AJACCIO, Corsica – Pope Francis on his first ever papal visit to the French island Corsica called on Sunday for a dynamic type of secularism and promoted the sort of popular piety that distinguishes the Mediterranean island from secular France as a bridge between religious and civil society.
Francis appeared relaxed and energized and still showed off throughout the day-long visit, just two days before his 88th birthday faded bruise from a fall every week ago.
During mass outdoors on the Place d'Austerlitz, he steadily deviated from his prepared sermon, once remarking that he had never seen so many children as in Corsica – except, he added, in East Timor on his recent Asian tour.
“Have children,” he pleaded. “They will be your joy and comfort in the future.”
Earlier, on the conclusion of a Mediterranean conference on popular piety, Papa Francescu, as he is understood in Corsican, described an idea of secularity “that is not static and fixed, but evolving and dynamic,” able to adapting to “unforeseen situations.” and promote cooperation “between civil and ecclesiastical authorities.”
The pope said expressions of popular piety, including processions and the communal prayer of the Holy Rosary, can promote “constructive citizenship” on the a part of Christians. At the identical time, he warned against seeing such manifestations only when it comes to folklore and even superstition.
The visit to Corsica's capital Ajaccio, Napoleon's birthplace, is one among the shortest of his papacy outside Italy's borders, only about nine hours on site, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. Francis met privately with Macron on the airport before flying back to Rome.
On the rostrum, alongside Francis, was the Bishop of Ajaccio, Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, who organized the conference, which was attended by about 400 participants from Spain, Sicily, Sardinia and southern France. The two-day meeting focused on expressions of religion that usually happen outside of formal liturgies reminiscent of processions and pilgrimages.
Popular piety in Corsica is usually site-specific and includes the cult of the Virgin Mary, known locally as “Madunnuccia,” which protected the island from the plague in 1656, when it was still under Genoa.
Corsica stands out from the remaining of secularized France as a very religious region, with 92 brotherhoods or lay associations dedicated to charity or piety and over 4,000 members.
“It means that there is a beautiful, mature, adult and responsible cooperation between civil authorities, mayors, deputies, senators, civil servants and religious authorities,” Bustillo told The Associated Press before the visit. “There is no animosity between the two. And that is a very positive aspect because there is no ideological hostility in Corsica.”
The visit was stuffed with signs of popular piety. The Pope was greeted by children in traditional clothing and accompanied repeatedly from the airport through the motorcade, the convention center and the cathedral by bands, choirs and singing groups central to Corsican culture. Thousands lined the streets to greet the pope and much more waved from the windows.
Renè Colombani traveled with 2,000 others by ship from northern Corsica to Ajaccio on the west coast to see the Pope.
“It is an event that we will not see again for a few years. It could be the only time the Pope comes to Corsica. And because we wanted to be a part of it, we came a long way,” Colombani said.
The island, which Genoa ceded to France in 1768, is closer to mainland Italy than France.
From the conference, the pope traveled to the Seventeenth-century Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta to satisfy with clergy. On the way in which he stopped on the statue of Madunnuccia, where he lit a devotional candle.
The pope celebrated Mass beneath a towering statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor whose armies annexed the Papal States in 1808 and two of Francis' predecessors – Popes Pius VI. and VII. – imprisoned before he was excommunicated and ultimately defeated on the battlefield. Thousands crowded the esplanade, where Napoleon is alleged to have played as a toddler.
Francis met Macron on the airport before taking the 50-minute flight back to Rome.
They discussed Russia's war in Ukraine, the Middle East and security issues within the Sahel and Great Lakes in Africa, in addition to Haiti and Sudan, an announcement from Macron's office said. Macron welcomed the Pope's “calls for peace, non-violence and respect for human rights,” the statement said.
Both Macron and Francis expressed their “deep concern” concerning the situation in Gaza and called for “an immediate and lasting ceasefire” and “the massive delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance,” in accordance with Macron's office. Regarding Syria, they reiterated their desire for a “fair and inclusive political transition,” the statement said.
Macron presented the Pope with two books about Notre Dame Cathedral.
The Pope deliberately didn’t travel to Paris earlier this month due to pomp surrounding the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral after the devastating 2019 fire. The visit to Corsica appears to suit Francis' priorities much better than reopening a grand cathedral that emphasizes the “Church of the Peripheries.”
It was Francis' third trip to France, every time avoiding Paris and the protocols that include a state visit. He visited the port of Marseille in 2023on an overnight visit to attend an annual summit of Mediterranean bishops and traveled to Strasbourg in 2014 to talk on the difficulty European Parliament and Council of Europe.
Corsica is home to greater than 340,000 people and has been a part of France since 1768. But the island has also seen Violence for independence and has an influential nationalist movement. Last yr, Macron proposed granting him limited autonomy.
Given the short flight back to Rome, Francis didn’t hold a mid-air press conference on the way in which home. This was the primary time in 47 trips abroad as pope that he skipped the standard briefing. However, Francis got here to the back of the plane to greet reporters and accept a mock birthday cake.
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