Pope Francis will conduct a secret visit to his relatives in northern Italy next month, the Vatican revealed on Wednesday.
According to Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni, the pope will travel to the Italian town of Asti, south of Turin, on November 19 to celebrate the 90th birthday of his cousin.
Following the private meeting with family members, the pope will spend the night in the Piedmont area to celebrate the solemnity of Christ the King on November 20 at the Asti Cathedral.
The weekend visit will send the 85-year-old pontiff back to the Italian diocese where his father resided before escaping to Argentina in 1929. Additionally, the maternal grandparents of the pope emigrated from northern Italy to Argentina.
Since his election as pope, Pope Francis, who was born in Buenos Aires in 1936, has maintained contact with relatives in Asti and Turin. During his 2015 visit to Turin, the pope shared a meal with six of his cousins and their families.
The pope was strongly inspired by his devout grandmother, Rosa, who was his paternal grandmother. He has mentioned her in numerous homilies and quoted the Nino Costa poem “Rassa nostrana” that he claims Rosa taught him in the local Piedmontese dialect.
Rosa wrote in her spiritual testament, “May my grandsons, to whom I dedicated my whole heart, live long and happy lives. If they are ever afflicted by pain, illness, or the loss of a loved one, may they always remember that a breath in front of the Tabernacle, where the greatest and most important martyr is secured, and a glance to Mary at the foot of the cross can leave a drop of balm on the most severe wounds.”