This year, the Corpus Christi procession presided over by the Holy Father was held, for the first time, in a suburb of Rome, Casal Bertone. It was therefore very close to via Facchinetti and via Satta, the two streets that were to house the gypsy families to whom the municipality had allocated housing, and where only a few months ago there had been episodes of great tension for this reason, over which the whole country had been violently arguing day after day.
Until two years ago, the procession presided over by the Pope took place on the very central route that led from St. John Lateran to St. Mary Major, and blocked traffic in the center. Last year it was moved to Ostia, on the outskirts of the diocese: this year it will take place on the outskirts of Rome.
The process by which the Pope has modified the meaning of the procession goes back a long way. From the very beginning, Bergoglio, unlike John Paul II and Benedict XVIHe did not want to get on the truck next to the Blessed Sacrament, but walked on foot like everyone else.
Two years ago the procession was moved from Thursday to the following Sunday so as not to create traffic problems, out of respect for civil society. Finally, as I said, last year - in case anyone was still capable of believing that Francis' actions respond to improvisation and not to the implementation of a rigorous logic - it was moved to the periphery of the diocese.
This year the procession is organized in one of the hottest peripheries of the metropolis and it seems that it can be understood that from now on it will be every year in a different periphery. On the other hand, the core of the meaning of the Corpus Christi procession is to show that Christ is present not only in the tabernacles of the churches, but also in the daily life of the people. n
