Francis’ visit to Caserta: Defying decay and promoting ecumenism…
The Pope embraces the 250 thousand people who waited for him under the pouring rain!!
The Land of Fires is no longer isolated. Francis assured Caserta’s faithful of this. Crowds of people defied the rain and gathered at the city’s palace early this morning. The palace is a symbol of decay and abandonment in a land ruled by the mafia; a land which has had to bear the loss of so many as a result of the environmental damage caused by organized crime clans that have been pumping poison into the ground for decades.
From now on the Pope is going to be the spokesman of those those who have no voice. He promised this in his message to 250 thousand “pilgrims of hope” who came from all over Italy’s Campania region. He also reiterated it when he met people face to face, shaking their hands, listening to their own private experiences of suffering and offering them words of comfort. After his helicopter landed in the Non-Commissioned Officers’ School of the Air Force, Francis got into the “Popemobile” accompanied by the Bishop of Caserta, Giovanni D’Alise and after about ten metres he stopped to talk to a group of a hundred or so faithful.
The Pope then met with priests from the local diocese in the Officers’ Club of the Air Force at the Royal palace of Caserta. The meeting took the form of a dialogue between the the Pope and the clergy who asked him various questions. Today Francis is meeting and embracing the Catholic community of Caserta and on Monday he will pay a personal visit to his friend, the pastor of the Evangelical Church of Reconciliation, Giovanni Traettino. He will speak off the cuff before a gathering of 350 Pentecostals, including some Evangelical pastors from the United States. The stage which has been prepared for the Pope’s visit will also host a group of musicians and a bass guitar!!
This is just a temporary set-up as the church building is currently under construction. After meeting the Evangelical community, the Pope will lunch with Traettino and some other pastors in the guesthouse. This will be an unprecedented visit, partly because it is going to be the first time a Pope leaves the Vatican to go and meet a Protestant community.
This gesture of openness towards the Evangelicals is as unexpected as it is appreciated. Bergoglio planted the seeds for Monday’s meeting back in 1998, when he met a number of Evangelical pastors, including Traettino, in Argentina. Bergoglio formed a good relationship with these Evangelicals and this was rekindled during Traettino’s recent visit to the Vatican which led to the Pope being invited to Caserta to meet the local Pentecostal community. The announcement roused controversy and objections, some bolder than others, particularly within the very large and varied Evangelical community. Some Churches are not so open to dialogue with the Pope, whose authority is not recognized. Indeed some even oppose it. Il dibattito corre sui siti Internet specializzati e testimonia di come ancora una volta i gesti di Francesco rompano schemi consolidati e prospettino scenari inediti.
The question is being hotly debated on specialist websites and is yet another illustration of Francis’ tendency to break the mold, promising unexpected turns.
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