The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella is in Assisi to participate in the celebrations for Saint Francis, patron saint of Italy. Which becomes a national holiday again. Welcoming Mattarella were Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, the President of the Umbria Region Stefania Proietti, with the Council, the Mayor of Assisi Valter Stoppini and the custodian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi Fra Marco Moroni.
"In this season we are tempted and seduced by the culture of power, vulgar and invasive, deceptive, the result of misplaced emphasis and of brazen and enormous economic interests, of nationalisms that ruin nations, of campaigns that create the enemy instead of seeking what unites". The card says so. Matteo Zuppi celebrating from Assisi on the feast of Saint Francis: "His and ours - he adds - is a world marked by terrible wars" but "Francis reminds us that war is not a destiny". "There is no time to waste, the divider cheats and makes people believe that we find peace with weapons and not with dialogue and law". "Laudato si' - says Zuppi in the homily - because Brother Francis continues to give us peace and to teach us to be peacemakers, to bring it where there is violence, hatred, misunderstanding. He stripped himself of everything to be disarmed. It does not mean yielding, accommodating, irrelevant at all. The opposite! Brother Francis disarms the wolf by calling him a friar and, being a friar for him, negotiates with him, for Gubbio and also for the wolf, gives him back to himself and to the community to take care of him". "Saint Francis - he continues -, precisely because he was clear about who he was and what he believed in, he was not afraid to meet everyone and to be close to anyone, not with the sword, but with dialogue, a brother without arrogance and distance. He helps us in this threatening time to understand that only together do we find the answer and only if peace is with everyone is it truly peace. He only asks for humble operators and humble architects of peace who, with courage, help us live together, strong in law and not imposing law by force. Saint Francis it does not indicate a love reduced to a vague, ineffable idea, which asks for nothing, falsely reassuring for those who try to save themselves, but a love such as true, total love for everyone".
"President Mattarella gives us a great, great gift, we really wanted his presence and he gives it to us on behalf of all of Italy": thus Friar Marco Moroni, custodian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, on the feast day of Saint Francis, which is celebrated in the Umbrian city in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. "It is a truly special day for Assisi, it is every 4th October but even more so this year", he underlined. The custodian then recalled the meaning of the offering of oil for the votive lamp that burns in front of the Saint's tomb. "This year it is truly the whole of Italy - he underlined -, not only metaphorically, which donates the oil for the lamp that is in front of Saint Francis. We are all together, united, to remember Francis, who is truly the saint of all". A message which, according to Fra Moroni, also transcends national borders. "Francis is not just from Italy, he is truly from the world", he added, also underlining the significance of the presence of the ambassadors in Assisi. "We open up on a universal level - reiterated the custodian of the Sacred Convent - from the particular, with the mayor of Assisi lighting the lamp, to the universal. Because Francis' message is for everyone".
The mayor of Assisi Valter Stoppini lit the votive lamp that illuminates the tomb of St. Francis, in Assisi. He did so on behalf of all the Italian regions, provinces and municipalities during the mass celebrated in the Upper Basilica by the president of the Italian bishops Matteo Zuppi, in the presence of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Alfredo Mantovano and the President of the Umbria Region Stefania Proietti. "We express the love that all Italians have for you and we implore your constant protection" said Stoppini, addressing Saint Francis. "Keep watch, holy brother Francis, over our people - he added -, enlighten the rulers, watch over the fate of Italy. Strengthen the bonds of unity, solidarity, brotherhood. Bless all the workers and give them and their families prosperity and peace".
Mattarella: 'St. Francis broke the idolatry of money, a lesson for today'
"Eight hundred years have passed since the death of Saint Francis, patron saint of Italy together with another great saint, Catherine of Siena. The temporal distance that separates us from that event has in no way reduced his charm and charisma, which lives well beyond the borders of Italy and of Christianity itself, of which he is the son and eminent figure. Prophet of peace, of love, of respect for Creation, his teaching is a universal heritage for women and men of all times and of all latitudes, believers or non-believers, Christians or believers of other religions". The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, said this, speaking in Assisi at the ceremony on the occasion of the National Day of Saint Francis, on the eighth centenary of his death.
"Celebrating Francis today, here at the Sacred Convent, on this important anniversary, means reflecting on an apparent paradox, perhaps inexplicable for a rather widespread mentality. As was written in one of his important biography, Francis "did not offer a political response to social injustices, to the problem of evil in the world". "Francis - added the head of State - only asked to live, in poverty, peace and joy, with his brothers and sisters, following Christ and living the message of Gospel, inviting the "privilege of evangelical poverty", an exhortation that made him distinct from the pauperistic movements of the time. For this choice, radical and shocking in the eyes of the world, the man who, for himself and his followers, wanted the humble name of "friars minor", became one of the most significant, best known, most loved figures in universal history".
"Influenced by the chivalric ideals of his time, he felt called to great things in the world. But in the short space of a few years, and after unfulfilling experiences, he brought about a true revolution within himself and on himself. Rich would have been the one who had stripped himself of all possessions. Courageous is he who laid down his sword to speak of peace. Noble was he who had made love and service to the poor and the sick his earthly mission. The glory and honor, so coveted by the young people of his era, were therefore to be sought in poverty, in love for all creatures, starting with the smallest ones, in closeness to God in prayer".
"His poverty, so sought and desired, was a concrete break with the idolatry of money; his humility had nothing naive about it, it was born from a demanding thirst for truth; his obedience was not submissiveness, but a tiring, thoughtful search for the superior reasons for the unity of the Christian people and the Church. Remembering Francis' teaching to the contemporary world today means highlighting some decidedly current foundations of his preaching: the dignity of every person, respect for Creation, peace".
"In the century of Francis there are no enormous, decisive issues of pollution of air, water, land, the devastation of forests, the overheating of the planet, which today we experience with growing concern, so well highlighted by Pope Francis' "Laudato Sì". "The nature of Umbria and the areas frequented by Francis in his incessant pilgrimage is uncontaminated, its fruits seem to be offered to humanity in an inexhaustible way. Yet, with how much delicacy, with how much consideration, Francesco looks at the environment that surrounds him. Water, a commodity of increasing value today and at risk of triggering serious conflicts in the future, is 'utility and humility', 'precious and chaste'. The wolf, symbol of irreconcilable enmity with man, is tamed, not killed. The flowers, the fruits, the grass, with their simple beauty, sing the glory of God. It is the hierarchy - added Mattarella - that Francis revolutionizes: the natural elements, the plants, the animals must be respected. Man can dispose of them but not make them the object of immoderate and violent exploitation: he must love them."
"Today, terrible conflicts are bloodying many parts of the world, and in some parts there is even a return to blessing weapons and placing armies under religious insignia: Francis teaches us that there is no greater sin than that of killing other men in the name of God. We would not be doing justice to the saint of Assisi if his figure were exhausted in that of an ecologist, pacifist and charitable worker ante litteram".
