Pope Francis decided to interrupt his short vacation and visit the amusement park in the seaside town of Ostia, near Rome, for to meet the traveling circus performers, reported Aleteia.org and Vaticannews.va.
The reason for the Pope's visit was the consecration of the statue of the Holy Virgin Mary, patroness of traveling artists and the circus. A plaster image of the Virgin Mary (“we need the Madonna who protects us”, theme park officials said) mounted on a column before which the Pope paused for a few minutes upon his arrival, crossing himself.
The meeting was organized by the 81-year-old nun from the Congregation of the Little Sisters of Jesus, Sister Genevieve Jeanengro. For 56 years now, she, the elderly but lively nun, together with another sister, Anna Amelia, have been taking care of groups of nomads, circus performers and LGBT+ people.
This time it was her – together with the rector of the local parish, priest Giovanni Vincenzo Patane – received the Pope among those who are especially dear to his heart, that is, the very “last”, those who remain on the fringes of society, who usually remain in the background.
The meeting was held in a hall intended for children's parties; The Pope personally spoke to some of the children and their parents, listened to all who wished to speak with him and thanked the leader of the prayer group of mothers who promised the Pope to pray the Holy Rosary for him every day. Acrobats, clowns and jugglers performed especially for the Pope, and he expressed sincere joy and gratitude for the smiles given to people in this difficult time of social problems and wars.
For his part, the superior of the local parish thanked the Pope for his humility: “we are small people and we can only say “thank you”. You have given us a great gift,”, said the priest and asked the Pope to sign the text with the prayer to the Virgin Mary, the mother of traveling artists and the circus. The priest talks about his parish, admitting that working there is often stressful, and visiting the amusement park allows you to “inhale joy, an atmosphere of community, a small parish where everyone knows each other, where you can argue, but everyone stays together“.
One of the young men present at the meeting added: “at a time when heads of state are calling you for advice, you are not talking to them, you are among us, giving us your presence. Thank you for your humility." The participants in the meeting also expressed fears that the nuns' stay in the amusement park is now in question: “they want to take the sisters away from us, but we will not allow it,” said one of the employees of the park, and the Holy Father assured his support.
Come omaggio al Papa un breve spettacolo di acrobazie, gag e palloncini pic.twitter.com/isKWjbpRtj< /a>
— Vatican News (@vaticannews_it) July 31, 2024