Pope Francis went back to his roots on Saturday, visiting the northern area of Italy his ancestors left for Argentina and dropping in on an older cousin to celebrate her 90th birthday.
Francis' father Mario Bergoglio and fraternal grandparents left the then-poor area in 1929 to seek a better life in Argentina. There, his father met and married the future pope's mother, Regina Maria Sivori, also of Italian immigrant stock.
The future pope was born Jorge Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936 and his paternal grandmother Rosa taught him to speak the dialect of the northern Italian Piedmont region. Francis' first day of the weekend visit to the area was strictly private. He had lunch with relatives in the simple home of Carla Rabezzana, a second cousin who recently turned 90.A picture released by Vatican Media showed the two laughing heartily, both sitting at a table with the region's traditional bulging, irregular-shaped bread sticks by the plates.On Sunday, he is due to celebrate a public Mass in the provincial capital, Asti.
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Pope visits immigrant father's hometown for birthday partyPope Francis returned to his father’s birthplace in northern Italy on Saturday for the first time since ascending the papacy to celebrate the 90th birthday of a second cousin who long knew him as simply “Giorgio.” The two-day visit to Francis' ancestral homeland to renew family ties touched on keystones of his papacy, including the importance of honoring the elderly and the human toll of migration. Francis' private visit Saturday will be followed by public one Sunday to celebrate Mass for the local faithful, where he could well reflect on his family's experience migrating to Argentina.
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Pope heads to immigrant father's hometown for birthday partyPORTACOMARO, Itatly (AP) — Pope Francis returns to his father’s birthplace in northern Italy on Saturday for the first time since ascending the papacy to celebrate the 90th birthday of a second cousin who long knew him as simply “Giorgio.”
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