Pope Francis visits Palermo in
memory of Blessed “Pino” Puglisi
 |
| Pope Francis visits Palermo on the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Blessed Pino Puglisi. |
On the 25th Anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed “Pino”
Puglisi, Pope Francis travels to Palermo on Saturday, highlighting this
priestly shepherd who bore the brutal condition of his flock.
By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp
Pope Francis has chosen another significant place and date
from which to proclaim the Gospel of Joy. The place: Palermo, on the Italian
island of Sicilia—home to Cosa Nostra, one of Italy’s most notorious mafia
groups. The date: September 15, 2018—the 25th anniversary of
the day that Fr Pino Puglisi was murdered on orders given by Cosa Nostra. Here,
the Pope will celebrate Mass in his honor in the Foro Italico, he will visit
the parish of San Gaetano where Bl Puglisi lived and died, he will meet with
priests, religious and seminarians in Palermo’s cathedral, and with young
people in Piazza Politeama.
Who is Bl Pino Puglisi?
Giuseppe (Pino) Puglisi was born on September 15 in 1937 and
was murdered the same day 56 years later. He entered the seminary at the age of
16 and was ordained in 1960. His first assignments were to parishes in Palermo
where he ministered particularly to young people. In 1970, he became pastor of
a parish in Godrano, about 40 km from Palermo. Here he developed a ministry
directed toward reconciliation in families. He returned to Palermo in 1978 and
took up duties in the seminary, as well as promoting religious and priestly
vocations on the diocesan level. In 1990 he began his last assignment as pastor
of San Gaetano, in Palermo’s rough Brancaccio neighborhood. Fr Puglisi is
recorded as having said, “I have become the pope’s pastor”,
referring to Michele Greco, who called himself “the mafia’s pope”.
The “Our Father Welcome Center”
Fr Puglisi founded a center in 1991 which was inaugurated in
January, 1993, called the “Our Father Welcome Center”. It was his response to
the pastoral situation he inherited in which the elderly were often abandoned,
and adolescents and young adults were illiterate, due to the absence of a
secondary school. Poverty and high unemployment left most of Fr Puglisi’s
parishioners easy prey to the local mafia. The services provided were, and
still are, directed toward providing the material and cultural benefits lacking
in the lives of the people living in the area.
“I’ve been expecting this”
Fr Puglisi soon exerted a tremendous Christian influence
over his parishioners. He thus became a target of the mafia who saw him as a
real threat. Even after several incidents which were clearly meant to
intimidate him, Fr Puglisi resolutely continued his fight against the mafia.
Besides celebrating two weddings, and his own birthday with friends, on the day
he died, Fr Puglisi had also gone to a meeting at Palermo’s city hall to ask
that a middle school be built in Brancaccio. For all that he had done for his
flock, the mafia responded by sending a hitman the evening of his birthday.
According to the gunman’s testimony, Fr Puglisi greeted him with a smile and
the words, “I’ve been expecting this!”
Fr Puglisi died according to words he himself had spoken:
Holocaust means to burn one’s entire existence on the
altar of the cross. For those who are angry toward a society they view as
hostile, it is above all necessary to be witnesses. Witness must instill hope
in that person, making him understand that his life is worth something only if
it is given.
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