By borrowing from another religion it is appropriate to say that “if Muhammad does not go to the mountain, the mountain goes to Muhammad”. And so, after the controversies and threats of the past few days, the bishop of Locri, Monsignor Francesco Oliva, writes to the parish priest of San Luca, in whose territory there is Polsi, to the community of the Aspromontan town and all the devotees of the Madonna della Montagna to announce that, being the sanctuary closed for restoration works and for the safety of the landslide roads this winter, in place of the traditional pilgrimage that Faithful to pay homage to Mary, it will be the “sacred image of the Madonna della Montagna, for centuries preserved and venerated in the Sanctuary of Polsi” to be “exposed to the veneration of the faithful in your parish church”. The decision, taken together with the rector Don Tonino Saraco, to the parish priest Don Gianluca Longo, to the whole board of directors of the sanctuary and to the closest collaborators, is that of “entrust the custody of the venerated statue of the Madonna to this community. All the necessary time will remain, so that it can be invoked and venerated. In this way, although not being able to go to the sanctuary, it will be the sacred effigy to be among you. You can celebrate the annual party of September 2 in a special way, why it has been in the past. You will live it with faith and inner participation by asking for the conversion of the heart and the return to God of those who have moved away from him. Everyone will be possible to come to this church, turn their homage to Mary and make the sacred indulgences in this jubilee time, under the conditions foreseen “.
In the afternoon of one September, the wooden effigy of the Madonna was thus moved to the parish church of San Luca. The decision truncates the controversies and the illications that had circulated in recent weeks on a place where the Ndrangheta summit was traditionally held and that, for years, the church has been restoring cult and prayer. Controversy that they had recommended to Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who should have officiated the mass of September 2, to postpone his coming to Calabria to another date.
“Through the invocation of Mary this community will find serenity and peace “, Certainly Monsignor Oliva is said,” and above all trust in God who guides history also through evidence. And you have met many tests throughout your history. I also met it in this time together with the priests, who take care of you and the sanctuary. Maria has made us strong and capable of overcoming them. But, beyond any misunderstanding, misunderstanding or misunderstanding, I want to clarify that there has never been any intention of depriving this community of the annual party of September 2, celebrating it elsewhere “.
The bishop concludes his letter with a look not only to the community, with the invocation of Maria Regina della Pace, to “our families, to the elderly, to the sick, and those who bring weights and concerns into the heart”, but also, learning “from her to live the fraternity and to keep peace”, to what happens outside. “With his intercession”, writes Monsignor Oliva, “we invoke peace to Ukraine, Gaza, Palestine, Israel and the whole world”.
