At the initiative of Pope Francis’ visit to Corsica on Sunday, with whom he maintains close ties, the Bishop of Ajaccio has experienced, in the space of three years, a meteoric rise in the Vatican hierarchy. To the point of being tipped to, one day, become pope in his turn.
The video is filmed at the foot of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome on a sunny day. “My friends, we have very good news to tell you”begins Cardinal François Bustillo, 56 years old, with folded hands and a happy face. In this capsule intended for his social networks, the Bishop of Ajaccio is responsible for making official what was then only a rumor: Pope Francis is going to go to Corsica on Sunday December 15.
The announcement surprised observers of religious life, even though the Catholic sovereign had, a few days earlier, declined the invitation to the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame de Paris. Since the start of his pontificate, almost twelve years ago, the Pope has only visited France twice. Located only 300 kilometers from the Vatican as the crow flies, Corsica had always been ignored by the papacy’s visits, despite the island’s strong Catholic tradition.
The movements of the Holy Father, aged 87, have also become rarer in recent months, limited by his declining health. Enough to push the vicar general of the diocese of Ajaccio to qualify this arrival as real “miracle” in the columns of Journal of Corsica.
Behind this papal move, we do not find divine intervention, but rather that of a stubborn bishop using unorthodox methods: even before any confirmation from the Holy See, Cardinal Bustillo announced the putting online of a site dedicated and increased his speeches in the press. With his accent with Iberian intonations and his height of six feet, François Bustillo does not only stand out because of his methods. “He’s an imposing man,” confirms Father Hugues de Woillemont, secretary general of the Conference of Bishops of France.
Born in Pamplona, in the Spanish Basque Country, Cardinal Bustillo is part of the Franciscan religious order – just like Pope Francis. He studied philosophy in Italy, then in France, in Toulouse, before settling in Aude for around twenty years. The priest had recently been at the head of the Franciscan convent of Lourdes, when he was promoted, in May 2021, to bishop on the island of beauty.
Anxious to do well, the man of the Church gets to work even before setting down his bags. “I was present at the time of his ordination in Ajaccio and, from the first day, he knew how to speak Corsica”, remembers Father Hugues de Woillemont, who paints the portrait of a man of “grande intelligence”. No question of being perceived as a thought (tourist, in Corsica). “He did his research before arriving. He is a well-informed man about our beliefs and the way things happen in Corsica”agrees Alexandre Farina, first deputy at the town hall of Ajaccio.
The island, in the grip of strong independence demands, has entrusted the keys to its executive council to Gilles Simeoni, a local autonomist figure. A context well integrated by the bishop, who did not hesitate, in January, to speak on the burning issue of the status conferred on the island in the Constitution. “Corsica must regain its autonomy, its freedom and its capacity to manage its political, economic, cultural and even health life,” he declares to the Corse net infos site. “His predecessors, too, had strong convictions, but he expresses them and goes a little further, greets the elected Ajaccio.
When, a few days before the Pope’s arrival, the island was plagued by demonstrations in favor of including the Corsican language in the regulations of the Territorial Assembly, the bishop decided to get involved. After posting a message on Instagram calling for calm, he received representatives of youth union organizations and demanded an end to the demonstrations. A success. “He managed to calm the youth, which no one else could have done”believes Alexandre Farina about the bishop, made knight of the Legion of Honor in July 2024.
François Bustillo does not hesitate to wet his homespun robe, and the inhabitants of the island repay him. During his surprise creation as cardinal in September 2023, making him one of the youngest cardinals in the world, more than 800 Corsicans traveled to Rome to applaud him loudly from St. Peter’s Square. Alexandre Farina was there, to represent the municipality. “We became passionate about his fate, it was a bit of us who was appointed to Rome that day!”. The Pope, who we know is attached to popular fervor, would have particularly appreciated the ovation.
“If you extend your hand to him, he comes to you, he takes his time”, describes Marie Mateo Piña, a faithful who has seen the Ajaccio cathedral filled to capacity since the arrival of François Bustillo in 2021. As a sign of gratitude, the fifty-year-old painter, created a painting of the Virgin Mary that she intends to give it to him. She even plans to go to Rome next May, with hundreds of other Corsicans, to accompany her bishop. “After all, this man has everything to one day be the next pope”she enthuses.
Marie Mateo Piña is far from being the only one to see in Cardinal Bustillo’s meteoric rise in the Vatican hierarchy the sign of his possible arrival, one day, at the highest office. The pope’s arrival on the cardinal’s land is unlikely to put an end to the rumors, especially since the two men make no secret of their good understanding. The Pope distributes to all priests of the diocese of Rome The Vocation of the priest in the face of crises, a work by François Bustillo published in 2021. “The cardinal has, because of his proximity to the pope, a word that counts”, observes Father Hugues de Woillemont.
“Pope Francis has a lot of hope in him and I wish him white smoke.”
Alexandre Farina, first deputy at the town hall of Ajaccioat franceinfo
Because of his notoriety, the speeches of the new protégé of the Pope are scrutinized. Systematically, the verb is cautious. In May, the cardinal published a column in the columns of Figaro to express his disagreement with the bill on the end of life. “He is in the classic position of the Church, which is, on the subject, ultra-conservative,” summarizes the association for the right to die with dignity in Corsica, requested by franceinfo, “but he expresses it in the warmest way possible.”
“He gives the impression of preparing for his destiny, he is a very political cardinal,” comments an observer of Corsican political life. In November 2023, the cardinal will be on the cover of the magazine Paris-Matchowned by the very conservative Catholic billionaire Vincent Bolloré, and, a few days later, granted an interview to the far-right newspaper Current values.
“Have you seen his photo in Paris-Match? The bure in the wind, facing the sea… I’m sure there are plenty of old ladies who have framed it in their living room! But all that is for the buzz.”
An observer of Corsican political lifeat franceinfo
The same year, he opted for the publishing house Fayard, also owned by Vincent Bolloré, to publish his new book, The heart does not divideprefaced by Pope Francis himself. Asked about his controversial political associations, the clergyman calls for not seeing it as a sign of acquaintanceship: “A bishop cannot be sectarian”, he explains on the franceinfo microphone. “You have to talk to everyone,” insists François Bustillo again. Like a campaigning candidate.
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