“The popular faith of the Corsicans is a path to evangelization”

Between 2004 and 2011, you were appointed bishop in Corsica. Personally, what was the biggest discovery for you in meeting local Christian communities?

First of all, it was this uninhibited relationship with religion that struck me. The Corsicans have a social practice of their faith, which gives it a visible character which, I think, has contributed to stopping the phenomenon of secularization of society more than elsewhere. I discovered a Christianity more integrated into social life, which gives it a more identity-based character.

Is this linked to its history?

It should be noted that Corsica was evangelized by the Franciscans. You only need to see the number of their convents throughout the island to realize this. And the specificity of this form of evangelization was to address people by honoring them in all their dimensions. Both the rational aspect and the more emotional one. The traditional Good Friday processions in Corsica bear witness to this. Without forgetting the part of imagination. There are rites which show us and which shape the believing imagination.

How is this Franciscan?

It is enough to remember that Francis of Assisi was the first to represent the mystery of the incarnation with the nativity scene, for example. These characteristics of evangelization remain alive in Corsica. It is not surprising that Cardinal Bustillo, himself a Franciscan, is in tune with the Corsicans and supports popular religion capable of touching hearts and shaping believers.

What personal experience of popular Corsican piety do you remember?

During my episcopate in Corsica, we focused a lot on this aspect of the Corsican faith. Without a look that denigrates or devalues, but as a path for evangelization. I very quickly discovered how the brotherhoods, which are numerous in Corsica, could be an asset for evangelizing popular devotion, in particular by promoting liturgical animation and the charitable dimension of faith in Christ. A few weeks after my arrival in Corsica, I chaired the sending on mission of the new brotherhood of San Lorenzo to the village of Péri. This summer, I was happy with the invitation from these confreres to accompany Cardinal Bustillo to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their brotherhood, well anchored in diocesan life.

However, a form of devotion is not necessarily the Christian faith?

With the episcopal council and the diocesan leaders of formation, during my mission in Corsica, we reflected and took several initiatives to move from a prescribed and instinctive faith linked to devotional practices to a personally assumed faith without which there is no there is no authentic evangelization.

What were these initiatives?

The proposal for “novena” evenings which preceded the patronal feasts and thus offered times of teaching and prayer around the figure of the patron saint of the parish. And since there is no evangelization without contact with the Word of God, every month I led an evening of lectio divina (contemplative reading of the Scriptures) in three places in the diocese. This process continued with priests when I left Corsica. Without forgetting the Mission school which offers a training course lasting one year.

Does the arrival and interest of the Argentine Pope in these questions surprise you?

First, I note that Pope Francis is very attentive to the Churches of the Mediterranean basin. In Marseille, he addressed the issue of migration in the Mediterranean. In Ajaccio, it is the theme of piety in the Mediterranean that interests him. From the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis already invited popular religiosity to be taken seriously into account. I quote him in one of his first official documents: “The expressions of popular piety have much to teach us, and, for those who know how to read them, they are a theological place to which we must pay attention, particularly at the moment when we think to the new evangelization.” (Evangelii Gaudium 126).

This reading and interpretation of popular piety is, however, not always simple…

Culture is the place of man. Anthropologists define it as the set of knowledge, know-how and manners characteristic of a particular group, which allows it to specifically inhabit its environment with a view to developing it and making it its own world. ‘. In Corsica, the adequacy between the Christian faith brought by the Franciscans and popular religious practices allows the inhabitants of the island to unify in the same approach, cultural integration in Corsican society and identity as disciples of Christ, who is nourished of the inspiring example of the many saints venerated on the island.

In the meantime, you who are of northern origin have become bishop of Le Havre. In these regions far from the Mediterranean basin, do you find equivalent forms of piety?

The experience I had during my episcopate in Corsica is unique. Even if we find traces of popular piety in the North or in Le Havre, the socio-religious contexts are different. They are more marked by a social Christianity. But the need to evangelize and support Christ’s disciples in proclaiming the Gospel in order to put it in contact with the daily lives of their contemporaries also remains essential. My experience over seven years serving the Church in Corsica always stimulates me to make those who choose to follow Christ authentic “missionary disciples”. The Church in Corsica, which made me become a bishop concerned with helping to achieve a deep unity between faith in Christ and the way of living in one’s social environment. The magisterial teachings of Pope Francis help us greatly on this point. His last encyclical, Dilexit noson devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is well in line with everything he has already brought to the universal Church.