Pope visits relatives in his father's home town

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Source: Vatican News

Pope Francis spent the weekend in Asti, northwest Italy over the weekend - the area where his father came from. On Saturday he paid several private visits to relatives - in particular, he had lunch with a cousin, Carla Rabezzana, celebrating her 90th birthday in the small town of Portacomaro, his father's home town about 10 kilometres from Asti. He then went to a retirement home there to greet several residents before calling on another cousin in a nearby town.

The Pope's father, Mario Bergoglio, emigrated to Argentina in 1929. In Buenos Aires he met his future wife Regina Maria Sivori, a daughter of Genoese immigrants. They had five children. Jorge Mario was their first child.

Pope Francis stayed at the Bishop's chancery. On Sunday he met with several dignitaries, including local Mayor Maurizio Rasero who conferred on him honorary citizenship. The Pope was then taken to the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Asti. Many thousands lined the streets to greet him. While over 1,000 attended Mass with the Pope in the Cathedral, another 4,000 watched it on large outdoor screens.

In his homily the Pope said: "I have come to rediscover the flavour of roots... It was from these lands that my father left to emigrate to Argentina... these lands made precious by the good products of the soil and above all by the genuine hard work of the people."

He encouraged the people of Asti to remember their past and return "to the roots of faith," that of the "arid soil of Calvary where the seed of Jesus, in dying, made hope germinate."

The Gospel … brings us back to the roots of faith, he said. They are found in the arid soil of Calvary, where the seed of Jesus, dying, made hope sprout: planted in the heart of the earth, He opened for us the way to Heaven; by His death He gave us eternal life; through the wood of the cross He brought us the fruits of salvation. Let us therefore look to Him, let us look to the Crucified One.

On this feast of Christ the King, he recalled that God's kingship was manifested in the "paradox of the Cross," when "with open arms" and crowned with thorns, he decided to embrace humanity.

"He entered the black holes of hatred and the black holes of abandonment to illuminate every life and embrace every reality..."

Pope Francis contrasted two attitudes before the Cross: First, that of the "spectator," whose "refrain" is expressed in the words of the bad thief: "If you are a king, save yourself!"

This attitude is "a wave that spreads through indifference... rose-colored Christians who say they believe in God and want peace, but do not pray and do not care about their neighbour."

The attitude of one who is involved in the mystery of the Cross is embodied in the figure of the good thief who, beside Christ on Calvary, "becomes the first saint" because he places his trust in God and calls on his mercy.

During the Mass, Pope Francis conferred the ministry of acolyte to seminarian Stefano Accornero.

Noted the lack of vocations in the Piedmont Diocese he invited the population to pray for young men to respond to the call.

At the end of Mass, the Pope prayed the Angelus before returning to the archdiocese for lunch.

His last appointment was a meeting with 1,340 children, before he flew back to Rome by helicopter.

Watch a short video on Vatican Youtube of the Pope's arrival in Asti: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiyFLhLrjcw