Pope Francis in L’Aquila : humility in an iconic place

The Pope visited the Abruzzo city of L’Aquila. It should actually be about the victims of the 2009 earthquake – but observers are primarily looking for signs of a retreat.

The service was celebrated in front of the magnificent facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio. Pope Celestine V is buried in this church. That’s why this trip of the Pope to the Abruzzo city of L’Aquila is getting so much attention. Because Celestine resigned his office more than 700 years ago. As the last pope before Benedict XVI.

Since then he has been venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. “Coelestine V was a courageous witness of the Gospel,” said Pope Francis. “He would not let himself be captured and ruled by the logic of power. We admire in him a Church that is free from worldly logic and is ready to give full witness to the mercy of God.”

room for speculation

Francis is repeatedly asked whether he too could imagine resigning. The resignation of a pope is not a “catastrophe,” he recently replied. Such answers fuel speculation. During his visit to L’Aquila, Francis was also dependent on a wheelchair. He finds it difficult to walk due to severe knee pain.

In his homily, the Pope paid tribute to the modesty, the humility of his predecessor: “We mistakenly remember Celestine as the character who committed the ‘great rejection’, as Dante put it in his Divine Comedy. But Celestine V was not a man of no, but a man of yes.”

The long-time Vatican correspondent for the Reuters news agency Philip Pullella considers the speculation about a possible resignation to be exaggerated: “He didn’t announce his resignation today, and nobody expected that either. But in a way he repeated that in the distant future, if he was due to should his state of health no longer be able to lead the Church, he will not hesitate to resign.”

Wounds from the earthquake still there

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI. Visited L’Aquila. This visit to Celestine’s tomb was also considered symbolic in view of the later resignation of the Pope from Germany. But the decisive reason for the visit was different then, as it is now. L’Aquila has been badly hit by the earthquake that hit the city in the middle of the night on April 5th and 6th, 2009. Some buildings have been restored. But the wounds are still there. Not only in the cityscape. 309 people died that night.

The suffering of the relatives

Giustino Parisse from L’Aquila lost his two children. “Paradoxically, what gives me the strength to continue is my children,” he says. “The awareness that they only live on in our memories. And then of course the faith, especially my wife is very religious.”

Before the service, Pope Francis met with relatives of the victims of this devastating earthquake, assuring them of his closeness and respect for their perseverance. “You people of L’Aquila have shown resilience, which made it possible to survive the shock of the earthquake and immediately begin the courageous and patient work of reconstruction.”

It’s an unusually busy day in late August for Pope Francis. After the appointment of new cardinals yesterday and the visit to L’Aquila today, the Pope has ordered all cardinals of the universal Church to come to the Vatican for consultations tomorrow and the day after.