The Rector Major arrived at the city basilica of San Marco in the early afternoon, welcomed by representatives from the city and diocesan community already prepared to reflect on the figure of Zatti from the presentation of the book Artemide giocava a campana (a text written with the contribution of children from the primary schools in Boretto and Brescello), which had been held in the morning of the same day at the municipal theatre.
Accompanied by numerous Salesians, starting with the Superior of the Lombard-Emilian Salesian Province (ILE), Fr Roberto Dal Molin, and the mayors of Boretto, and of the neighbouring municipalities, Brescello and Gualtieri, the Rector Major, together with all those present, attended the presentation of the exhibition on Zatti curated by Fr Erino Leoni, Vice-Provincial of the ILE Province. And the latter, for his part, used all the parts of a bike to present the seventeen panels, in an impassioned explanation involving theology and spiritual life, that captured the attention of the community gathered in the basilica: from the drive chain to the handlebars, from the brake to the dynamo, right down to the wheels.
The presentation was also attended by the Postulator General for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, biographer of Zatti, who highlighted two aspects of his holiness: his complete attention to the individual and the fact that he was a great man of communion.
Coordinated by Daniela Artoni, the exhibition was immediately tested, with success, immediately after the conclusion of the first meeting on Saturday afternoon. Each panel turned out to be, in effect, a provocation: the paintings do not follow a documentary structure, but rather the three actions of the most famous motto that Saint Zatti experienced personally: “I believed, I promised, I recovered”.
Once the guided tours were over, a second, edifying and informal moment of listening took place in the church with Fr Á.F. Artime, who engaged in dialogue with the pastoral community, displaying the qualities of a well-practised educator. Answering the questions from some lay people – Giulia, Susanna, Patrizia, Anna, Alessandro, Marco – the Salesian cardinal addressed a varied range of topics: school teaching, the changing oratory, cancer, volunteering, the relationship with children, with colleagues at work, with new technologies.
With his signature fatherly trait, Fr Artime offered several pieces of advice from his pastoral experience, and urged them to continue “practising face to face”, to have a smiling presence, and to cultivate tenderness and loving-kindness.
The first day of his weekend in Boretto ended for the Rector Major with a time for informal greetings, and the friendly response to requests for photos and selfies, waiting for the completion of the next day's activities, with the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist for the community and the reception of Boretto's honorary citizenship.
https://www.infoans.org/en/sections/news/item/19153-italy-the-rector-major-s-visit-to-boretto-birthplace-of-saint-artemides-zatti-sdb#sigProIda52e3ee71b
