In a world that seems to be largely run by oligarchs, charlatans and megalomaniacs there are few leaders who, when they pass, receive genuine praise from other heads of state, heads of government and religious leaders of all political persuasions and faiths. Pope Francis is one who has.
Probably like most of you, I woke up to the news this morning and immediately felt a deep sadness. I am not a Catholic but I feel drawn to that faith; I am not a Protestant but must admit I used to like a good sing-song in a Protestant church now and then; I am not a believer, nor am I a non-believer but I would like to believe.
Why, then, am I saddened by the death of Pope Francis? Because I think he was a force for good in the world and I have found him a relatable figure ever since the evening he was elected Pope and came out onto the famous balcony and said, "Buonasera" to enormous cheers from the crowd. It was so simple yet so appropriate and it felt as if your neighbour was greeting you in the street.
In January 2020, when our fears of the virus were growing, this agnostic blogger who is leaning towards Catholicism bought, on impulse, a book entitled Preghiera (Prayer), a collection of Pope Francis's thoughts on the matter. In a section called How to Pray, there is a quote from a speech he gave in 2016. He says,
Do not forget to pray. Pray in any way you can, and if you fall asleep in front of the Tabernacle, you will still be blessed. But pray.......Do not lose your closeness to and availability for others, and also, I allow myself to say to you, do not lose your sense of humour. And we will go forward!
A Pope who valued humour could not, and did not, fail to be loved.
Let's start with the festival: Sanremo 2022 ended on Saturday, after a great week's entertainment, with an overall win for the duo Mahmood and Blanco and their song Brividi. They will go on to represent Italy with this song at the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin in May so you'll be hearing a lot more of it.
I liked it very much, but I also likes Elisa's song, O forse sei tu, which was beautifully sung and it was nice to see the singer back at the Festival after 20 years. (I've always followed Sanremo, even from Britain.) Elisa came second and also won the the prize for best musical composition. She must have been very pleased as later she skateboarded back to her hotel, still in her beautiful, long, floaty white dress. Brava, Elisa! The Gianni who is so loved in Italy that he is sometimes known as the "Gianni nazionale", the great Gianni Morandi, came third with Apri tutte le porte - Open all the Doors, a song which, with its description of waking up feeling indolent and then being determined to open the doors of life and let the sun in, appealed to everyone's mood. Morandi, with Jovanotti, won the Cover Night (in my opinion always the best night, as I like to wallow in nostalgia) and really the singer has made a fantastic comeback after suffering serious burns to his hands and legs last year in a garden accident. I wish I had his energy!
My favourite song, and therefore the one I voted for, was Irama's Ovunque Sarai - Wherever You Are and he gave it everything on the final night, saying,
" This evening I'm going to sing to remind all who have lost a loved one that love and beauty always remain in the present."
Irama was placed fourth but I'm sure he will win the Festival one day.
It was also good to see female co-presenters who had been chosen not only for their looks but for what they had to say, which was consistently interesting and I mentioned Lorena Cesarini in my post last Thursday. Had there been an elegance prize, it was generally agreed, it would have gone to to Drusilla Foer, the alter ego of the actor Gianluca Gori. It was the first time Sanremo had been co-presented by a celebrity en travestiand well done to the organisers for moving with the times. Last week, I said that if I make it to the age of 82 I want to be like Iva Zanicchi but after the following exchange on Saturday I've decided I don't:
Iva: "How tall you are!"
Drusilla: "Taller than you!"
Iva: "You've got other things I don't have!"
Drusilla: "Yes, I'm cultured."
So Drusilla took the repartee prize too and went on to say that she thought we should stop focussing on our diversity and concentrate on our uniqueness. She is strongly tipped to be the main presenter of Sanremo 2023.
From the Festival to another celebration, that of the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen: I'm not entirely a monarchist, as regular readers will know, but I'm not entirely an anti-monarchist either, absurd though the institution can be. Anyway, my friend Carol King and I decided it would have been churlish not to at least drink a toast to her. I think we have all decided to celebrate whatever moments we can in this third year of the pandemic so a "Lizzie lunch" was planned: I prepared some antipasti - my green tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, Asiago cheese with cotognata (quince paste), dried sausage, sun-dried tomatoes and olives.
We ordered some chicken and chips from a popular rosticceria (as that's a bit British) and a tray of little cakes including these pretty mini-cheesecakes and chocolate cups from my local pasticceria.
As it's carnival time (although many carnivals have been postponed to the spring because of the pandemic) I also got in some traditional chiacchiere biscuits. This is the first time I've seen some drizzled with pistacchio cream instead of chocolate and very good they were too.
As I said, it would have been churlish not to...
People have remarked that the Queen's Accession Day 2022 Message is "perfect pitch" and indeed it hit the right note and concentrated on the positive. Her Majesty had the courage to look to the future and also to grant the wish that she knew would make her son and heir apparent happy - that is, to recognise his wife as future Queen (and not Princess Consort as originally suggested in deference to public opinion almost seventeen years ago). We have all moved on, I think, though many people I have spoken to here are indignant on behalf of the late Diana. My view from abroad is that the British have not forgotten her and even if they had, there are series like The Crown to remind them, but that they have forgiven Charles and come to respect him more. Even future kings can make mistakes in their personal lives and my own view is that he has paid for them.
What, I wonder, would Pope Francis think about that? I don't think he would pass judgement on a non-Catholic marriage but perhaps he would quietly wish Charles, who had great respect for his predecessor-but-one and who postponed his second wedding to attend the latter's funeral, well. It would seem so judging by the humility of this man on Sunday's Che tempo che fa programme. The Pope surprised us all by admitting he had wanted to be a butcher as a child, because, shopping with his mother or grandmother, he had seen that the butcher had a bag into which he put money. Quite a change of vocation! The Pope was most angry about what he described as a crime - the treatment of immigrants - saying that they were being held in what amounted to concentration camps in Libya and he saw war as the cause of most of the world's ills:
"A year without arms and there would be enough food and education for the whole world."
Asked about the suffering of children, Pope Francis said that, despite his faith, he could give no explanation and I admired his honesty.
On a lighter note, he admitted that one of his reasons for not choosing to live in the Papal apartment was that the popes who had lived there before him were saints, while he is not one and he needs people around him, for friendship sustains him. He also said that a sense of humour is like a medicine.
Presenter Fabio Fazio has been criticised today for being a little too humble in this edition of Che tempo che fa but I think he is a great interviewer and he did not avoid difficult questions. And who would not have been overawed when interviewing the Pope?
All these events were pleasant distractions from what is happenng in my own country and I found each of them uplifting. If only I could stop scrolling the news more often!
On this Easter Sunday, while most of us celebrated with friends and family, while a Queen, resplendent in turquoise, attended church, while a sportsman triumphantly drenched his teammates in champagne, while two statues met and kissed in Modica, a drama which operatives involved have described as "unprecedented" in its scale has been taking place in the Mediterranean and once again, people have died in it and are probably continuing to die as I write.
Calmer seas, the escalating war situation in Syria and the continual lack of hope in other countries of provenance have seen migrant boats leaving for Europe without cease and on Friday more than 2,000 migrants were reported to have been travelling in the Sicilian Channel. The Italian Coast Guard says that, in 19 operations involving 16 migrant dinghies and three small wooden boats, 2,074 migrants were saved. One teenager was found dead in one of the dinghies. The SOS Méditeranée ship Aquarius was last night bringing 500 of the rescued migrants, including three children under the age of five, to Pozzallo.
Early reports today said that at least 20 migrants had drowned off Libya in the preceding 24 hours but this was later corrected to seven. However, there are conflicting reports, probably because of the number of rescue operations necessary and the difficulties encountered in them, so the situation is still unclear. MOAS [Migrant Offshore Aid Station] had saved 1,500 people on nine boats since Saturday morning and, taking them on board their ship Phoenix, had to give priority to women, children and the sick. Once capacity was reached at 453, they issued life jackets and supplies to the migrants still waiting for rescue on board their inadequate boats.
In all 4,500 people were saved on Saturday and a MSF ship has taken 649 migrants, saved off Libya on Friday, to Calabria. Many of these migrants had signs of torture on their bodies and some had gunshot wounds. An eight-year-old boy is also reported dead.
In this video of 7th April, Dr Pietro Bartolo of Lampedusa mentions what he calls the "illness of the dinghies", as witnessed by medics since the people traffickers have started using dinghies: this illness, which can lead to death, is caused by a mixture of petrol and water soaking migrants' clothes and causing burns. It affects mostly the women, he says, as it is the women who tend to be crowded together sitting on the floor - a different sort of drenching, then, to the one inflicted by our friend the sportsman above.
Dr Bartolo also had strong words for Europe's leaders, saying that he does not understand why a great and civilised continent cannot deal with the migration crisis with intelligence and rationality but he puts it down to indifference rather than inability to act.
The other person who has uttered strong words about the migration tragedy is Pope Francis, who said the following at Friday's Easter Vigil in Rome:
"We can see the faces of those women* in any number of other faces: the faces of mothers and grandmothers, of children and young people who bear the grievous burden of injustice and brutality. In their faces, we can see reflected all those who, walking the streets of our cities, feel the pain of dire poverty, the sorrow born of exploitation and human trafficking. We can also see the faces of those who are greeted with contempt because they are immigrants, deprived of country, house and family.
Shame for all the scenes of devastation, destruction and drownings that have become ordinary in our lives."
* The two women Pope Francis refers to are Mary and Mary Magdalene as they visited the tomb of Jesus.
Update - 17.4.17 at 20.29:
UNHCR has said that the number of migrants saved in the Mediterranean by naval or NGO operatives from Friday to Sunday was a staggering 8,300. It has now been confirmed that seven migrants were found dead. A pregnant woman was evacuated from a migrant boat last night and brought to hospital in Modica, where she is said to be in a very serious condition. Source: La Repubblica
It was with great pleasure that I participated, on Saturday, in the launch of Modican poet Antonio Lonardo's 40th anniversary collection, Alla ricerca dell'Oreb, which I had translated.
Before the big event, of course, two visits were necessary - one to Giovanna Linguanti of Beauty Giò, and the other to Giorgio at Saloni di Successo:
At last, I am ready!
Alla ricerca dell'Oreb [In search of Horeb] is a collection of poems dedicated to migrants, describing their hopes, losses and heartbreak - a cause which is, as many of you will know, close to my heart. The second part of the book is dedicated to the migrants' champion, Pope Francis and I can assure you it makes for moving reading for people of all religions or none. There are also poems dedicated to Gabriel García Márquez [born 90 years ago today] and to Mandela.
Besides reading my English versions of the poems at the launch, I spoke about the particular difficulties a translator of poetry faces and the changes necessary, especially in word order, when translating from Italian into English. I ended by saying that, whilst very few translations ever match the beauty of the original - the linguist George Steiner said it was possible but rare - I hoped that mine had done justice to Antonio Lonardo's message.
Here are some more photos from the event:
Me with Antonio Lonardo
At the end of the evening I was delighted to receive this commemorative plate, specially commissioned by Antonio. I shall treasure it:
Thank you, Antonio and many congratulations again!
With the eyes of the world very much on events in Calais this week, the plight of migrants attempting the Mediterranean crossing to reach Europe has once again been largely forgotten by the international media. Yet it goes on, changing weather conditions render it even more dangerous and someone, somewhere, it seems, always profits from tragedy.
On Wednesday - Thursday night 51 people died in the Sicilian Channel because, according to survivors, a rough sea had caused the inadequate dinghies they were travelling on to capsize. Of the 339 survivors brought to Augusta, 25 were women and 31 were unaccompanied minors. Some were taken to hospital with burns caused by leaking fuel and two suspected people traffickers have been arrested.
On Tuesday a Médecins sans Frontières boat saved 107 people from a dinghy off the Libyan coast but their operatives found the bodies of 29 people lying in a mixture of fuel and seawater on board. These poor souls had died from their burns, from suffocation or from drowning.
Calais is not the only place where there have been ugly scenes this week as residents of Goro [Ferrara] protested against the planned arrival at a hostel there of 12 migrants by setting up road blocks. [I should point out that many migrant hostels are overcrowded and short of resources in Italy.] As one of the women was pregnant, a decision was made to take the group elsewhere but Interior Minister Angelino Alfano was quick to point out that this incident is not representative of Italy. The country, he said, is characterised by the young people who go to the quayside at Lampedusa to help with new migrant arrivals or Dr Bartolo of Lampedusa [who works tirelessly for both the inhabitants of Lampedusa and the migrants who arrive there].
Prime Minister Renzi, meanwhile, has said that, though it is clear that Europe cannot open its doors to all, EU states that build walls to keep out migrants should expect no funding from Italy. He said EU states should work together to solve the migration crisis rather than playing on hatred and intolerance.
Pope Francis, as usual, put it simply and succinctly but managed to show that he understands the reasons for hardening attitudes. In St Peter's Square on Wednesday he said,
"Today, the context of economic crises unfortunately fosters the emergence of attitudes that are closed and unwelcoming. In some parts of the world, walls and barricades are being erected. Closure [of borders] is not a solution as it ends up encouraging trafficking. The only path towards a solution is that of solidarity.”
In tonight's look back at Sicily Scene over the last ten years, which focuses on migration, I was going to say that I hoped I would never have to write about incidents like this and this again. Yet, exactly one year after the "Hecatomb" tragedy, it is probable that another large-scale migrant disaster has occurred in the Mediterranean.
I say "probable" because there are conflicting reports over exactly what has happened and the numbers involved but what I can glean is this: Three days ago four inadequate boats carrying up to 500 migrants from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia left Egypt for Italy and there has been no definite news of them since so they are believed to have capsized. Relatives of some of the passengers have called Don Mussie Zerai of Habeshia because they had received calls from their loved ones aboard asking for help but there was no response when they tried to call them back. Then the BBC Arabic Service reported 400 passengers missing and 30 survivors but other news services are reporting 200 dead. A man claiming to be a survivor said that 500 people were lost and that he was one of only 23 who survived. UNHCR earlier put the number of survivors at 40. UNHCR, the Italian Government, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Italian Coast Guard are all awaiting further information as I write.
This comes two days after Pope Francis shamed Europe's leaders by actually doing something to help desperate people and three days after Italy's Premier Renzi presented his country's "Migration Compact" plan to the EU Commission and Council. It has been generally welcomed. The Compact proposes much closer cooperation with migrants' countries of origin and with transit countries, backed up by the use of dedicated funds which could come from Eurobonds [though the German government does not like this idea, preferring to tax petrol to raise the money]. Under the plan member states would commit themselves to actively helping with border control, reducing migration flows and with repatriation and readmission of migrants. In addition, they would step up the fight against human trafficking. Premier Renzi has also expressed his displeasure at the Austrian plan to erect a barrier at the Brenner Pass, a thoroughfare which Italy regards as essential for its trade.
With the closure of the Greek-Balkan migrant route, Italy is again preparing itself for a migrant influx, particularly as summer fast approaches. Up to 6,000 migrants used the Libya-Italy route last week and 10,000 are estimated to have entered the country in March. Italy continues to save lives in the Mediterranean and to treat migrant arrivals with a humanity sadly lacking in other parts of Europe.
Migration has been a subject close to my heart for the past ten years and my first post on a migration tragedy was this one , from 2006. It is short but illustrates the fact that no one was taking notice then. Since that time the world has been forced to acknowledge the crisis but not in the way I would have hoped: I have always been pro-EU and am entitled to vote in the forthcoming referendum on Britain's continuing membership. I shall vote "in" but, given that 28 countries, some of which are among the richest in the world, can find neither the political will nor the compassion to work together on this humanitarian crisis, even I have to ask what this organisation is for.
I know how it feels to leave your country and it is difficult even when you choose to do so, love the new one and have been fortunate enough to take with you the people and things that give you solace. No one displaces himself, leaving everything behind, without a valid reason.
A reminder that you can find links to all my migration posts here.
Every time I write a post like this, I hope it will not be necessary again but I know there will be another - and another...
Most of you will know from the news where you are that there has been another large-scale migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean, as these days such events are being more widely reported, though as I write, Sky News UK has it in third place in its running order.
There is probably little that I can add to the news that you are seeing or reading but I will tell you what I know, with the caveat that this is an ongoing situation: Late this morning, the Italian Coast Guard in Catania received a satellite call for help for a migrant boat in trouble some 15 miles north of the Libyan coast. They were told that around 600 people were on board but there may have been up to 700. The Coast Guard immediately directed their own vessels and several other ships to the area, including the Médecins Sans Frontières ship Dignity One and the Irish naval vessel The Niamh.
The MSF ship and The Niamh were first on the scene and the Irish ship launched two lifeboats to rescue the migrants. What seems to have happened - and this has happened with tragic consequences before - is that all those migrants who could ran to one side of their boat upon seeing the rescuers approach and this caused the boat to overturn. There was no hope for the poor souls who were crammed into the hold and these may have numbered 100 - 150. A coordinator on board the MSF ship said he witnessed a horrific sight, with migrants clinging to life jackets and pieces of debris in a desperate effort to save themselves as others drowned before his eyes. There was nothing anyone could do. La Repubblica points out that, on all rescue missions, the first message sent to the migrants in need of help tells them to remain seated and to move as little as possible. But how can we, seated in our comfortable homes, imagine what we would do after such an ordeal and in a state of fear, possible dehydration and exhaustion?
The Italian media are reporting that 400 migrants have been saved and 25 bodies have been recovered so far but many more migrants are probably dead. The survivors and the bodies are tonight being brought to Palermo. The ongoing search operation is still being treated as a rescue mission.
This week we learned that over 2,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2015. Tonight that figure is even higher.
"Fleeing from situations of extreme poverty or persecution in the hope of a better future, or simply to save their own lives, millions of persons choose to migrate. Despite their hopes and expectations, they often encounter mistrust, rejection and exclusion, to say nothing of tragedies and disasters which offend their human dignity.
The reality of migration, given its new dimensions in our age of globalization, needs to be approached and managed in a new, equitable and effective manner; more than anything, this calls for international cooperation and a spirit of profound solidarity and compassion."
As many in my home country continued, on Monday, to exult over the birth of Princess Charlotte, 1,257 miles away, in Pozzallo, attention was focused on a very different kind of birth that had taken place: On Sunday night, during a migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean, Italian naval personnel found that a woman on one of the migrant boats was in labour. Transferred to the naval ship Bettica, the mother was safely delivered of a baby girl by a medical team which included volunteers and helped, of course, by the military.
The sailors gave the little girl the name Francesca Marina - Francesca for Pope Francis and St Francis of Assisi [who is also the patron saint of Italy] and Marina for the Marina Militare [Italian Navy]. Following their arrival at Pozzallo, Francesca and her Nigerian mother were brought to the Maggiore Hospital in Modica, where both are said to be doing well. The doctor who delivered her said in a radio interview that Francesca is a calm, smiling baby and that the whole experience had been very emotional for all concerned. Today it has been revealed that her mother wants to call the baby "Gift" but will also keep her daughter's two Italian names.
I am not the first person to point out the contrasts between the two births today and several Italian newspapers have published pictures of the princess and Gift side by side but I do want to say this: I do not often make a plea, but I would like to ask anyone who is considering, for the best of reasons, sending a present to the little princess, to think of Gift Francesca Marina, and others like her, first.
It is estimated that over 7,000 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean in Italian-led operations over the weekend and on Monday and at least 50 migrants have died.
Italy's Operazione Mare Nostrum may have been wound up and replaced by the Frontex [European External Borders Agency] operation Triton, but the incidence of boats carrying migrants on perilous journeys from Africa towards Europe shows no signs of abating. Calm seas recently have favoured departures and a new route taking some of the migrants to Puglia seems to be in use.
On Sunday an Italian naval ship brought 864 migrants to safety in Pozzallo in the second largest landing of migrants in a Ragusan port this year. Most were Syrian or Palestinian and there were 69 accompanied and seven unaccompanied minors among them. Of the 104 who were women, two were pregnant and had to be taken to hospital in Modica. The migrants told Italian officials a familiar story of a dangerous crossing in overcrowded and inadequate boats and all had been rescued by various Italian naval vessels.
Half have now been transferred to Palermo, another 150 to Florence and arrangements are being made for the transfer of most of the rest to other reception centres in Italy as the Pozzallo centre is now overcrowded.
The past week has seen ugly scenes in Rome, where residents of the Tor Sapienza suburb protested angrily and, in some cases, violently, about one of the migrant reception centres there, blaming migrants for the area's misfortunes. Tor Sapienza is a poor district where many people are unemployed and tensions came to a head at the weekend, when children in the centre concerned had to be evacuated from it. Pope Francis has asked all interested institutions to deal with the situation as a "social emergency" and has also called for dialogue between the local community and immigrants.
I am not in Tor Sapienza so cannot comment further on the area's troubles but I do know that an identifiable immigrant community anywhere is likely to become a scapegoat in times of economic hardship. Anti-immigration feeling, it seems to me, is being whipped up all over Europe as I write. Willing or unwilling host countries could do worse than heed Pope Francis's call for dialogue.
All roads certainly led to Rome on Sunday and, whilst the eyes of the world were upon the rejoicing city, a little town in Sicily was remembering a miracle which happened there and which played a largely unpublicised part in the great events of the day:
In May 1967 Giovanna La Terra Majore was 54 years old and had been bedridden for 23 years in her home town of Chiaramonte Gulfi. A friend who had visited Rome had brought back a picture of Pope John XXIII for Giovanna and advised her to use it to help her pray. Giovanna did so but what she actually prayed for was death, to release her from her pain. On 13th May Giovanna had received the last rites. Suddenly, she felt the bed shake and a kind of pressure on her spine, as though someone was trying to push her up. Then, feeling as if she were being supported by two strong hands, she seemed to be propelled to the middle of the room - and she was standing, watching her own shrivelled feet uncurling. The next day, the "Good Pope" appeared to her in a dream and told her that she could now walk without fear.
Giovanna and her fellow-Chiramontani had no doubt that a miracle had taken place and to whom it should have been attributed. Although the event was considered during Pope John's beatification cause, it was excluded from his canonisation process. However, Suor Caterina Capitani, whose recovery from terminal illness was officially attributed to the intercession of Pope John XXIII, visited Chiaramonte Gulfi several times and met Giovanna. In a nice postscript to the story, the two women later visited Rome together and received Holy Communion from the hands of Pope John Paul II.
Oh, dear, it's that statue of the Blessed Pope John Paul II again! The memorial, unveiled outside Rome's Termini Station in 2011, has been criticised since that moment, with the face being likened to that of Mussolini and the body to a "bloody big hole". The open cloak gesture was meant to represent this beloved Pope drawing everyone in and loving them but it just doesn't work. The folk at CNN seem to agree and now the statue features on their list of the world's eleven ugliest monuments - a dubious honour if ever there was one.
Even though the statue has had a makeover and the lines are a little softer, it hardly evokes the idea of welcome and bears little resemblance to the late Pontiff. I still think our Giovanni Paolo statue in Modica is better!
In the lovely church of Santa Maria di Betlemmein Modica Bassa there is an exquisite terracotta presepe [crib] made in 1882. It has 66 statuettes and the onlookers at the nativity scene are depicted as Sicilian countrymen and women. It is an absolutely stunning sight.
You will see a crib in nearly every Sicilian home at this time of year and some of the figurines will be family heirlooms. The custom of filling the crib with statuettes dressed in Sicilian costume continues and I think this must make it easier for children to identify with the characters. The Holy Family, though, are depicted traditionally and one figurine, that of the baby Jesus, is not added to the scene until Christmas Eve.
In Sicily the city of Caltagirone is particularly famous for the craftsmanship of its cribs but, as many of you will know, the "crib capital" of Italy is Napoli. The tradition began there in the Baroque era of the 18th century, when the carving of wooden figurines was elevated to an art form. Now, in the via San Gregorio Armeno, you can find not only traditional figurines and figurines inspired by Italian country life, but representations of politicians, royals and celebrities.
So who is "in" and who is "out" [literally] in this year's cribs? Well, Silvio Berlusconi, who has been prominent among the figurines for decades, and who was even represented, in the past, alongside figurines of some of the ladies who, at the very least, enjoyed his parties, features less often in 2013. If you must, however, you can still find a figurine of him holding a card declaring, "Sono decaduto" ["I have decayed" and a reference to his decadenza - fall from power]. You can also add the entire Napoli football squad to your decorations and representations - complete with his beloved iPhone - of Matteo Renzi, the Mayor of Florence and recently elected leader of the Democratic Party, are said to be selling well. Figurines of Nelson Mandela are available, as you would expect, but the overall bestsellers this year are figurines of Papa Francesco - a worthy winner, in my opinion. This year the Archdiocese of Naples has the honour, for the first time, of sponsoring the Vatican's Nativity Scene, which will be unveiled in St Peter's Square on Christmas Eve. The background has been inspired by the Campania countryside and the figurines have been crafted in 18th century Neapolitan tradition by Antonio Cantone of Cantone & Costabile. The scene is entitled Francesco 1223 - Francesco 2013, a reference to the date when St Francis created a living crib in Greccio and, of course, to the current, popular Pope.
Yesterday a heroine of mine and, I am sure, of many readers of this blog, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, arrived in Rome for a series of meetings as part of her European tour. "The lady", as she is often called, is a heroine here, too and I would like to add my voice to the many that have welcomed her to Italy.
Aung San Suu Kyi first travelled to the Campidoglio where she received, 19 years late, the scroll that makes her an honorary citizen of Rome. This honour was awarded to her in 1994 but, as she was under house arrest at the time, she was unable to accept it in person. At last, yesterday, it was presented to her by Mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino and one of his predecessors, Francesco Rutelli. In her acceptance speeech, Aung San Suu Kyi remembered visiting Rome as a student 40 years ago, when she had been very impressed by the friendliness of the people. She had enjoyed the gelato, too! Mr Marino told her that Rome would always be with her and that the world needs people like her.
"The lady" also received the Rome Peace Prize and Roberto Baggio, who had accepted it on her behalf in 2007, was visibly moved. He said that Aung San Suu Kyi's battles for freedom had not only changed the destiny of her own people, but also the everyday lives of others.
This morning Prime Minister Letta received Aung San Suu Kyi at the Palazzo Chigi and assured her of his full support in her work to advance Burma's transition to democracy, particularly with regard to the constitutional reforms that will be necessary. Mr Letta thanked "the lady" for her tireless fight for democracy and freedom and invited her to Expo 2015 as food security, one of the themes of the festival, is of interest to her. She accepted the invitation with pleasure.
Later "the lady" discussed human rights and religious freedom in a private audience with Pope Francis and afterwards met President Napolitano, Foreign Minister Emma Bonino, President of the Senate Pietro Grasso and Laura Boldrini, President of the Chamber of Deputies.
The Eternal City loves you, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Please come again soon!
As I write, BBC World is leading with the news of yet another tragedy involving a migrant boat in the Mediterranean: there are conflicting reports as the rescue operation is ongoing but what we know so far is that the boat got into trouble early this evening 70 miles off Malta and 60 miles off Lampedusa, where it was probably headed. Maltese military and Italian naval vessels were already in the area, following last week's tragedy, and the boat was spotted by the Maltese Air Force, who alerted the Italian authorities. The boat was carrying at least 250 people and, according to the BBC, capsized when most of the passengers ran to one side in an attempt to signal their plight to a passing aircraft. Corriere della Sera is reporting 50 dead so far, including ten children. A Maltese vessel has saved 150 migrants, among them 17 children and an Italian naval vessel has rescued 56 people, including nine children. There are reports that ten rescued children have already been flown to Lampedusa. Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat have spoken on the telephone and have again agreed that coordinated EU action is required to halt such tragedies.
I presume that, if the BBC is reporting the story, it is making headlines around the world but I cannot help reflecting that the world was not much interested in Mediterranean migration until the magnitude of last week's tragedy off Lampedusa woke it up. But these tragedies did not begin with the "Arab Spring" or the civil war in Syria: as one of my commenters reminded me last week, I have been writing about them for a long time - since 2006, in fact - and, for those of you who would like to know more about how these events have affected Italy and Sicily in particular, I have this evening placed a new page, called Posts about migration in the Mediterranean, under the blog header. This page contains links to all my posts about migration in the area. Among them you will find many tales of tragedy - and yes, of evil - but also remarkable stories of generosity, humanity, bravery and love.
The death toll of the tragedy of 3rd October is now 339 but the recovery operation is not finished. The media outside Italy has made much of the fact that Prime Minister Letta and the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, were heckled when they visited Lampedusa this Wednesday but I have seen few reports in the foreign press of Mr Letta's humility: he knelt in front of the coffins in the airport hangar on Lampedusa and apologised for his country's inadequacies when faced with such a tragedy. Both men were visibly shaken by what they saw and Mr Barroso was especially upset by the sight of a coffin containing a mother and newborn baby, with the umbilical cord still attached.
Mr Letta has promised a state funeral for the victims and, although he has been accused of using them to "play politics", I believe that the gesture has been made in good faith. There is no word yet of when and where this will take place and among those who want to know is the Mayor of Lampedusa, Giusi Nicolini, who has to deal with the arrival on Lampedusa of some of the victims' relatives, who are of course asking where their loved ones will be buried.
Not all politicians are happy about the state funeral plans and an amendment to the so called Bossi-Fini Law, under which illegal immigration is a crime, has also caused a storm. Under the amendment, passed in the Senate on Thursday, illegal immigration will no longer be a crime but possible measures against it such as deportation or detention will remain in force. Some unlikely alliances have been formed to fight the amendment and we must wait to see what happens.
Once again, a ray of light has been brought into this sombre situation by Pope Francis, who today sent international phone cards to the survivors on Lampedusa. Sometimes I think Pope Francis has more common sense than all the politicians put together.
Italy, on the day of its patron saint, Saint Francis, is marking yesterday's tragedy at sea with an official day of mourning: On Lampedusa many businesses remained closed as a mark of respect, flags are flying at half-mast nation-wide and in schools a minute's silence for the migrants who died was observed this morning.
Searches for more bodies were temporarily suspended because of a rough sea and bad weather earlier but continue as I write. Half of the bodies that have so far been recovered are those of women. Four children aged between one and four years are also confirmed dead. Some bodies have today been transferred to the island's airport - described by one newspaper as having become "the hangar of death" - as the mortuary could no longer cope with the numbers. Coffins have been taken to Lampedusa from other parts of Sicily.
Mayor of Lampedusa Giusi Nicolini has said that today marks a new point in the migration story because this tragedy has made the "invisible situation" visible to the whole world. Let us hope, then, that the whole world will act to stop events of this nature happening again.
Integration Minister Cécile Kyenge has said that she herself could have been on that boat and that now is not the moment for politicians to start blaming each other. Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, who has seen the horrifying scenes on Lampedusa for himself, has joined calls by Corriere della Sera readers for Lampedusa to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the way in which it has shown compassion and helped the migrants who have arrived there over many years. [This idea was also put forward by the Italian government in 2011.] As the journalist Fabrizio Gatti pointed out in an article in L'Espresso this morning, the EU, an organisation notable for its failure to help in the migration crisis, has been awarded the prize. When I last looked, nearly 25,000 people [including me] had signed an online petition in support of the island's candidature.
Pope Francis, visiting Assisi this morning, called today il giorno del pianto - the day of tears. To an audience of people being helped by the Caritas organisation he said,
"So many of you have been despoiled by this barbaric world which does not provide work, does not help people and does not care if children die of hunger or if many families have nothing to eat and do not even have the dignity of being able to bring home some bread. This world does not care about the many people who have to flee slavery and hunger and leave their countries in search of freedom. And so often, with so much pain, we see that what they find instead is death, as happened yesterday on Lampedusa."
The Pope wants disused churches and monasteries to be converted into accommodation for refugees - a much-needed practical suggestion in these days of sorrow.
Let us also remember, this evening, the Coast Guard and other emergency services who saved so many and continue to risk their own lives in the recovery operation.
The island of Lampedusa, which has so often featured on this blog as the hoped-for "gateway to Europe" for desperate migrants, is to receive a very special visitor today. The visitor is none other than Pope Francis who, in a symbolic gesture, has chosen Lampedusa as the destination for his first trip outside Rome as Pope.
Pope Francis wants this to be, above all, a simple visit and he has dispensed with the usual protocol surrounding a papal visit: he will not be surrounded by ministers or bishops and he wants to meet migrants, Lampedusa residents and coastguard, military and civilians who have participated in rescue efforts or who have helped the migrants in other ways. The Pontiff will lay a wreath upon the water for those migrants who lost their lives trying to reach Lampedusa and the altar at which he will celebrate Mass is made out of wood from a migrant boat. He will be given a pastoral staff which is also made of wood from one of the boats.
I feel sure that a Pope who sees the poor as central to his mission and who told young people gathered in St Peter's Square today not to be afraid of joy can bring a message of hope to Lampedusa.
Often it is the sideshows of great events that are most revealing about the nature of some of those attending them and so it was last night in Rome: As ecclesiastical history unfolded in the rain, spectators' umbrellas were refolded when they were asked to put them down so that everybody in the crowd could have a chance to see the new Pope. Italians can, at times, be among the most disorderly people in the world but at others, they will comply surprisingly quietly with a reasonable request and thus it was in St Peter's Square while the world looked on.
This got me thinking about umbrellas and I remembered that, when I first came here, it was difficult to actually buy one: they are not normally sold in supermarkets as they are in Britain and, if you couldn't run to a designer one, your choice was very limited. Those that were on sale at a reasonable price were either flimsy or had prongs that did not tuck in at the top, making them a menace to those padded raincoats so beloved of Italian women in winter. Now better specimens are on sale in more shops, though rarely in supermarkets.
I've never really got on with umbrellas, I must admit, preferring a hood or my trusty Cardiffian hat, so when it does rain here I am often asked where my umbrella is. This is a question which only someone addicted to their car would ask on a windy day for, as every Brit knows, rain and umbrellas do not mix. And when hailstones the size of eggs fall, as they did today in Modica, no umbrella would last very long. [Of course, I was the only person out and about in such weather once again.]
A beach parasol is known as an ombrellone or "big umbrella" and in the summer we were treated to the ombrellone strike. As I wrote then, Simi has her own version:
Earlier, I searched for umbrella quotes but the only one I liked, and which rather fits my mood at the moment, is this:
The rain it raineth on the just And also on the unjust fella: But chiefly on the just, because The unjust steals the just's umbrella.
- Lord Bowen, quoted in Walter Sichel's Sands of Time.
My favourite Sicilian proverb about rain, by the way, is,
Cca çiovi supraô vagnatu - Here it rains on the person who is already soaked [the implication being that troubles do not come singly, a premise with which I concur]. Does anyone know if there's still an umbrella repair stall in Cardiff Market? Flanagan and Allen - The Umbrella Man
My favourite film featuring umbrellas is Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and I cry enough to make an umbrella necessary every time!
As it's nearly Easter, here's an umbrella song from Easter Parade:
Finally, here's a bit of inconsequential fun:
Enzo Jannacci - L'ombrello di mio fratello
If it's raining in your life at the moment, I hope a friend with an umbrella comes along soon!
"Holy smoke!" was my reaction when I read the news of the Pope's retirement on Monday but it's been hard to explain to friends in Italy that the announcement did not cause the consternation in Britain that it has done in Catholic countries. Several people I've spoken to here have accused the Pontiff of cowardice and have made unfavourable comparisons with his predecessor's approach to ageing and increasing frailty - harsh judgement, indeed, considering that we do not know the exact circumstances which have led Pope Benedict to take his momentous decision.
It seems to me that, somewhat ironically, given that many would say he has done little to advance the cause of women, the fate of the Pope is similar to that of western women in this 21st century - he simply isn't allowed to grow old gracefully and maybe that is just what he needs, rather than wants, to do. And surely there is some merit in being able to admit that you have reached a point in your life where you cannot carry out your duties as you would like to?
It must be hard being the Pope these days: you have to be supersonic and when you arrive at particularly remote destinations you are expected to walk, with a spring in your step, around terrain that is not going to be exactly user-friendly towards your long, white vestments. After all, the Pope can hardly go and get himself a practical, Clintonesque pants suit, can he? You also have to listen to everything from Gregorian chant to the songs of Miss Susan Boyle whether you like them or not and, to top it all, you have to be a tweeting pope too. I am not suggesting that His Holiness does not have savvy media advisers to do this for him and if he is anything like me - which I somehow doubt - he will love twitter. But I don't have to be infallible whilst dreaming up pope puns, tweeting links to learned articles to impress my friends or commenting on "The Archers"; nor are 1561856 followers likely to read my nonsense.
No, if part of your job description is to be infallible there are just too many places to be publicly fallible these days!
Finally, here's a word of advice for the Vatican: choose a woman, dearies - we're used to being fallible and one of our number would be so much better able to cope with the clothes....
I'm a sort-of retired language teacher from Cardiff, Wales, UK, now trying to make a new life in Sicily. I'm not growing vines, making olive oil or restoring a palace stone by stone!
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