VIDEO. When Pope Francis blessed a pizza in Ajaccio

Visiting Corsica this Sunday, December 15, Pope Francis blessed children, the elderly… And a pizza. Great pride for the happy owner of the restaurant, and a lot of emotion for the pizza maker who cooked it.

The scene may seem funny, but for Yannick Villanova, “it's an immense pride“. Owner of the Italian restaurant Centro Città, rue Forcioli Conti, just a few meters from Ajaccio Cathedral, the latter had the chance, yesterday, Sunday December 15, to see one of the dishes from his establishment blessed by the Pope Francis.

“We knew that the Pope, when leaving the cathedral, would pass right in front of our restaurant. We also knew that the area must have originally been without an audience, says the restaurateur. But my pizza chef, Luca Arena, who is very religious, had been telling me for ten days that when he came by, he would give him a pizza.“

Yannick Villanova is not necessarily confident: “I was a little apprehensive about the police. But looking at the images in the morning, you could see that from the start he stopped and picked up the children a lot, that the security wasn't too tough, so I said to myself why not.“

Ten minutes before the sovereign pontiff passes in front of his establishment – “we had calculated in relation to the time after his passage in front of A Madunnuccia” -, Yannick Villanova thus warns Luca Arena, who puts his creation into the oven. “He told me: “I’m preparing it at the last minute, I don’t want the Pope to eat cold!”“. A pizza made especially for the Holy Father and for the occasion, but without any frills: “He made it in the shape of a heart, and with a very simple filling: tomato sauce and mozzarella.“

And then the Pope finally arrives. With his idea, Luca Arena leaves the restaurant, his pizza in hand. François sees him, and the pizza maker is allowed to approach and give him the plate. “The Pope looked at him and said, “Is this for me?” and then he took it in his hands, sourit Yannick Villanova. In the end, he held it in his hand for five or six seconds, and then a security guard picked it up to unload it.“.

Luca Arena steps back, but is quickly called back by the sovereign pontiff, who offers him a rosary. “Il [le pizzaïolo] told him that he was Neapolitan, and the Pope replied that he loved Naples very much, testifies Yannick Villanova. In the end, the exchange only lasted a few seconds, it doesn't seem like much, but it was huge.”

The Holy Father blesses the pizza maker, the dish and the restaurant, before setting off again. The pizza, taken away by security, is finally tasted by the sovereign pontiff at lunch time. “I received confirmation of this by telephone from a person who was present for the meal at the bishopric.“, welcomes Yannick Villanova.

Quick, the scene nevertheless strongly moved boss and employee. “I saw Luca come back inside with tears in his eyes. For him, who is very religious, it was really a great moment.“

For him, as for the restaurateur, still particularly affected the day after the events. “I'm really happy, I didn't expect it at all. We've received lots of messages since yesterday because the moment was also filmed live, it's really great. Of course, he continues, We will have to see if this will have positive repercussions for our establishment in the future, but for the moment we are all very proud.“

As for the pizza in question, it will very soon make its debut on the restaurant's menu, assures Yannick Villanova. “As soon as we get home, we add it to the menu. We'll call it the “pope's pizza.”“, says the restaurateur. It remains to be seen whether this will be to the taste of future consumers.