(ANS – Castel Gandolfo) – Fr Peter Diletti is parish priest of the Church of St Thomas of Villanova at Castel Gandolfo and well used to welcoming the Pope on the feast of the Assumption. But he became really emotional last Thursday when he welcomed Pope Francis.

“Thank you, Pope Francis, for your presence among us!” he began, as he welcomed the Holy Father in the name of the parish community. “We have been following all the events of World Youth Day with great joy, and we have seen how, through your person, the young people were able to meet the Lord Jesus.”

Then, speaking from his Salesian heart, he went on to thank the Holy Father for reminding the young people not to allow their hope to be stolen from them. “When expectations are not rooted in hope they dry up and are soon lost. This is the risk that faces our young people especially. They are our first concern because that is what it means to be Salesian. “It is enough that you are young for me to love you,” Don Bosco used to say. That is our charism. Here we have celebrated “Summer for the Young” with the full participation of their families.”

Later, when he was interviewed by journalists form the Italian Catholic Broadcaster TV2000, Fr Diletti commented on the three key points of the Pope’s homily for the feast of the Assumption – the fight against evil, hope, and the resurrection. “All three points are important. The fight against evil is inevitable, but we know that Jesus has conquered evil and sin, and the last to be conquered will be death. Mary Assumed into Heaven is a sign of consolation and of sure hope, since the promise of resurrection has already been fulfilled in a woman of our race. Christian hope is a hope that does not delude us, because it is founded not only on an act of faith but also on a historical event. Mary in heaven is already what will be in the future! She has simply gone before us. Without the resurrection, our faith would be in vain.”

Published 22/08/2013