointments organized by the Seraphic Province of the Friars Minor of Umbria and Sardinia to (re)find in the gaze of the Saint the key to orient ourselves in the complexity of our time. For info click here.
- Exhibition of the mortal remains of Francis from the 22nd to the 22nd March, 2026 in the Basilica of Assisi. Free booking on the official website www.sanfrancescovive.org.
- The Chapter of Mats of European Youth from the 3rd to the 6th August 2026.
- Novena to St. Francis, with various initiatives.
- Sunday of the Poor (November 2026), with the theme "Francis and the poor".
Read more about the 2023-2026 Centennial
Read more about the Centenary of the Transitus
Read the words of the Holy Father: Italiano - English - Español - Français - Polski - Português
Read the decree of the Jubilee Year and of the plenary indulgence: Italiano - English - Español - Français - Português – Polski - عربي - Magyar – Deutsch
