what to remember from this historic trip

The children were particularly in the spotlight, singing numerous songs, such as at the cathedral where a magnificent revival of theHallelujah by Leonard Cohen visibly moved Pope Francis, who called them into the choir to congratulate them. The youngest were also greeted by the sovereign pontiff during the homily at the Casone. “I have never seen so many young children with their parents. Have children! It is your joy, it is your glory!” he said, eliciting loud applause from the assembly. The mass ended around 5:30 p.m. to the tune of Dio vi salvi Reginathe Corsican anthem, taken up by the faithful and all the choirs present.

The joy and hope of Advent in the spotlight

This was the heart of his spiritual message. First before the Angelus given in Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral where the Pope called on bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons and seminarians to cultivate joy. “Let us learn to share not only difficulties and challenges but also joy and friendship with each other. Your bishop said something that I really like, that it is important to move from the “Book of Lamentations” to the “Book of Song of Songs.” This is important. A psalm also says it: “You have changed my mourning into a dance” (Ps 29:12). Let us share the joy of being apostles and disciples of the Lord!” Departing, as usual, from the written speech, he also called on his audience to “cultivate a sense of humor.”

Politics in minor mode

This nine-hour pastoral visit to Corsica was not the occasion for particularly striking political messages. Even if it means disappointing those who were expecting it on the reception of migrants – a sensitive issue on the island, where the arrival of boats from the Maghreb or the Middle East sometimes arouses strong reactions – or on the weight of the organized crime. Two subjects he did not address.

On the other hand, the Pope, during his speech delivered at the end of the morning at Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption Cathedral, once again addressed an appeal for peace for countries scarred by conflicts: “Peace for Palestine, for Israel, for Lebanon, for Syria, for the Middle East!” repeating his antiphon: “War is always a defeat.” He also had a thought for the Ukrainian children during the mass at Casone: “So many Ukrainian children, displaced by the war, have stopped smiling. They forgot. Please let us think of these children from lands ravaged by war.”

He also did not forget the Mayotte archipelago devastated by the passage of Cyclone Chido. “Let us pray for the victims of the cyclone (…). I support in spirit those who have been affected by this tragedy.”

An inspiring “Corsican” secularism

For Pope Francis, authentic popular piety harmonizes “the cultural values ​​of a people and the Christian faith, uniting hearts and merging a community.” In Corsica, the brotherhoods ensure a well-accepted presence of believers in the public space, and Cardinal Bustillo underlined, in the days preceding the papal visit, the original and dynamic secularism experienced on the Isle of Beauty.

Francis notes: “Believers can find themselves on a common path with secular, civil and political institutions, to work together for integral human growth and the safeguarding of this “island of beauty”.” And sees further: “Hence the need to develop a concept of secularism which is not static and fixed, but evolving and dynamic.” Taking up the words of his predecessor Benedict XVI, he drives the point home: “Healthy secularism means “liberating belief from the weight of politics and enriching politics with the contributions of belief, while maintaining the necessary distance, the clear distinction and the “indispensable collaboration between the two.”

In passing, the Bishop of Rome castigated a hardened secularism which would seek to lock religious faith and practice into private space: “We must be wary of this development, I would say heretical, of the privatization of faith; (…) if it intends to be fully faithful to itself – faith implies a commitment and a witness to all for human growth, social progress and the protection of all creation.