The hug at detained (“No one takes away a person’s dignity. Every time I enter prison I say: why them and not me?”); the invitation to young (“By God you are children, not digital profiles. Be revolutionaries, go against the grain”); the appeal for Venice (“It is one with the waters on which it stands, and without the care and protection of this natural setting it could even cease to exist”). Pope Francis’ visit has already made history. He was the first pontiff to visit the Biennale (the Vatican pavilion «With my eyes» was set up at women’s prison of Giudecca), the mass it was not celebrated in the square Saint Mark for almost 40 years, the icon of the Madonna della Salute had not left the sanctuary since the post-war period, but above all the messages launched by Francis in the three meetings of his brief visit to Venice struck straight to the heart of everyone: prisoners, young people, faithful and politicians.
Ten thousand in Piazza San Marco
«He told the kids to learn to row but also to learn to defend the city and its beauty. We can’t do that thank him of these words of comfort”, commented after the pontiff’s departure mayor Luigi Brugnaro. «With this pastoral visit he brings a sign of peace for all 60 conflicts in the world”, added the governor of Veneto Luca Zaia. Over ten thousand faithful gathered on Sunday in San Marco in front of a Basilica finally without scaffolding and as shiny as ever. Party And prayer they alternated throughout the morning in the places and with the people he approached. Perhaps frugal, quick meetings, but full of emotional charge and meaning.
«An inmate hugged him»
«Let’s not forget that we all have mistakes to make up for And wounds to heal, me too, and that we can all become healed who bring healing, forgiven who bring forgiveness, reborn who bring rebirth”, he said at the Giudecca prison, underlining the problems of overcrowding in penitentiaries. «It was a calm meeting, not hasty or superficial. The Pope set it up in his own way, beyond the ceremonial greeting everyone – he comments Don Antonio Biancotto, chaplain of the two prisons of Venice -. He received from the inmates tickets greetings, requests of prayer, one has it hugged: a humanly rich encounter. But I was struck by the relaxed atmosphere, like when you are with family.”
The appeal for Venice
The invitation to live life and “not to sit on the sofa”, has lashed the young who met him in the Salute field where Pope Francis arrived by boat after receiving get up, as a sign of homage, of the Venetian rowers. «Life asks to be given, not managed; to get out of hypnotic world of social media which anesthetizes the soul – he said -. Guys, don’t be professionals of compulsive typing, but creators of new things.” Then the mass, the motto «Remain in the love of Christ», the Gospel according to John e the appeal to save Venice. «If we look at this city today, we admire its enchanting beauty, but we are also worried about the many problems that threaten it: i climate changes, which have an impact on the waters of the lagoon and on the territory; the fragility of buildings, gods cultural heritage, but also that of people; the difficulty of creating an environment that is on a human scale through adequate management of tourism».
The gifts for the Pope and the words of Patriarch Moraglia
Four i gifts who received Pope Francis from the Church of Venice: from the forcola to the prayer, to the eight mini housing for people in difficultyrenovated spacesformer convent of the Muneghette. «A word that we say together with one voice and with all our heart is thank you – said the patriarch Francesco Moraglia —. The inhabitants of Venice and the lands of the Northeast are hard-working, honest, generous people. In the past they have lived on their own skin and, therefore, they know well what it means to leave their homeland and migrate. Yes, they know the drama that many live today.”
The prayer for peace to the icon of Health
And also from Venice, Pope Francis returned to pray for peoples at war. She did it during the Regina Coeli performance in Piazza San Marco. «I think of the tortured woman Ukraine – said the pontiff -, to Palestine and Israel and to the many populations who suffer due to wars and violence. May the God of peace enlighten the heart so that the desire for dialogue and reconciliation remains in everyone.” And precisely on the word peace that often resonates from the lips of Francis, the patriarch recalled the presence in the Square of the icon of the Madonna della Salute called «Mesopanditissa», i.e. mediator of peace, because in 1264 the war that lasted more than half a century between Venice and Candia ended in front of her. The Pope stopped to pray in front of him for a few moments, just as he did shortly afterwards in front of the relics of Saint Mark inside the Basilica. Around one o’clock the pontiff arrives broken down For Rome concluding the quick visit and Piazza San Marco gradually began to return to normal with the shops open, the cafes and the tourists with the inevitable selfies.
