Athens, Rome, etc...
September 22, 2025
There has been a bit of silence, because I have been traveling.
On
Monday, September 8th, I left Bangassou, and the following day I left
Bangui, on my way to Addis Ababa. On Wednesday morning, I arrived in
Athens, where I was able to meet with Father Frantiseck. He currently
works at the Nunciature in Athens. We met at the Nunciature in Bangui,
where he worked for a few years.
We spent the day together, and I
had the opportunity to go to the Agora, the "square" where Saint Paul
began to proclaim the Risen Christ to the Greeks. From here, we had a
magnificent view of the Acropolis and the city of Athens.
On
Thursday morning, I left for Milan, where my sister and her husband were
there to welcome me. After meeting with some friends in the area, I
arrived in Cuneo that evening, which will be my base camp for a few
weeks, until my return to Central Africa on October 14th.
On Sunday, I left for Bocca di Magra, where I will celebrate Mass for the feast of this community.
On Wednesday, I left for Rome, where I stayed for a few days for meetings and celebrations.
Saturday
morning I was in Saint Paul Outside the Walls, where the pilgrimage of
the "Monastero Wi-Fi" group began. "This is a group of people who desire
to lead a life of prayer, to find space for God in their daily lives.
People who lead normal lives, often quite tiring and full. People who,
when they work or cook, when they're with family or friends, always try
to bring their hearts back to God, in the certainty that it is in daily
life that God encounters us, and it is here that His will must be sought
and done."
https://www.monasterowi-fi.it/come-si-fa-a-far-parte-del-monastero-wi-fi/While
the more than 2,000 participants arrived slowly from all over Italy, I,
along with other priests, devoted myself to hearing confessions. We
heard confessions from before 8:00 a.m. until after 1:00 p.m.!
Meanwhile, the group, after listening to some catechesis, set off on foot towards St. Peter's.
I
took the subway, because it was already late. I was here, with immense
emotion, where I celebrated the Eucharist at the Altar of the
Confession (the one with Bernini's four columns, built over the tomb of
St. Peter). Here's the video:
https://youtu.be/YMSb6sTL9iY?si=tGfTtMnTSt5J4bYdAs soon as Mass was over, I left for the station, and between train and car, I arrived in Cuneo after midnight.
On
Sunday, I celebrated Mass, a baptism, and then I rushed to the Peace
Caravan: a demonstration commemorating the massacre in the village of
Boves in September 1943.
We were several thousand people. While
we set off on foot from Cuneo, two other groups set off from Borgo San
Dalmazzo and Chiusa Pesio: a long march of many people (adults, young
people, families, children) moving forward, remembering the massacres of
so many years ago, and the current ones in Gaza and the many, too many
places where humanity suffers!
These days in Italy are days of meetings, celebrations, and prayer, and of presenting the Diocese of Bangassou.
I have met so many wonderful people, open to the world and to the beautiful things happening in the world.
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Pellegrinaggio del Monastero >Wi-FI
Pélérinage du Monatère Wi-Fi
Peregrinación de el Monasterio Wi-Fi |
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Atene
Athène
Atenas |
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Roma - San Pietro
Rome - St Pierre
Roma - San Pedro
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Carovana della Pace
La caravane de la Paix
La Caravana de la Paz |
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| Boves |
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