Pope Francis went back to his father's birthplace in northern Italy to celebrate his cousin's 90th birthday, the first time since he became pope that he has gone there alone.
The importance of honoring the elderly and the human toll of migration were some of the keystones of his papacy. Francis could well reflect on his family's migration to Argentina during the public Mass that will be celebrated on Sunday.
The pope's father, Mario Jose Francisco Bergoglio, and his paternal grandparents traveled to Argentina in 1929 in order to reach other relatives who had left Italy in the middle of the 20th century.
The future pope was born eight years after his father met and married the daughter of Italian immigrants. Francis had a paternal grandmother namedRosa who cared for him most days.
Asti, an agricultural town that lost population due to emigration and became an industrial center, was the location of the elder Bergoglio's birth.
The town had more than 2,700 residents a century ago, but fell as low as 1,680 in the 1980's.
Italy became the biggest voluntary diaspora in the world after 14 million Italians left from 1876 to 1915, according to Lauren Braun-Strumfels, an associate professor of history.
Francis has made welcoming and integration of migrants a hallmark of his papacy, often facing criticism as Europe in general, and Italy in particular, are consumed with the debate over how to manage 21st century mass migration.
The recent canonizations of St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, an Italian bishop who founded an order to help Italian emigrants at the end of the 19th century, and Artemide Zatti, an Italian who left his homeland, have been recognized by the pope.
He used the occasion to speak out against Europe's indifference towards migrants who risk their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
Francis ate lunch at the home of a cousin on Saturday. The photographs released by the Vatican show Francis hugging Rabezzana and sitting at the head of the table. He stopped at a nursing home to greet guests and bless them.
Rabezzana told the newspaper that they had known each other for a long time. Giorgio stayed because I had an extra room. We kept our relationship that way.
We always made fun of ourselves. He told me that he would come to celebrate my birthday. I was told to try to live. We laughed out loud.
Many of the pope's cousins still live in the area.
There are many distant cousins in the area and it was a big family. He said that when Francis was elected pope, everyone in the town was surprised.
Everyone knew that a prelate had become a cardinal, but not everyone in town was aware of it.
Francis hasn't returned to his birthplace in Argentina after a decade as pope. He didn't explain why he stayed away. If he were to step down as pope, he wouldn't go back to Argentina to live but would stay in Rome.
That's right.
Barry traveled to Milan. She contributed from Rome.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
