The “dream” of three peoples

Carinthians (Austria), Slovenes (Slovenia) and Friulani (Italy): three peoples reunited to take part in a pilgrimage capable of “reinvigorating” the Christian roots of Europe. It happened at Lussari, in the diocese of Udine (Italy), where the Marian sanctuary was the summer destination of the “Pilgrimage of Three Peoples”, a tradition that has continued uninterruptedly for 25 years. The eucharistic celebration was presided over by Monsignor ALFREDO BATTISTI, archbishop emeritus of Udine. Some 3,000 pilgrims were present at the rite, including the bishops of Klagenfurt (Austria), Msgr. ALOIS SCHWARZ, and of Ljubljana (Slovenia), Msgr. ALOJZ URAN. THE “DREAM” OF CHRISTIANS. Europe, “reinvigorate your Christian roots, save your soul”, because “Europe will either be Christian or not at all”: the passionate plea made by John Paul II at Santiago de Compostela was repeated by Archbishop Battisti, who recalled the emotion of the first pilgrimage in 1981. “We ascended here to the crossroads of three cultures of Europe (Latin, Slav and German) – he recalled in his homily – to pray to the Mother of God and appeal to the rulers to cast down the walls of division, in a Europe that must breathe with two lungs, according to the image so dear to the heart of Karol Wojtyla”. If the dream of that time is being realised, that is also because – as Archbishop Battisti stressed – “Christians (and the Pilgrimage of the Three Peoples is an eloquent example of this) by far take precedence over political action, which still today is not only uncertain, but also dominated by worrying tendencies, not least “the refusal to mention the Christian roots in the preamble of the European Constitution”. Also for this reason our invocation ascends to the Virgin, privileged “witness of the love of God”, as expressed in the theme of this year’s pilgrimage: a love that was accepted in that “yes” of the Annunciation that changed the course of history”, and was incarnated in a world where “men seem to know no other than wage war”, pointed out Archbishop Battisti, extending his gaze to the martyred Holy Land and wherever conflicts rage, and raising his prayer to Mary, “that she supplicate God to make peace triumph”. The three lands of the pilgrimage were themselves the theatre of tragic conflicts, the poisoned fruit of nationalism, in the last century. In recalling them, Bishop Uran made a powerful appeal: “Meditating on Our Lady of Sorrows, Christians are called to place faith and the Gospel in first place, so that diversity of languages and cultures may become a source of richness”. The pilgrimage in 2007, as announced by the bishop of Klagenfurt, will take place in the Benedictine abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Millstatt, in Corinthia, on 23 June. “NOT TO DIVIDE, BUT TO UNITE”. Four new stained-glass windows representing saints of Europe, from Luigi Scrosoppi to the Slovene Bishop Anton Martin Slomsek, from Paulinus of Aquileia to Benedict and the apostles of the Slavs, Cyril and Methodius: that’s one of the results of the recent restoration of the sanctuary, the ceremony of whose consecration inaugurated the pilgrimage. Its aim is to turn the sanctuary not into “a tourist attraction, but primarily into a welcoming place of prayer, precious for the daily meeting of the peoples of Europe”, exhorted the rector, Monsignor Dionisio Mateucig, in a church packed with pilgrims, especially Slovenes, who for centuries have been devotees of the sanctuary. Its façade is dominated by an inscription citing the words of Lambert Ehrlich (1878-1942), Slovene priest and well-known intellectual, professor in the theological faculty of Ljubljana, pronounced in 1933, in a climate already heavily charged with nationalism: “This place, where Romanic, Slav and German cultures converge, is made not to divide, but to unite in the Christian faith”. Ehrlich was later assassinated by partisan elements due to his anti-Communist campaigning. A CHORUS IN THREE LANGUAGES. A kind of chorus in three languages: “Up here we realise we’re all brothers”. So, with a collective exclamation, the spontaneous testimonials of the participants in the pilgrimage could be summed up. “It’s an opportunity to enable our two sons to see how different ethnic groups can meet together in friendship”, say TIZIANO ONORINI and STEFANIA TOMMASSINI, from Terni in Italy. The Carinthian priest Father JOSEPH MARKETZ has participated in the pilgrimage ever since it began: “The sermons of Bishops Sustar of Ljubljana and Kapellari of Klagenfurt were very prophetic – he recalled – because they already spoke of post-Communism”. The present challenge, he continued, “is to demolish the cultural barriers”. But there is also a more insidious threat: “There’s too much materialism in Europe, which needs a soul”, said FRANC SLUGA from Ljubljana, supporting with his wife Annamaria a Marian icon from the Slovene sanctuary of Brezje.