Pope Francis visits Milan

Source: Milan, Pope Francis

Pope Francis received a very warm welcome during his pastoral visit to Milan on Saturday.

Thousands of people turned out to meet the Holy Father as he travelled by Popemobile to meet with immigrant families in the Forlanini quarter of the city for the start of his day. Upon his arrival, residents gave him two gifts: a priestly stole and a statue of Our Lady. Pope Francis thanked them for their gifts and said it was important for him to be welcomed to Milan by a community of families.

He said the stole was a reminder that he comes "as a priest: I come to Milan as a priest."

He also recognized that it had been handmade by several residents of the Forlanini quarter: "It's a reminder that the Christian priest is chosen from among the people and at the service of the people. My priesthood...is a gift from Christ, but it is 'woven' by you, by our people with their faith, labours, prayers, and tears."

Pope Francis then said the statue of Our Lady was a sign of his being welcomed to Milan by the Madonna.

"It reminds me of Mary's care, who ran to meet Elizabeth. This is the care and concern of the Church, which does not remain in the city centre waiting but comes to meet all at the peripheries; she goes also to meet non-Christians and non-believers...; and she brings Jesus to all, he who is the love of God made flesh and gives meaning to our lives and saves us from evil."

Afterwards, the Holy Father made his way to Milan's Duomo Cathedral to meet with priests and consecrated men and women. They recited the Angelus together before the Pope travelled to the San Vittore Prison. where he was welcomed by the director, Gloria Manzelli, and by the prison chaplain, don Marco Recalcati.

San Vittore currently has more that 900 inmates - both men and women - as well as a number of infants who live with their detained mothers in a special unit. The Pope met briefly with them before exchanging greetings with a large group of the San Vittore staff and volunteers.

The building, designed by the engineer Francesco Lucca, takes inspiration from the 18th century Panopticon with six wings with three floors each. Moving through these wings, the Pope was given the opportunity to shake hands with some 80 people representing all the different categories of inmates, before going on to meet those who are detained in a "protected" environment.

In the third wing, Pope Francis sat down for lunch with around 100 prisoners and treated to a typically Milanese cuisine, including rice with saffron and steaks 'alla Milanese' prepared by some of the inmates themselves.

The visit concluded with an exchange of gifts and the blessing of cards with the prisoners' names on them to be taken away by the Pope.

Throughout his pontificate Pope Francis has highlighted the predicament of prisoners and urged political leaders across the world to respect the dignity of inmates and offer them amnesty whenever possible. In many occasions he has called for a criminal justice system that is not exclusively punitive, but is open to the hope and the possibility of re-inserting the offender into society. Pope Francis has also called for a world-wide abolition of the death penalty and said he opposes life in prison without parole.

Underlining his deep concern for prisoners, the Pope concluded the Holy Year of Mercy with a special Jubilee Mass for some 1,000 prisoners from 12 countries and their families, as well as prison chaplains and volunteers in St. Peter's Basilica.

At the end of his busy day in the city, the Pope travelled to the football stadium of San Siro where he was welcomed by almost 80,000 people, including parents, god-parents, catechists, teachers and volunteers.

The Pope took questions from some of those present and in his off-cuff answers he focused on the importance of education and formation.

A good teacher he said knows how to enhance and promote the qualities of his pupils without neglecting the person as a whole.
"Education is "head-hands-heart" he said.

He reminded teachers and trainers that "children also need to play, to have fun, to rest."

The Pope concluded the encounter with a strong appeal to defeat 'bullying': "Please be careful, be on the look-out for the phenomenon of bullying" he said and invited the tens of thousands of boys and girls to reflect in silence and ask themselves whether there is someone in their school or in their community that teases them for whatever reason or whether they themselves are mean and even aggressive towards others. "This is bullying" he said and asked them to promise the Lord never to be bullies or to allow others to be victims of bullies.