22 August 2026
In 1982, John Paul II moved the people of the Meeting with his words. Today, forty-four years later, the arrival of Leo XIV at the Fiera rekindles the emotion of that edition, in a historical and social context that has changed profoundly.
For the occasion, the “Pope Team” was established, a group of volunteers tasked with facilitating the Holy Father’s visit both inside and outside the exhibition grounds.
They were not “human barriers” or security guards, but witnesses to a presence unfolding in the present moment. Their service began last night with the preparation of protected routes throughout all the pavilions the Pope would cross, and continued even after Leo XIV left the Fiera to head to Rimini Cathedral and then to the port for the celebration of Holy Mass, bringing to completion a long day that had begun with the state visit to the Republic of San Marino.
For many, volunteering during the Pope’s visit represented an expression of a commitment lived out in everyday life.
But why, then, was a service lasting just under twenty-four hours so important?
Monica Pozzi, a volunteer assigned to this area, explains: “Every job at the Meeting is important, just like every other small gesture and every act of care. In this sense, being deployed to support the meeting with the Pontiff was ultimately no different from contributing in other ways to building and sustaining the Meeting.”
Monica, a native of Rimini and a former university student at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence, is happy, and she does not hide it. She certainly has no shortage of enthusiasm for getting involved.
Like Monica, many others prepared as thoroughly as possible for today’s event.
The interview reveals an awareness that every action—from setting up the Grand Auditorium to arranging the corridors and managing the flow of people—helps pave the way for the great embrace of the Meeting community toward its shepherd.
