Pope Leo XIV has joined in spirit the celebrations taking place this Wednesday, August 26 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the reconstruction of the monumental Cross of Mount Amiata, in Tuscany (Italy). The monument, destroyed during the Second World War, will once again be illuminated this evening to recall the lighting carried out eight decades ago by Pius XII through a radio connection.
In a telegram addressed to Cardinal Augusto Paolo Lojudice, Bishop of Montepulciano-Chiusi-Pienza, and signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Leo XIV presents the cross as a call to “look upward” and to walk the paths of goodness, solidarity, and peace.
“May the light of the Cross also shine in hearts”
Leo XIV expresses his closeness to the diocesan community on the anniversary of the inauguration of the reconstructed cross, “restored to its original beauty after the wounds of the Second World War.”
The Pope hopes that this commemoration will awaken “a renewed awareness that this symbol of redemption is a constant invitation to look upward, walking together along the paths of goodness, solidarity, and peace”.
The telegram concludes with a reference to the lighting that will take place this Wednesday at the summit of Mount Amiata: Leo XIV wishes that “the light of the Cross shining on the summit may also shine in the hearts of those who admire it”.
The celebrations are being held in Abbadia San Salvatore, a municipality in the province of Siena, in Tuscany. The day includes various commemorative and musical events and will culminate at dusk with the illumination of the monument, reproducing the gesture carried out 80 years ago.
A cross erected at the initiative of Leo XIII
The history of the monument dates back to the early 20th century. Its construction responded to an initiative of Leo XIII, who, on the occasion of the Jubilee of 1900, promoted the installation of monumental crosses on various peaks of Italy in homage to Christ the Redeemer.
The cross of Mount Amiata, 22 meters high, was inaugurated on September 18, 1910. The efforts of the inhabitants of Abbadia San Salvatore were decisive in its construction: they themselves transported the necessary iron along the difficult paths leading from the town, located at about 830 meters above sea level, to the 1,738 meters of the summit.
The monument remained there until June 17, 1944, when it was toppled by German troops during their retreat in the Second World War.
Its reconstruction soon began, again with the participation of the local population.
Pius XII lit the cross 80 years ago
On August 24, 1946, with Europe still marked by the consequences of war, one of the most significant episodes in the monument’s history took place.
The reconstructed cross had been equipped with lighting, and Pius XII participated remotely in its illumination through a radio connection. The speech delivered at that time by the Pontiff is preserved in the archives of the Holy See.
“May the hatreds and selfishnesses of the peoples that have already so darkened this century of calamities and mourning cease, O divine Savior,” Pius XII pleaded.
Pope Pacelli implored that, united “in work and in love,” men might finally achieve, in respect for the justice of Christ and “in the works of Christian civilization,” a peace that is “fruitful” and “stable.”
This Wednesday, 80 years after that illumination, the cross is once again lit on Mount Amiata. The message of Leo XIV thus recovers the Christian meaning that accompanied its construction and subsequent reconstruction: the Cross as a “symbol of redemption” and a call to lift one’s gaze upward.