A new call for “attention for our common home”: Pope Francis, 87, warned on Sunday in Venice against the impact of overtourism on the environment during a mass in front of 10,000 faithful in Saint’s Square -Mark. With this first trip outside Rome in seven months, the pope reassured about his state of health and his full capacity to carry out his duties, a few weeks after an attack of fatigue which caused concern at Easter.
Under the sun, Jorge Bergoglio, appearing smiling and in good shape, honored a busy schedule: after a visit to a women’s prison and a speech in front of young Venetians, he reached St. Mark’s Square via an ephemeral bridge over the Grand Canal, escorted by a cloud of gondolas sailing on the lagoon.
Citing the “enchanting beauty” of the City of the Doges, Francis – who has made ecology a central cause of his pontificate – listed the “many problems that threaten it”, including climate change, “the fragility of cultural heritage ” and overtourism. “Venice is one with the waters on which it sits, and without the care and protection of this natural setting, it could even cease to exist,” he warned in his homily.
A statement that resonates with current events: the city listed as a UNESCO world heritage site has just introduced an entry fee of five euros for day tourists in order to decongest its narrow streets and bridges spanning the canals on extra days. large crowd.
“Don’t give up”
As usual, the head of the Catholic Church blessed the faithful aboard an original “Papamobile”, a small white gulf car bearing the Vatican coat of arms, to the cheers of the crowd. The pope arrived early Sunday aboard a helicopter in the courtyard of the prison on the island of Giudecca, which houses the pavilion of the Holy See at the 60th Biennale of contemporary art in Venice, Francis greeted at length a by one of the 80 inmates.
In this former convent welcoming women sentenced to long sentences, the Bishop of Rome, sensitive to the place of the marginalized and the prison world, urged to offer prisoners “tools and spaces for human, spiritual, cultural and professional. “Prison is a harsh reality, and problems such as overcrowding, lack of facilities and resources, violent incidents, generate so much suffering there. But it can also become a place of rebirth,” he said. he declares. “Courage, and forward! Don’t give up,” said the Pope after receiving a gift of products made by the inmates, several of whom appeared moved.
Away from the spotlight and the crowds, the Holy See pavilion, one of the most prominent of the prestigious art event inaugurated last week, offers visitors an immersive and disconcerting experience, where the works rub shoulders the barbed wire. In front of the artists who participated in the exhibition and leaders from the cultural world, Jorge Bergoglio insisted on the role of art in fighting “racism, xenophobia, inequality, ecological imbalance”.
New trips
Mid-morning, the Pope also spoke to 1,500 young people gathered in front of the emblematic Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute. “Leave your cell phone and go meet people!” he told them. After a time of contemplation in Saint Mark’s Basilica, Francis returned to the Vatican early in the afternoon.
After Paul VI (1972), John Paul II (1985) and Benedict XVI (2011), Francis is the fourth pope to visit Venice. After this trip, the Argentine Jesuit must make two other trips to northern Italy, to Verona in May and to Trieste in July. Since his visit to Marseille (France) in September 2023, Jorge Bergoglio had not traveled. Bronchitis forced him to cancel his trip to Dubai in December and his increasingly fragile general condition forced him to avoid traveling. This did not prevent the Vatican from announcing an ambitious trip by the pope to the borders of Asia and Oceania at the beginning of September, the longest of the pontificate, which promises to be a major physical challenge.