L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2025 www.italoamericano.org 10 L'Italo-Americano I was born Catholic, like most Italians of my generation. Brought up by devout grand- parents, they taught me how to make the sign of the cross the right way and t h e w o r d s o f a l l p r a y e r s . Today, at the ripe age of 47, I remain spiritual and I remain a Catholic, but I don't go to mass every Sunday. I pray, of course. Just not exactly the way my grandmother taught me all those years ago. Just like it is for many other Ital- ians —and Catholics around the world — my connection to the Church is not the same as that of older generations. Yet, the figure of the Pope has always remained firmly in place for me, a constant, a certainty, a stable presence, a bit like an old teacher in high school you don't always agree w i t h b u t y o u i n h e r e n t l y respect. There are institutions that exist beyond personal belief, and for many Italians, the P o p e i s o n e o f t h e m . H i s death, no matter how expect- e d , l e a v e s b e h i n d a q u i e t sense of absence. I wouldn't call it disorientation, exactly — but something closer to the feeling of losing someone who has always been there, even if you hadn't been paying much attention. Much like what many in the UK felt when Queen Elizabeth passed away: it marks the end of an era you assumed would last forever. Pope Francis had been in fragile health for some time. Over the past few years, he h a d u n d e r g o n e s u r g e r i e s , dealt with ongoing pain, and was increasingly reliant on a wheelchair; the Vatican had occasionally downplayed the severity of his condition, but reports of hospital visits had become more frequent. In the end, he passed away at the age of 88, following a short b u t s e r i o u s c o m p l i c a t i o n linked to a respiratory infec- tion. The Vatican announced his death early in the morn- ing, and almost instantly, the bells began to toll. Not only in Rome, but in cities and small towns across Italy. The reaction of the country was swift, emotional. I was sitting in my garden, having the first coffee of the day, watching over my cats run- ning around, when a sudden pang of sadness hit deep into my heart and a question rose to my lips: "E adesso?" Fran- cis is the third Pope (if we include Pope Ratzinger, who passed away after stepping down and was known as a Pope Emeritus) passing away during my lifetime: John Paul II was the Pope of my youth: he was elected the year I was born and, up to the age of 27, when I said il Papa it was his fatherly eyes that I thought of. Benedict XVI was a beautiful mind, one of the greatest theologians of the 20th and early 21st cen- t u r i e s ; h e l o v e d a n i m a l s , especially cats, just like I do. He was also often vilified for being born in Germany under a d i c t a t o r s h i p a n d b e i n g forced, like all his contempo- raries, to be part of a regime where choosing what side to support wasn't an option: I know that firsthand, because my grandparents were his generation's and the same happened to them. And I can g u a r a n t e e y o u , m y n o n n i were not fascists. W h e n J o r g e M a r i o Bergoglio, the first Jesuit and the first Latin American Pope, was elected in 2013, my first thought was: "He chose the name of my Saint!", as my name is Francesca and I was baptized on the 4th of Octo- ber, the day of St. Francis of Assisi. But, besides my own personal name connec- tion, there was a lot more to say about him, as he proved to be quite an unconventional presence in the Vatican from the start. He rejected the papal apartments, choosing i n s t e a d t o l i v e i n S a n t a Marta, where he stayed while taking part in the conclave that was to elect him. He traveled with a carry-on bag, wore simple robes and ortho- pedic shoes, and often impro- vised speeches. His image — e m b r a c i n g t h e d i s a b l e d , washing the feet of prisoners, smiling gently at children — w a s o n e o f c l o s e n e s s a n d informality. But he was not, as some might assume, sim- ply gentle. He had a strong w i l l , a n d h e k n e w h o w t o assert it. His stance on inter- nal Vatican reform, financial transparency, and episcopal responsibility in abuse cases showed that he was capable of decisive, and sometimes unpopular, action. Francis had also placed urgent attention on issues often overlooked by previous p o n t i f i c a t e s . H i s 2 0 1 5 e n c y c l i c a l L a u d a t o S i ' — a n o t h e r n o d t o h i s ( a n d mine!) namesake in its title — marked a turning point in the Church's engagement with environmental matters. He spoke clearly about climate change, pollution, and the destruction of biodiversity, insisting that these were not only scientific or political questions, but moral ones. He framed ecology as care and saw the planet as part of the same moral framework that governs human relation- ships. This struck a chord w e l l b e y o n d t h e C a t h o l i c world, as did his willingness to open conversations about inclusion—toward LGBTQ+ communities, toward women, and toward those who have long felt marginalized by reli- gious discourse. Let us say that if he did not change doctrine, he certainly changed tone. For many, that was a start. Of course, not e v e r y o n e a g r e e d w i t h h i s approach: no Pope in history has been universally accept- ed, and Bergoglio was no exception. He was criticized both by conservative factions within the Church and by more progressive voices who believed he had not gone far enough. But that, in a way, only confirms that his papacy was active and engaged. There were images that caught this mood better than any statement, but one, in particular, has stayed with me: Pope Francis, laid in the popemobile, driven through the center of Rome on his final journey to Santa Maria Maggiore. People lined the streets along the six-kilome- ter journey, many leaned out of their windows to wave or simply watch. Some made the s i g n o f t h e c r o s s . O t h e r s remained still. The Colosse- um in the background, the narrow streets of the capital, the crowd, at times silent, at times chanting his name: un ultimo abbraccio al Papa, "a last hug to the Pope," many said, and it truly was. T h e d e a t h o f a P o p e i s always a moment of transi- tion; it closes one chapter and opens another. But there is also a pause, however brief, in which people reflect not only on the man but on what his life meant to them, what his presence represented. For t h o s e w h o w a t c h e d P o p e F r a n c i s t r y t o m o v e t h e Church closer to the world, that memory will remain. He didn't do everything. No one does. But he did enough to be remembered. Pope Francis has been defined "the Pope of People" (Photo Neneo/Dreamstime) A final embrace for Pope Francis: goodbye to a Pope of compassion and change FRANCESCA BEZZONE LIFE PEOPLE PLACES EVENTS

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