Fr Pino Puglisi Honouring a priest shot at point-blank range by the Mafia, Pope Francis has insisted that true happiness and a real change in Sicilian society will come only when people love and care for one another rather than trying to grab as much money and power as they can.
“Having always leads to wanting. I have something and immediately want another and another without end. The more you have the more you want. It’s a horrible addiction,” Pope Francis said, celebrating Mass in Palermo.
“On the other hand, one who loves, finds himself and discovers how beautiful it is to help others, has joy on the inside and a smile on the outside, just like Father Pino.”
Fr Pino Puglisi, the anti-Mafia priest, was gunned down on September 15, 1993 – his 56th birthday.
Pope Francis made a day trip to Sicily to mark the 25th anniversary of the now-beatified priest’s martyrdom.
His homily and speeches included denunciations of the Mafia and a call for the mafiosi to convert, but he focused especially on encouraging local Catholics to live their Faith and to courageously stand up to all forms of injustice, which flow from and feed into the Mafia’s power.
And meeting Sicily’s bishops, priests, religious and seminarians in the afternoon, Pope Francis asked for special care in ensuring that the traditional religious festivals of the region’s cities and towns not be used, as they have been in the past, to give a pious varnish to members of the Mafia.
“I ask you to be attentive guardians so that popular religiosity is not instrumentalised by a Mafia presence,” he said.
Stopping processions with a statue of Mary “and having her bow before the home of the Mafia chief”, as has been known to occur, “this will not do, absolutely not!”
Pope Francis began the day in Piazza Armerina in central Sicily, urging Catholics not to resign themselves to the problems in their lives, their families and their community, but not to ignore them either.
Solidarity
Strength for building a community that is solid and in solidarity with the poor will come from regularly celebrating Sunday Mass together, Pope Francis said. “How many times have I heard, ‘Oh, father, I pray, but I don’t go to Mass,’” he said. “’Why not?’ ‘Because the homily is boring; it lasts 40 minutes.’”
“No, the whole Mass should last 40 minutes,” the Pope said, exaggerating. “But the homily must not go more than eight minutes.”
The pope’s homily later at his outdoor Mass in Palermo lasted 17 minutes, but that included several long interruptions for applause.