Pope Francis made a surprise outing, officially on “vacation” before resuming his agenda and institutional commitments. In a private capacity, Bergoglio is heading to Ostia Summer Park, a free festival in its first edition this year, located within the amusement park in Piazza della Stazione Vecchia. Francis wants to meet the park workers. He will return to the Vatican at 4:30 pm.
Sister Genevieve, a religious friend of his who has been involved in the pastoral care of showmen for decades, invited Pope Francis to visit and greet the workers and employees of Ostia Summer Park. Sister Genevieve is now a kind of small myth in the Catholic world orbiting around Pope Francis: 81 years old, jokingly defined by Bergoglio himself in their last meeting as “the enfant terrible”, for 56 years Sister Genevieve Jeanningros, a little sister of Jesus, has been in charge of pastoral care for showmen but also for the LGBTQ+ communities. She shares her life with the showmen of Luna Park in Ostia Lido, living in a trailer with her fellow sister Anna Amelia.
The Vatican press office, while confirming the news, emphasized that the Pope “blessed a statue of the Madonna protector of the traveling show and circus and greeted the families and children present,” they added. After his arrival in the park hall, a short show of acrobatics, gags, and balloons was offered as a tribute to the Pope, reported Vatican News on X. To a boy, Massimo, who was filming him with his phone, the Pontiff recorded a video to greet his grandmother Laura as a gift from her grandson. Little Oscar, on the other hand, gave the Pope a music box, a symbol of the rides, along with a letter and a blue packet containing 5 euros: “So you can buy yourself an ice cream.”
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