From the information of San Marino (by Don Luca Bernarni*) – How seriously and deeply can this phrase be understood in the context in which we live, in the fluid society in which we are called to be and walk? This question is fundamental, it is no coincidence that Pope Leo XIV recalled it with a single extremely meaningful sentence: “Promoting freedom involves defending the spaces of conscience”. It is a phrase of deadly power: the Pope, who many wrongly consider to be a sovereign despot of Catholic consciences, invites us to diligently use both freedom and conscience: freedom, that is, choosing the true good for our lives; conscience, the intimate space where God speaks and where man, alone with himself, must respond to his needs. Defending conscience means first of all protecting our self-awareness, without which we wouldn’t even be aware of the rest around us. Therefore we must first defend what we are, otherwise not even what we have around us could be well understood.
In the same way 15 years ago Benedict XVI, still speaking to the civil authorities, repeated similar concepts: “Thanks to it (identity), we can build a society attentive to the true good of the human person, to his dignity and freedom, and capable of safeguarding the right of every people to live in peace. These are the cornerstones of healthy secularism, within which civil institutions must act, in their constant commitment to defense of the common good. The Church, respectful of the legitimate autonomy of which the civil power must enjoy, collaborates with it in the service of man, in the defense of his fundamental rights.” Pope Benedict, in these sentences, articulates the same concept: by having our identity clear, handed down to us by our fathers, we are able to defend the law and the common good. This is why the Church, 15 years ago as now, wants the fundamental rights of man to be defended: life, health, education.
The two Pontiffs therefore invite us to defend our identity, our conscience.
What the two Popes remembered is nothing new and for this reason I want to connect to the feast of this day for Catholics: the memory of the Most Holy Name of Mary. Devotion to the Mother of God is something well known in our territories, just think of the various churches, sanctuaries and places that bear a Marian name. There is no church that does not have some statue or image dedicated to the Virgin.
Well, what is intriguing is the reason why we find the celebration of this name on this 12th September: this was wanted by a blessed Pope, Innocent
Precisely because of the victory obtained over the Ottomans on that day, September 11, the Church decided to celebrate Mary’s protection. On that desperate day, after months of siege, the arrival of the Polish troops led by King Jan Sobieski allowed the defeat of an army of 300,000 soldiers. Thanks to the preaching of a great friar, also blessed, Marco d’Aviano, and to the funds that the Holy See made available, Europe was saved from the Ottoman invasion. For this extraordinary event, Pope Innocent XI himself wanted to extend this memory to the entire universal Church the following year. It was therefore for the defense of the Christian lands and the people that today we can celebrate and feel the Marian devotion in our land so dear.
Now, we are not soldiers or warriors called to these actions, but we too can find the weapons to be able to defend what our ancestors have preserved, passing on the cultural and identity richness that our fathers have saved.
*Don Luca Bernardi Parish Priest of Faetano
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