G7, Pope Francis for the fifth time in Puglia: twice in Bari, and then in prayer with Saint Pio and Don Tonino Bello

The Prime Minister’s announcement Giorgia Meloni that Pope Francis will be in Puglia to participate in the G7 (the first time for a pontiff) in the session dedicated to artificial intelligence has taken everyone by surprise.

Great satisfaction from the President of the Region, Michele Emilianowhich in a short note says: “With great joy we welcomed the news that Pope francesco will be present in Puglia on the occasion of G7. His high vision of things, his ability to analyze the present, his incessant commitment to building peace, his depth in knowing how to get straight to the hearts of people will offer a fundamental contribution to the international debate. For us all it will be a very important opportunity for reflection, dialogue between peoples and collective growth.”

Before him the words of the Archbishop of Bari-Bitonto, Monsignor Giuseppe Satriano during a round table in which artificial intelligence was discussed: “The fact that the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, wanted Pope Francis” to participate in the work of the G7 in the session dedicated to artificial intelligence “is a sign that he appreciated it as much as the Pontiff he said” because “he is insisting a lot on the value of artificial intelligence but also on the dangers that artificial intelligence can pose for the human race if an ethical barrier is not put in place”.

The theme of the initiative in Bari, entitled ‘Artificial intelligence and wisdom of the heart: for fully human communication’ is close to the themes that the G7 will deal with in the session in which Francis will participate: “The themes that the Pope addresses – he continues Monsignor Satriano – are significant and fundamental” and are “the care of the common home, therefore the good of all, and brotherhood. And these themes are two declinations with which we can find the possibility of making artificial intelligence a significant innovation for the history of humanity, not as many fear a destructive reality. And this, I believe, could also be an appeal to the powerful of the Earth”.

“After all – he concludes – throughout the history of humanity since stone, iron, gunpowder and nuclear power were discovered, we have had great opportunities for the history of humanity” which become opportunities “missed there where attention is polarized on one’s self and not on us”.

Francis has a special relationship with Puglia and with Bari in particular: his devotion to the Madonna dell’Odegitria kept in the cathedral is no mystery but also his closeness to the spirituality of Saint Nicholas to whom he entrusted the prayers for the peace in Ukraine and in the world. But the first meeting in Puglia was in 2017 in San Giovanni Rotondo in front of the tomb of Saint Pio, in the sanctuary of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

He came to the capital in July 2018 to participate in the meeting with the patriarchs of the Middle East whom he sent to the Basilica of San Nicola: a historic event followed throughout the world and which attracted thousands of faithful to the Bari seafront, a large group of approximately two kilometers.

Then on 23 February 2020 (a few days before the lockdown for Covid) Vittorio Emanuele returned to Bari for the ongoing mass at the end of the meeting “Mediterranean, frontier of peace”, a moment of prayer in which the President of the Republic Sergio also participated Mattarella.

But again in 2018 the Pope came to Puglia to pay homage to the figure of Don Tonino Bello: in Alessano (Lecce) the town of his birth and where he was buried (Francis stopped for a long time on his tomb) and also in Molfetta where the venerable he exercised the episcopal mandate