Pope in Calabria

(October 08, 2011) Pope Benedict XVIth will make his 25th Pastoral Visit in Italy, on Sunday, to Lamezia Terme, in the south Italian region of Calabria, the tip of the horseshoe-shaped Italian subcontinent. Calabria is bathed by both the Tyrrenian and Ionian seas, and is separated from Sicily by the straits of Messina. This visit to Calabria is historical since it comes 25 years after the double visit of Pope Blessed John Paul II in 1984 and in 1986. The pastoral letter of the Bishop of Lamezia Terme, Luigi Antonio Cantafora, in preparation for the Papal Visit, highlights the occasion as one more signpost on the way to the Synod on the new Evangelisation. The Bishop begins with the healing of the paralytic at the golden gate of Jerusalem’s temple, by Peter, who says: “gold and silver I have none, but in the name of Jesus, get up and walk”. The diocese is summoned to overcome a certain paralysis resulting from a partial understanding of the social doctrine of the church; so the pastoral journey of the diocese, through the family apostolate, through Caritas and so forth throws new light on evangelisation. And the life of the 11^th century German monk St Bruno who at the end of his career settles down in a monastery close to Certosa, is an inspiration for the development of the social doctrine. Pope Benedict will visit precisely the sons of St Bruno at Certosa. The Pope will be in Calabria for an entire day, concelebrating Holy Mass, reciting the noonday angelus prayer and meeting with the Bishops and other groups, chief among them the Monks of Serra San Bruno of Certosa, where Pope John Paul II had stopped 25 years ago. In his pastoral letter Bishop Cantafora focuses on the message of faith and hope which the successor of St Peter brings to this land afflicted by so many historical ills.