From Catholic News Agency:

The Holy Father met this morning with priests from the Diocese of Albano, a diocese on the outskirts of Rome, speaking to them of the importance St. Francis’s conversion can play in the lives of young people. Pope Benedict also encouraged them to do a better job of explaining the Church’s understanding of the covenant of marriage to those who have divorced, APCom reports.

The Pope met with the priests in the Swiss Hall of his summer residence at Castelgandolfo.

According to Italian news agency ANSA, the Holy Father told the men that they should use the conversion story of St. Francis of Assisi as an example for young people in their diocese.

The Pope stressed that the young Saint’s conversion is his real significance for the Catholic Church.

Francis (1181-1226) was the son of a well-to-do merchant in the town of Assisi. Historians say that as a young man he lived a carefree and irresponsible life focused on pursuing the ideals of his day.

Young Francis was drawn by the “glamour” of the military life, but underwent a dramatic conversion during a year he spent as a prisoner of war in Perugia. Upon his return to Assisi he witnessed the terrible conditions in which beggars and lepers in his own city lived and renounced his former life.

Francis left his wealthy home to live as a hermit and devoted himself to looking after the sick and rebuilding decaying churches around Assisi. In 1209 he decided to live in total poverty and to spend his time preaching.

"First he was sort of playboy but then he felt that this was no longer sufficient," Benedict continued, according to ANSA.

Pope Benedict said the story was one which could "animate the young" and inspire them embrace the Church.

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