Pope Francis is expected in Naples on Friday for the Meeting on the theme: “Theology after Veritatis Gadium in the context of the Mediterranean”, promoted by the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy – San Luigi section. It is not the first time the Pope has visited the Neapolitan capital. Bergoglio's first visit to Naples took place on March 21, 2015. Just one day, but a very intense one, in which we remember the strong exhortations to Neapolitans not to have their “hope stolen” and “not to give in to the allure of easy gains or dishonest incomes”. The visit symbolically began from the Scampia neighborhood: “You belong to a people with a long history – said Francis – crossed by complex and dramatic events. Life in Naples has never been easy, but it has never been sad! This is your great resource: joy, happiness. The daily journey in this city, with its difficulties and its discomforts and sometimes its harsh trials, produces a culture of life that always helps us to get up after every fall, and to ensure that evil never has the last word. This is a beautiful challenge: never let evil have the last word. It is hope, you know it well, this great heritage, this lever of the soul, so precious, but also exposed to assaults and robberies". The newspapers gave prominence to that wish in Neapolitan that the Pope repeated several times during the day: “E ca 'a Maronna v'accumpagne!”. In that auspicious saying, lies all the “Neapolitanness” of Pope Francis, his human warmth, his desire to connect with people, his will to relate to anyone he meets. The Pope dwelt on the theme of crime and urged Neapolitans not to let their hope be stolen: “We know,” he forcefully stated, “those who voluntarily take the path of evil steal a piece of hope, earn a little something but steal hope from themselves, from others, from society. The path of evil is a path that always steals hope, it steals it even from honest and hard-working people, and even from the good reputation of the city, from its economy." Then the job emergency: “More than 40 percent of young people aged 25 and under – he explained – are unemployed! This is serious! What does a young person without a job do? What future does he have? Which path in life do you choose? This is a responsibility not only of the city, not only of the country, but of the world! Why? Because there is an economic system that discards people and now it is the turn of young people to be discarded, that is, without work. Questo è grave!”. Fino alle parole dure nei confronti della corruzione, che toglie il pane alle persone: “Ditemi – chiese il Papa – se noi chiudiamo la porta ai migranti, se noi togliamo il lavoro e la dignità alla gente, come si chiama questo? It's called corruption and we all have the possibility of being corrupted, none of us can say: I will never be corrupt. No! It is a temptation, it is a slide towards easy business, towards delinquency, towards crimes, towards the exploitation of people. How much corruption – he continued – there is in the world! It's an ugly word, if you think about it for a bit. Because a corrupt thing is a dirty thing! If we find a dead animal that is becoming corrupt, that is corrupt, it is ugly and it also stinks. Corruption stinks! Corrupt society stinks! A Christian who lets corruption enter into himself is not a Christian, he stinks!”. Francis's busy day continued with Mass in Piazza Plebiscito, concelebrated by the Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, and the entire episcopate of Campania. At each move, the Popemobile passed through streets crowded with people, some even “racing” from one side to the other of a city sealed off and without cars. Various newspapers spoke of three million people who had invaded the city. Around thirty thousand passes were distributed for the Mass. During his homily, Pope Francis urged us not to be deprived of hope: “Do not give in to the allure of easy gains or dishonest income: this is bread for today and hunger for tomorrow. It can't bring you anything! React – he said – firmly to the organizations that exploit and corrupt the young, the poor and the weak, with the cynical drug trade and other crimes. Don't let your hope be stolen! Don't let your youth be exploited by these people! Let corruption and crime not disfigure the face of this beautiful city! And more: do not disfigure the joy of your Neapolitan heart!”. The Pope also had words of mercy for those who have so far disfigured the beautiful face of Naples: “To the criminals and all their accomplices – he continued – today I humbly, as a brother, repeat: convert to love and justice! Let yourselves be found by the mercy of God! Be aware that Jesus is looking for you to hug you, to kiss you, to love you more. Con la grazia di Dio, che perdona tutto e perdona sempre, è possibile ritornare a una vita onesta”.
For the visit of Pope Francis to Naples, Friday 21 June 2019, the Municipality has established a temporary traffic device:
1. Parking prohibited with forced removal and stopping, from 20.00 pm on Thursday 20 June and until no longer necessary on Friday 21 June 2019: a) via Tito Lucrezio Caro, in the part where it runs alongside the Virgiliano Park; b) viale Virgilio; c) via Alessandro Manzoni (from the intersection with viale Virgilio to the intersection with via Petrarca); d) via Francesco Petrarca (from the intersection with via Alessandro Manzoni and up to the height of number 125).
2. Prohibition of vehicular transit and circulation, from 6.30 am until the end of the needs of Friday 21 June 2019 in the following streets: a) viale Virgilio; b) via Alessandro Manzoni (from the intersection with viale Virgilio to the intersection with via Petrarca); c) via Francesco Petrarca (from the intersection with via Alessandro Manzoni and up to the height of number 125). with the exception of vehicles of residents heading to/exiting the driveways on the sections affected by the ban, which will be able to pass until 8,30 am and in any case no later than 30 minutes before the transits of the papal procession.
3. Prohibition of vehicular transit and circulation, from 6.30 am until the end of the needs of Friday 21 June 2019 in via Tito Lucrezio Caro, with the exception of residents' vehicles, which will be able to transit until 8,30 am and in any case no later than 30 minutes before the transits of the papal procession.
4. From 6.30 am until the end of the needs of Friday 21 June 2019, prohibition of vehicular transit and circulation except for residents' vehicles, in the streets merging onto the route referred to in point 2: a) via Petrarca corner of via Orazio, except for vehicles of residents of via Petrarca and the merging side streets; b) via Petrarca corner of via Nevio; c) via Boccaccio corner of via Santo Strato; d) via Pascoli at the roundabout with viale virgilio.
5. From 6.30 am until no longer needed on Friday 21 June 2019, suspension of the Anm stop located in front of number 119 of Via Petrarca;
6. From 6.30 am until the end of the needs of Friday 21 June 2019, parking is prohibited with forced removal in via Pasquale Lonardi Cattolica in the carriageway parallel to the ordinary lane at the junction with via Coroglio already used for vehicle parking, except for buses supporting the event.
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