ABSTRACT
Leonard died in Rome on 25 October, 1999. Because of the great esteem in which he was held during his life, both within Italy and abroad, permission was granted by the secular authorities in Rome for Leonard's remains to be buried in the lower Church of San Clemente, a very rare privilege indeed. The setting of the story is one of the most detailed in the New Testament, and the evangelist shows an impressive knowledge of local contours and of Samaritan beliefs. It may well be that the evangelist has taken up an historical moment in the life of Jesus and fleshed it out in order to press home the teaching of Jesus. It is often said that the thirteenth century is one of the greatest intellectual centuries in the life of the Church. For it is the very first century in the life of the Church in which a general sensitivity to the pastoral care begins to manifest itself.
