War is not a destiny and we cannot remain silent in the face of "the culture of power, vulgar and invasive, the result of brazen and enormous economic interests, of nationalisms that ruin nations", says the president of the CEI Matteo Zuppi early in the morning in the homily that opened the celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis. "In these times marked by senseless and cruel wars, by so much violence and arrogance, the hope is that the sun of Francis can illuminate the world, convert minds hardened by hatred, indicate the path to peace, hope, serene, fraternal coexistence", echoes shortly after the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella from the gallery of the basilica of Assisi, warming the hearts of the many pilgrims who have come to Assisi in the name of the friar who became holy.
Sergio Mattarella analyzes the figure of Saint Francis, updates his works and thoughts, trying to tear away the veil of stereotypes that surrounds the figure of the most famous friar in the world, "a prophet of peace but anything but accommodating, a universal prophet". "We would not do justice to the saint of Assisi - he explains from the square - if his figure were exhausted in that of an ecologist, pacifist and charitable worker before his time". Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, in her memory, highlights how he was "an Italian who forged the identity of an entire people".
The president instead dismisses simplified readings of the saint with a high-flying speech on the true meaning of pacifism. He doesn't need to go into detail, name names or locate geographic areas. Everyone knows what is happening in the world and who are the protagonists of these tragedies. Cardinal Zuppi opens the journey with a frank and direct homily that strikes the hearts of the many faithful. The head of state doubles down by using institutional, but no less blunt, language whose objective is to convey the Franciscan "revolution" into people's feelings which, if metabolized, is perhaps the only one that can bring peace to this planet. Immediately a jab at those, individuals or confessions, who think they can draw their swords in the name of God: "today terrible conflicts bloodied 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". But that's not enough, if 'peace' is the most cited and applauded word in Assisi, Mattarella talks about Francis to say what few have the courage to say in a West that seems to no longer want rules. And it is no coincidence that he speaks of "dignity" in a world in which a few super-rich trample on this dignity: "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. Remembering, today, Francis' teaching to the contemporary world means highlighting some decidedly current foundations of his preaching: dignity of every person, respect for Creation, peace". Respect for creation therefore, another strong theme of the Quirinale. In Saint Francis there is not only the revolutionary love for animals: there are the epochal challenges of "pollution of the air, water, earth, the devastation of forests, the overheating of the planet". Never before, the president summarizes, would there be a need for the friar's "radical" choices; there would be a need for his "shocking in the eyes of the world" choices.
