In his last encyclical He loved us Pope Francis praised popular piety. This expression of faith through everyday acts and celebrations is indeed a theme dear to the Holy Father. To the point that the theme of the conference organized by the Church of Corsica this weekend at the Palais des Congrès in Ajaccio on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean was, it is said, the decisive element which motivated its historic visit to the city imperial.
« This term of popular religiosity is not trivial and shows a passage between the pagan and the sacred. Many popular expressions of faith originated in paganism and were evangelized. For example, Granitula is not originally Christian and was introduced into the world of the sacred, moved from paganism to religious », explains Father Louis El Rahi, parish priest of Calvi, who will host this two-day conference, “ Most popular expressions of religiosity are things which were first introduced by the people of God, in Corsica, for example by the confreres, and which later received institutional recognition from the Church. It is truly a expression of the faith which belongs to the people themselves.
The aim of this conference, complete for weeks and notably open to the priors and sub-priors of the brotherhoods, will thus be to start from what we know in Corsica to expand on piety in other Mediterranean territories, where religion is perhaps a little stronger than elsewhere in Europe. From Saturday morning, the Bishop of Nîmes, the Archbishop of Oristano in Sardinia, the Vicar General of Toledo in Spain and the Bishop of Calatagirone in Sicily will indeed come to bear witness to the popular religiosity so fervent on the banks of the Mediterranean. “ The Mediterranean is often seen as an obstacle, or unfortunately today as a giant cemetery. And today the goal is to look at the Mediterranean as a sea in the middle of the land, which culturally connects the different shores. We see that there are expressions in the public space, carried by the people, of the Christian faith which are expressed strongly on the shores of the Mediterranean », underlines Father Louis El Rahi, emphasizing: “ In Sicily, Sardinia, or Spain, we see that there is this strong expression of religiosity with magnificent processions. Likewise, in Corsica, religious life is punctuated by processions and other popular expressions of faith, such as the Catenacciu.
In addition, this conference will also shed light on specialized themes thanks to two academics specializing in these issues. Starting with Anghjulina Antonetti, teacher-researcher at the University of Corsica, who will be interested in “popular religiosity and secularism in Corsica”. “ The goal will be to question how we manage to live this popular expression of faith in a public space which is governed by secularism. The beginning of an answer is that secularism is not there to erase what is religious, but to allow everyone to live their faith and the worship specific to it in a free manner, having only limits public order and the common good », Explains Father El Rahi. A few hours later, Serena Talamoni, doctor in contemporary history, will focus on an issue that she knows well: the sacred in Corsican political space. While the Bastia colleague Jean-Charles Adami will discuss the reasons which still push many Corsicans to engage in brotherhoods.
Finally, on Sunday, at the conclusion of the conference, these rich debates will give way to a much-awaited moment with the message that Pope Francis will deliver. “ It’s a great honor to have an experience like this”rejoices Father Louis El Rahi. “ We know that he has a concern for the Mediterranean, which he considers to be a place of hope for the Western Church. I think he will come to bring a message of hope and fraternity,” he smiled.
