An antidote to ideological prejudice

Pope Francis had three engagements on his one-day Apostolic Journey to Corsica, in the heart of the Mediterranean, on Sunday, 15 December, during which he delivered three discourses on various themes. His ten hours in the capital city Ajaccio, were like a long embrace between the pastor of the Universal Church and one of his “sheep”, the local Church of Corsica, who enthusiastically welcomed him with affection and warmth.

The Holy Father’s first discourse was to participants in the concluding session of the Congress on “Popular Piety in the Mediterranean”, in which he reflected on the congress’ theme, which is very dear to him. He wished to do so during this time in history, a time of “epochal change” in which, he noted, “especially in European countries, the question of God seems to be retreating as people become increasingly indifferent to his presence and his word”. The Holy Father warned that, “in analysing this scenario, we need to beware of hasty considerations and ideological judgements that, even in our day, would pit Christian culture and secular culture against one another. This is a mistake”.

Quoting Benedict xvi, Pope Francis highlighted the importance of a “healthy secularity”, made of respect, dialogue and harmony between the laity and religious. The ideological approach excludes and leads to divergence, which hinders efforts to seek the common good. The Pope’s thoughts clearly have political nuances and repercussions. In a world that is increasingly more polarized and conflicted, the path of peace between (and within) peoples passes through the rediscovery of popular piety, as Pope Francis said: “In this context, we can appreciate the beauty and importance of popular piety”, which, by “expressing faith through simple gestures and a symbolic language rooted in the culture of the people, popular piety reveals God’s presence in the living flesh of history, strengthens the relationship with the Church and often becomes an occasion for encounter, cultural exchange and celebration. It is curious: a piety that is not festive does not ‘have a good aroma’, it is not a piety that comes from the people, it is too ‘distilled’”.

In the age of populisms, the problem is not that there are too many people, but that there are too few of them. This simple, festive piety should never degenerate into superstition, into sectarian closure, but rather be open to the encounter, to cultural exchange. Only in this way, the Pope continued, can it be capable of offering and giving Christians “constructive citizenship”. Sometimes, he added, “some intellectuals, some theologians do not understand this”. He warned against a “distilled” and disembodied piety. The path he invited Christians to walk, without any fear, is a narrow one: to live with a simple and free heart the popular dimension of their faith without slipping into superficial “folklore” or into a closure marked by vengeance based on identity and defensiveness, a product of the fear of the world. On the contrary, this piety leads one to “dive into” that living flesh of history in which God abides.

The concreteness of a faith lived authentically is an antidote to ideologies, a risk that is still very much alive today.

The Holy Father’s three brief moments of physical embrace and all the “unexpected events”, show that his thoughts are never separated from actions. As he entered the Cathedral in Ajaccio for his second encounter of the day, Pope Francis stopped to embrace Fr. Gaston Pietri, a 95-year old priest who was ordained 70 years ago. He then warmly greeted each of the children of the choir that had welcomed him with a version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Lastly, after delivering his discourse, he tenderly embraced a young altar server suffering from a mental disorder. At the end of their long embrace, the altar server blessed the Holy Father who thanked him for the blessing. These three brief, moving encounters were like an embrace between Corsicans and their pastor, who thanked the island’s young people for making him feel at home.

An elderly man, children and a sick person: the Pope knows that the world is fragile and he points to the cure as the most just way to humanize life. In a society in which everything is becoming “muscular”, the Pope knows that the “bones” of this common house, which is humanity, are fragile and in need of a attention. To humanity’s inebriation with its omnipotent technology and its arrogance of basing everything on performance and results, the Holy Father responds with an invitation to look to the humility of small gestures, which are like partly hidden seeds of beauty and kindness, ready to sprout. (A. Monda)

Andrea Monda