Pope Francis yesterday visited the Mediterranean island of Corsica, located west of the Mainland of Italy and north of the Italian island of Sardinia, and encouraged the island's Catholic majority to foster its traditional piety , as secular culture grows in Europe, the Catholic News website reports today (Dec. 15, 2024).
The papal visit to the capital Ajaccio touched the peripheries of France, where a strongly Catholic population is steeped in Corsican traditions, including songs, both sacred and secular, linked to confraternities.
The religious associations, which have a long history of Corsican culture, continue to pass down the custom of singing. The hymns are usually sung a capella and in Latin.
Traditional Corsican hymns featured throughout Pope Francis's visit, especially at his Mass with an estimated 7,000 Catholics at Place d'Austerlitz, a park built as a memorial to Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who was born in Ajaccio. Authorities estimate another 8,000 people were following the Mass on jumbo screens around the city.
In his homily for the Third Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis said too much time thinking about ourselves and our own needs is why "we lose the spirit of joy."
"If we live only for ourselves, we will never find happiness, the pope said, pointing to the recitation of the Rosary and the spiritual and corporal works of mercy of the confraternities as an example of how to cultivate faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment