(ANS - Turin) - To meet the Pope is not something that happens every day; and if so, even rarer if it is the Pope who comes to visit you at "home"; the occasion is really something special. That's what is going to happen today, Sunday, June 21, for the Salesians of the community of Valdocco. Here's how they prepared for this appointment.
                                                                                                                                                                                         Gian Francesco Romano

Fr Rafael Gasol, a Spanish Salesian, is among the new members of the community. He was assigned here just last year and was given the task of coordinating the reception of pilgrims on the occasion of this jubilee year for the Salesian Family. "Probably since the opening of the Exhibition of the Shroud, some 140,000 pilgrims would have passed here" he confides.

In recent days, having to cope with a peak of incoming pilgrims, his work was even more hectic than usual. "Obviously for the meeting with the Pope, requests were extremely high and moreover, in our decisions we had to always coordinate with the papal entourage. For one thing, however, we maintained also a place for the presence for the faithful of our parish, for the people of the neighbourhood, the oratory and the staff who work with us every day."

Fr Bruno Ferrero, Director of the Italian Salesian Bulletin, is instead one of the veterans in the community. He was in Turin in 1980, when John Paul II visited the city; and even when he returned eight years later, that time just to pay homage to Don Bosco, during the centenary of Don Bosco's death. "I remember that even then, there was a lot of people; everyone wanted to meet the Pope."

Already having had the opportunity to say hello, face to face, with Pope Francis, Fr Ferrero had generously backed out this time. "There are Salesians who had come from very far away, even from the United States. I have given my admission ticket to others. "

Fr Giovanni Moriondo is the director of the oratory and is the one who, more than any other, is in direct contact with the youth at Valdocco. Recently, he was surprised by the great commitment of young volunteers: "They have done their best to accommodate the pilgrims and tomorrow they will still be serving among their peers in the Mary Help of Christians Square."

But the biggest surprise was seeing the interest of young people towards the Pope, even from those who are far from the Church or perhaps even from another religion. "I have seen at first hand how they all have this great the love for Pope Francis. Everyone wants to meet him, see him ... Only yesterday some Islam youth asked for admission tickets. And when I asked them why they wanted to go to meet him, they said: 'because you see that he is a spiritual person'."

Posted on 21/06/2015