APOSTOLIC VISITS
An assessment of the Pope’s visit to Genoa conveyed by its “host”, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco: “We shall never forget”
On the aftermath of the Pope’s visit to Genoa, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco shared with SIR an assessment of the visit that left unforgettable memories to the archbishop and to the city as a whole. It was a very intense day, characterised by open, sincere and prolonged meetings, with impromptu speeches to labour workers, youths, and notably, marked by the moving visit to the Gaslini Institute. Tens of thousand gathered around Francis for the Mass celebrated in Kennedy Square, ready to navigate the open sea with him, the same sea from which Pope Bergoglio’s grandparents left off headed to Argentina, as he recalled with thankful, moving words upon his arrival.
The Pope undertook a broad-ranging Apostolic visit, full of warmth, and dedicated no less than an hour to every log of the visit. Has the affection conveyed by Genoa’s population been reciprocated?
The Holy Father’s impromptu thanksgiving speech at the end of last Sunday’s Regina Coeli prayer would have been enough to express the mutual joy of this encounter.
Genoa, our Church and our City, shall never forget the grace of this visit,
That touched many spheres of people’s lives and saw us get involved openly, and whole-heartedly, with a special focus on incorporating the Pope’s words that reached out to the heart of problems and to their possible answers.
Francis’ first appeal was on the need for employment, a theme that has been at the heart of your prolusions during your ten-year mandate as president of the Italian Church. Who is meant to be the recipient of this appeal, and how can it be implemented?
Pope Francis has interpreted the tragedies involving many of our families, for whom – as he reiterated – “when Monday’s job is missing it is never fully Sunday”. On the one side he highlighted the distortions of an economy that has grown into speculation and bureaucracy-fuelled policies; on the other, in praising the virtues of workers and entrepreneurs, he made it clear that
We can only overcome the crisis together. Giving priority to employment is the preliminary condition to ensure – using the beautiful image of the Holy Father – that “the fields, the sea, factories” remain the “altars” that know “the fatigue of work of who did not know how to pray with their mouth.”
In the meeting with the clergy the Pope mentioned Cardinal Canestri and his depiction of the Church as a river we should all feel immerged in, each with his/her load of richness and failures. Is this the starting point to express brotherhood among consecrated and non-consecrated persons?
The root of brotherhood is linked to the experience of a strong spiritual life. It is no coincidence that Pope Francis reminded us that the culture of the encounter springs from a cultivated relationship with the Father. The example and style of Jesus, that the Gospels present us gathered in prayer in the evening or during the early morning hours, reveal the key of our relations with others, as presbyters and in pastoral life.
“Horizon and courage”: in these words lies the legacy passed down to all the people of Genoa during the meeting with youths, encouraged in their commitment to “be missionaries.” After the Mass celebrated in Kennedy Square, towards which seas and horizons are the inhabitants of Genoa, skilled navigators in open seas, ready to set sail?
The National Eucharistic Congress, along with Pope Francis’ pastoral visit, are a treasure whereby our Diocese has taken action not only in the preparatory stages but also in terms of deepening Christian and spiritual life.
Now it is a question of recovering this precious heritage, enhancing the great availability displayed by thousands of people, signalling the determination to build human existence on the foundations of our rock that is Jesus Christ; He is the harbour where we find peace; His Spirit fills the sails and guides us in the open sea, missionaries of the Gospel in contemporary society.
