Francisco is a uncompleted geopolitical figure. So far in his papacy, the Argentine Pope has often gone against the agenda of many world leaders, vehemently criticizing, for example, countries that profit from wars or viciously rejecting abortion. A mixture of moral conservatism and sociopolitical ultra-progressivism, with a focus on what he calls “the peripheries”; that is, areas outside the media and global focus. With this baggage, the Pope arrives this Sunday Corsicawhich has raised criticism in France, but which also has as a background the Church’s nod to the demands cultural and linguistic of the island.
Officially, Francis is traveling to participate in the congress on Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean, traveling to Corsica this Sunday. After landing at the Ajaccio international airport – also becoming the first reigning Pope to set foot on Corsican soil—, will first go to the city’s Palais des Congrès et d’Exposition, where he will give a speech in the presence of French, Italian and Spanish priests. Other speeches are planned at the Assumption Cathedral and, in the afternoon, at Place d’Austerlitz, a large park where Napoleon (a native of the island) went as a child.
However, the visit, as soon as it was announced, sparked controversy in France. Controversies that refer to the Pope’s refusal to participate in the great ceremony of Notre Dame’s reopening last week, just a week before his trip to Corsica. Which—although there was no official complaint from France—caused discomfort that was visible in the French press, in which there was talk of a “affront” against Emmanuel Macronthe French president. Something that the Vatican in turn tried to qualify with the argument that the event in Paris coincided with a series of appointments by the Pope in Rome, including a consistory that was held last Sunday.
Corsican identity
But this would not be the only reason, according to Bernard Planche, advisor on religious affairs at the French Embassy to the Vatican. “Of course there have been disappointment in France. However, it is understood that the Pope wanted to prioritize being with the people in Corsica, and participating in simpler and pastoral events, instead of going to Paris to a more mundane event“, he states in an interview. Immediately afterwards, Planche recalls that Francisco has also shown interest in the model of the Spanish naturalized French cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, who in recent years has promoted the resurgence of Corsican identity and culture within the Church. local.
“In Corsica there is currently a Government that asks for more autonomy, so cannot be ruled out what someone tries to take advantage of the Pope’s visit,” reasons Planche. But “what Bustillo has done has been to invest in the recovery of the traditional Corsican language and culture, particularly with regard to young people and brotherhoods. And that has a evangelizing objective […] It has meant, for example, allowing the use of traditional music in religious ceremonies more frequently,” explains Planche.
The numbers also help to understand this approach. Although Corsica has not been immune in the past to the decline in Christian believers that many European countries have suffered, religion still catholic resists on the island. In fact, according to statistics, nine out of 10 Corsicans still declare themselves Catholics and some observers even speak of a slight re-Christianization.
Re-Christianization
The Corsican historian Michel Casta explained it last year as the result of something that, in truth, comes from afar. “The catholic religion has always been seen by the Corsicans as a means to affirm your identity“, Casta explained to the newspaper ‘Corse Matin’. “It is a recurring element, especially in the moments of tension. Since the French conquest, religion has been perceived as an element of resistance against the new masters, seen as anti-religious or, at least, bearers of a different conception of the Church. An aspect that, for example, will be found again in the 20th century within the autonomist movement between the wars,” he added.
All this when the tension from the diatribes on the corsican identity remains in France. In fact, in 2023, Macron proposed “autonomy within the Republic” to the island, but the project is not yet closed. And while the discussions have continued. Proof of this has been the protests these days of young Corsicans over the decision in November by the Marseille Administrative Court of Appeal to prohibit – on the grounds that it would go against the French Constitution – the use of the local language in the island’s Assembly and Executive Council. Protests that have been partially suspended due to the imminent arrival of Francis to Corsica.
