Buy this photo on Getty Images : Getty Images
In the passageway to the garden, located just outside the cathedral of Santa Maria degli Angeli, this figure of St. Francis has living white doves nesting in the basket he carries. St. Frances is said to have had flocks of birds flying around him as he walked up the mountain where he later received his stigmata, so he is often represented with birds surrounding him.
The new Pope chose his name after this holy Francis of Assisi. It is the first time that a pope chose this name, so Jorge Bergoglio will be Pope Francis I.
Chosing your name will say something about the programme and the aim. Important for Francis was his poverty and leading a simple life.
World Animal Day is celebrated each year on October the 4th. It started in Florence, Italy in 1931 at a convention of ecologists. On this day, animal life in all its forms is celebrated, and special events are planned on locations all over the globe. The 4th of October was originally chosen for World Animal Day because it is the feast day of Francis of Assisi, a nature lover and patron saint of animals and the environment. Numerous churches throughout the world observe the Sunday closest to October the 4th with a Blessing for the Animals.
Submitted 25/09/2014
Accepted 22/10/2014
Published:
- NBC Universal Digital Telemund (FLORIDA) 06-Jun-2023
