"The people of God who live in Rome raise prayers and hymns of thanksgiving to the Lord on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of the gift of the election of our Bishop Francis, a pastor according to His merciful heart".
This is what we read in the message of good wishes that the Cardinal Vicar Angelo De Donatis sent to Pope Francis
, in the name of the entire diocesan community of Rome,
on the occasion of the eighth anniversary of his election as Pontiff and Bishop of Rome.
"I remember with great emotion that rainy evening of March 13, 2013, in a St. Peter's Square crowded with faithful in prayer, when the voice of Pope Francis rang out for the first time: 'The diocesan community of Rome has its Bishop'; and ' now we begin this journey: Bishop and people. This journey of the Church of Rome, which is the one that presides over all the Churches in charity (Francis, March 13, 2013) ", recalls De Donatis.
"In the name of the whole ecclesial community of Rome, of the auxiliary bishops, of the presbyters, of the deacons, of the consecrated men and women and of all the members of the faithful Holy People of God and of all the men of good will of our city - he continues -, I express deep gratitude and sentiments of esteem and filial devotion to Pope Francis who in recent years has guided our Church 'with the heart of a Father' ".
"We draw close to him spiritually, sending him all our affection and admiration, grateful for having made us rediscover, with his teaching and his testimony of life, 'the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing'", adds the cardinal vicar .
"Every day in our prayer we entrust your person and your Petrine ministry to Christ the Good Shepherd, through the intercession of the Salus Populi Romani, asking that he continue to guard his flock and watch over our Church and the city of Rome with the love of a father" he concludes.
Two images mark the alpha and omega of the eighth year of Francis' pontificate, which
today celebrates the anniversary of his election
: the first, on March 27, 2020, is that of the Pope alone, under the rain of St. Peter's Square, which raises its prayer to heaven for the end of the pandemic;
the second, Sunday 7 March 2021, is that of the Pope praying in the rubble of Mosul, the Iraqi city where the Islamic State was proclaimed, from which he also flies a dove of peace.
Both historical images, which have filled both the media debate and the collective imagination all over the world, to enclose a year which, with all the limitations determined by the global emergency of the Coronavirus - indeed perhaps precisely for these - is probably the most intense and stronger empathy with the people of the faithful, as well as with crowds of non-believers, among the eight initiated that evening of March 13, 2013, with the arrival of the Pope "who came from the end of the world".
In the midst of all this, on 3 October 2020 - the eve of the feast of the saint from which it took its name -, there is the signing in Assisi of a document that will also characterize the future legacy of the current Bishop of Rome, the encyclical 'Brothers all', on fraternity and social friendship, in which the concept of "universal brotherhood" is indicated as the only way of salvation for a sick world: to get out here too from the tragic siege of Covid-19, or from the scourge of conflicts, wars and terror imposed with weapons, the scourge of poverty, the devastation of the planet through the exasperated exploitation of its resources and the specter of the climate crisis.
Because from all these areas of crisis, is Pope Bergoglio's lapidary thesis, "no one is saved alone".
The paradigm, also interreligious, of "human brotherhood", of being all children of one Father, develops for the Pope starting from the document signed in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019 with the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al -Tayyeb, and has become his guiding message throughout this eighth year of his pontificate: both in the long period of the lockdown, in which with masses in live streaming at 7 am from Casa Santa Marta he wanted to remain close to the faithful (for which, however, the doors of the churches had then closed), both in his messages and documents in the months that he himself defined as "imprisonment" in the Vatican before finally being able to resume his travels, both in his encyclical on the subject, and finally in the visit to Iraq, desired at all costs despite the dangers and contrary advice, with which he also crowned the dream of John Paul II, forced to renounce it in 2000.
Plus the meeting of crucial importance with the greatest Iraqi Shiite leader, the great Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, to open new fronts for dialogue, new ties against any fundamentalist deviation, to build ever new bridges.
But on the internal side, that of Curia issues, there was no lack of 'shadows' in this eighth year of Francis: one above all, in the financial and judicial field, the developments of the scandal for the purchase of the building in Sloane Avenue in London , for which the process for the diversion of funds and the cases of embezzlement should not be far away.
A case that also led to a dramatic break, on September 24, 2020, with one of the most trusted former collaborators, the powerful replacement of the Secretariat of State, Giovanni Angelo Becciu, drastically deprived by the Pope, as well as the post of prefect for Causes of the saints, also of the "prerogatives of the cardinalate": a shock decision by Francis, almost unprecedented, but dictated by that anxiety for transparency that made him then transfer, starting from the beginning of 2021, the management of funds and properties of the Secretariat of State, bringing it back to the Apsa, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, under the supervision of the Secretariat for the Economy.
This is also another key step while waiting for the reform of the government of the Church to be completed.
The Italian Bishops, in a message of good wishes from the Presidency of the CEI, recall today "with joy" the eighth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis to the papal throne
.
"Our wishes become gratitude for the gift of His word, enriched by signs and initiatives that guide the path of our Churches towards a new evangelizing stage", reads the message.
"We are aware, as you have had the opportunity to remind us, that 'life is not a time that passes, but a time of encounter' - he continues -. With ourselves, with God, with others, with the least".
"This period of history, marked by the pandemic and its effects, has taken away the beauty of being together, but has rooted us even more in the belief that no man can save himself alone", underlines the CEI Presidency.
"With our communities, we thank you for making us understand that 'we all need each other, that none of us is an island, […] that we can only build the future together, without excluding anyone'".
"We thank you for having taught us, with concrete gestures, that the passing of days has full meaning when it is lived for others - says the message -. We thank you for the gift of your loving and fatherly presence in the life of our Church. ".
"In offering you our best wishes for this anniversary - he concludes -, we renew our active closeness and assure you of our prayers".