"I come to bring a message from Pope Francis of closeness and solidarity to the diocese of Sulcis and to the Church of Sardinia". Vatican number two, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis' "right hand man", arrives in Iglesias to consecrate Bishop Walter Erbì, appointed titular archbishop of Nepi and apostolic nuncio to Liberia and Sierra Leone. An event that is renewed, after 33 years when, on February 25, 1989, in Calasetta, the then Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, arrived to consecrate Don Piero Biggio, nominated apostolic nuncio to Bangladesh, bishop. A beautiful concomitance, a good sign of attention for a local Church - that of Sulcis - which, compared to the other sister Churches, lives the social crisis and the lack of work with more acute suffering.
“I come among you because it is customary for the Secretary of State to confer episcopal consecration on the apostolic nuncios, as direct representatives of the Pope throughout the world. So I gladly accepted to come to Sardinia when Monsignor Erbì gave me this invitation ».
For you, Eminence, is this your first time in Sardinia? What knowledge of our local Church?
«I don't know much, I must honestly confess, the reality of Sardinia. As a close collaborator of the Pope, like him and with him, I deal with ecclesial events in Italy and around the world, but thanks to contacts and friendships I follow as I can even the events of the smallest realities, such as your Sardinian land. I do not allow myself, therefore, to pronounce myself or judge your local Church. We should know it much better ».
The Church of Sardinia rejoiced at the appointment of the Archbishop of Cagliari Baturi as Secretary General of the CEI, the election as cardinal of Monsignor Miglio and the "return" of Cardinal Becciu after two years of personal and entire suffering of the Sardinian Church . Now his arrival, almost ten years after Pope Francis' visit: a moment of extraordinary grace for Sardinia ...
“Yes, I think this moment can be interpreted like this. I can not help but rejoice with the whole Sardinian Church. Just in these days, I reread the speech that Pope Francis - in September 2013 - gave in Cagliari. The Pope gave particular emphasis to the themes of lack of work, widespread precariousness, young people, often forced to emigrate. I come to a diocese that, more than others, suffers from these social emergencies. The episcopal ordination of Monsignor Erbì is then a "moment of grace" to restore courage and hope in the face of so many difficulties to which the pandemic and, if that were not enough, the war in Ukraine have been added ».
For the Sardinians, the coming to Cagliari of Pope Francis as a pilgrim at the foot of the Madonna di Bonaria remains indelible. Do you, who works alongside you, confirm this continuous closeness to "your" and our Madonna di Bonaria?
“Yes, yes, of course. Also because, thanks to television coverage, it is a very visible link. Everyone can see how the image of the Patroness of the Sardinians has remained in front of the Pope's post, accompanying him, but accompanying us all during international travels. A bond, with Sardinia and its reality, which in recent years has never failed in Pope Francis ».
Sardinia, Pope Francis told us, is a land "fertilized" by the blood of the martyrs. After Ignazio da Laconi, a Capuchin, we await the canonization of Nicola da Gesturi, Antonia Mesina and Maria Gabriella Sagheddu. How can the saints still speak to our society?
"Each saint, to use an image of Saint Augustine," is a different flower in the garden of the Lord. " Everyone tells us that it is possible to live the Gospel fully, up to the highest degree of heroism, in any environment or life situation. Fra Nicola, like Antonia Mesina or Carlo Acutis, continue to speak to today's young people through what is the universal language of holiness, the language of love. Because, after all, holiness is living love in a heroic way, towards God and towards our brothers and sisters. Just as Pope Francis reiterates: "The Church does not grow by proselytism, but by attraction". And the saints are these centers of attraction for everyone, even for those who do not explicitly recognize themselves in the Church ».
What message will he leave to the Church of Sardinia?
“In the name of the Pope, I will come to say that we, all of us, without exception, are in great need of hope. Faced with the many difficulties that Sardinia is experiencing, the message is this: the Church is called to give hope, to reaffirm that we are not alone in facing the many, often dramatic, problems. I come as a messenger of hope and closeness ».
Paolo Matta