Of Corrado Sanguineti*
In recent weeks we have seen the Pope as a pilgrim in the land of Spain, surrounded by thousands of people, who ran to welcome him and greet him with joy. Surprising everyone, a population of families, children and young people, adults and elderly people have gathered around the Pope: many of them see him as the successor of Peter, many others are attracted by his figure, they see in him an authoritative voice of peace, a defender of the dignity of man, today so wounded and trampled on in wars and violence, threatened by a certain “science” which reduces man to a cog in an anonymous system, denied and disfigured by a thousand forms of exploitation, abuse, commodification.
It is as if, in the desert that seems to advance, the meek and defenseless voice of Leo
In recent days the anxious anticipation of our city and of our Church of Pavia has grown, as they today experience the grace of the Holy Father’s visit: a short time but full of signs, to be welcomed with a heart wide open and open to surprise. Because, like any real meeting, the presence of the Pontiff in Pavia is an event that can have unpredictable features and leave a mark in the hearts of many: we hope in the heart of our city and our Church.
And it is always surprising to see how the Pope, beyond his specific personality – Leo is not Francis, just as Francis was not Benedict and Benedict was not John Paul – knows how to stir expectations and hopes, knows how to reawaken a people, sometimes confused and dispersed, knows how to ignite interest and listening even in those who do not share the Christian faith or live a certain distance from ecclesial life.
Here we can experience Peter’s charisma first-hand: when the Pope passes by, it is as if Peter, the apostle whom Saint Augustine defines as “vehemens amator Christi», «endowed with an ardent love for Christ», and this is what happened from the first days of the Church, in the first Christian community of Jerusalem, as Saint Luke recounts in Acts of the apostles in one of his summaries on the mother Church of Jerusalem: «More and more, however, believers in the Lord were added, a multitude of men and women, so much so that they even carried the sick into the squares, placing them on beds and stretchers, so that, when Peter passed by, at least his shadow would cover some of them. Even the crowds from the cities near Jerusalem flocked, bringing sick people and people tormented by impure spirits, and everyone was healed” (At 5, 14-16).
This image is beautiful: people rushed and placed the sick on beds and stretchers, with the hope that at least Peter’s shadow would rest on the suffering bodies and everyone would benefit from it.
I would like this to be renewed in the hours in which the Holy Father will be among us: that many can truly be touched by his shadow, meet his gaze, listen to his word, see his face, not as a showbiz character or a famous person, but as the living sign of Christ who continues to make himself present through the successor of Peter, as a shepherd who has the happiness and salvation of all at heart.
Participating in the Pope’s meetings in Pavia, greeting him in the streets and squares, celebrating him even with simple signs, with singing, applause, shouts of joy, flags in the windows and balconies, listening to what he will say, is taking part in an event that is renewed, today as two thousand years ago, it is rediscovering that Christianity is first and foremost the impact with a human presence that arouses attraction and reaches the heart, and this is the origin of every change, of every hope, whatever the historical horizon in which we are given to live, whatever the human position we live in, the condition of life and of the soul.
Just as they placed the sick in the streets, so that the shadow of Peter could cover them and bring them comfort, we bring our lives to the Pope, with its toil and suffering, we place at his feet those who are most wounded and tried in existence: our sick and elderly, often alone, the poor and the marginalized, the imprisoned and the excluded, the families in difficulty, the children full of life and, at times, already experts in pain, the children and adolescents who are confused, scared or marked by fragility and empty, the young people, the university students who open up to the future with desires and fears.
The Holy Father can only greet some of them, but with his heart he would like to embrace everyone and asks us to be those hands, those hearts, those faces that become a sign of his fatherhood and of the boundless tenderness of Christ.
It is not the task of the Pope, nor of the Church of Christ, to solve all the problems of the present: here we are all called into question, starting with those who have roles of responsibility in social, political, economic, cultural and ecclesial life, creating good alliances for the good of all, especially the weakest, those who have no voice.
Here, we await a word from Leo We wish that through the presence of the Pope the enthusiasm of faith and the passion of testimony are reawakened and encouraged, that the path of our Church is accompanied and supported, committed to developing an authentically synodal style in discernment, in choices, in the life of Christian communities and in rethinking how to be present in the territory, in contact with the real life of people and families.
We hope that the word of the Holy Father, the indications he will offer us, will help the entire civil community to grow a city of care and culture, hospitable and attentive to the most vulnerable, capable of enhancing the resources and potential present in the fabric of society, of intermediate bodies, of the large and lively world of volunteering and charity, in families and young people, who for reasons of study and work, characterize the face of Pavia.
«With you Leo, successor of Peter, in the one Christ we are one»: Welcome Pope Leo, in the name of Christ! Pavia welcomes you with joy.
*Bishop of Pavia
