Under the sublime ceilings of the Clementine Room, in the heart of the Apostolic Palace, an old lady shakes the hand of Pope Francis. Dressed in an impeccable suit, and wearing an elegant hat, she is dressed to the nines, she is with her comedian son, Manu Payet. This Friday morning, she joined the hundred comedians and comedians to whom the Pope wished to address. The French actor, who tied a tie around his neck for the occasion, and his mother both presented a postcard from Reunion, their native island.
At the exit, the mother will stand proudly, in silence, alongside her son, questioned by a few journalists. He says that he first came for her, after going to pick her up in Reunion. And that he focused on the meeting between the pope and her, to the point of forgetting what he wanted to say to Pope Francis. “I had the opportunity to give the gift that many sons would like to give to their mother”, he comments, moved, at the exit. Before the two of them go to drink a “pontiff coffee”, a little further away.
It is not uncommon for this kind of scene to occur at the Vatican, where dozens of participants in papal audiences parade every day. Receiving associations, parish groups, religious congregations or professional groups constitutes an essential activity of the Pope. After Francis’s speech, the ceremonial is always the same: those present line up to greet him one by one. Some have their children with them, for what constitutes a meeting that they will talk about for a long time. Others with their parents, some of whom have dreamed of meeting the Pope for years. To his companions, the Pope always pays particular attention, sensitive to the presence of children and the elderly. A way for him to insist on dialogue between generations, and on the importance of each person, whoever they may be.
