MAMT||Museo Mediterraneo dell' Arte, della Musica e delle Tradizioni (EN)

THE 75TH NATIONAL LITURGICAL WEEK IN NAPLES

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Naples  ||  | 25 August 2025
Iniziative (EN) - MAMT – Mediterranean Museum of Art, Music and Traditions

The Church of Naples hosted the 75th National Liturgical Week during the Jubilee Year 2025. It was inaugurated by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
At the closing ceremony, Cardinal Don Mimmo Battaglia shared with those present the greeting of Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Latin community in Gaza, which he heard before participating in the Week's proceedings.
The priest wanted to convey his spiritual closeness to the participants, emphasising the strength that the Christian community in Gaza receives from prayer:
"What I will now suffer with my children and my friends is the reality that I continue to live with my people. We truly feel the work of God, the grace of God, which continues to beat at the door of our hearts and helps us to make sense of everything we are experiencing".
Romanelli added: "Prayer is giving us courage, prayer is giving us strength, prayer is also giving us serenity. And we are feeling it coming, like a support that accompanies us in our difficulties".
Cardinal Battaglia made this appeal, recalling that "precisely in the darkness of suffering, prayer becomes light and the liturgy becomes a force that consoles and sustains".
In his concluding reflection, Battaglia gave the participants a symbolic number: 10.
"It is the number of verbs in the Magnificat, - he explained, - the song of the Mother of God that marks the true revolution in history: He has looked upon the humility of his servant, he has done great things in her, he has shown the power of his arm, he has scattered the proud, he has brought down the powerful from their thrones, he has lifted up the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things, he has sent the rich away empty-handed, he has come to the aid of his servant Israel, he has remembered his mercy".
But the Cardinal recalled that the parable of the Good Samaritan also contains ten verbs that orient us towards action: "He saw him, he had compassion on him, he drew near, he poured oil and wine on his wounds, he lifted him onto his donkey, he took him to the inn, he cared for him, he paid for him, he promised to return, and he kept his promise.
These are the verbs of concrete love, which focus on the pain of others. Compassion is not an instinct, it is an achievement".
According to Battaglia, these two Gospel references show the way: "The number 10 brings together contemplation and action. The Magnificat invites us to contemplate the wonders of God, the Samaritan urges us to act with concrete love. This is how the Gospel continues to write new pages of history today. Go and do likewise".
In closing, Battaglia thanked Cal for choosing "Naples, for having lived this experience within the Church of Naples, inhabiting its territory. Naples thanks you from the bottom of its heart".
Some participants visited the Peace Museum and the section dedicated to Pope Francis.