Lourdes (AFP)
In the rain, François Sofar pushes, imperturbable, the chair of one of the many disabled pilgrims who came to Lourdes for the Assumption. He who has "lost everything" finds in the meeting, dedicated this year to precariousness, enough to feed his "rage to live".
"I come to help people feel better, to have a good time," said the 59-year-old Parisian, who three years ago found himself on the street. Making himself useful as a volunteer stretcher has given him back, he says, a taste for life.
Lourdes celebrates this year the 175th and 140th anniversaries of the birth and death of Bernadette Soubirous, this young peasant living in great misery, to which the Virgin appeared 18 times in 1858 in the cave of Massabielle.
In tribute to this figure, this year's pilgrimage was dedicated to people in precarious situations.
"Since little Bernadette, so many people with disabilities, physically, materially, spiritually or socially damned have come here, that it is beautiful that we can sound the message of the Gospel: + Happy you poor because the kingdom of God is yours + ", says the rector of the sanctuary, Father André Cabes.
"Here we can all be dismissed, even with a beautiful bank account, our inner sufferings, our handicaps, our difficulties, and we are no longer afraid of them." It is a real court of miracles, in all sense of the term, "smiles the religious.
- To welcome precariousness -
He welcomes a 15% increase in enrollment in this 146th edition of the national pilgrimage, the largest of French Catholicism. On Thursday, 25,000 people came to celebrate the Assumption, which marks for Catholics the ascent to heaven of the mother of Christ.
In this crowd, they are 325 this year to be a part, like François Sofar, of the "Pélé Mosaïque", a structure created eleven years ago to initially allow prisoners and prostitutes - today to everyone living in precariousness-- to participate in celebrations.
Coming mainly from the Paris region, these pilgrims are supervised by various associations and all live in the Cité Saint Pierre, on the heights of the Cité mariale.
"The establishment, which welcomes about 20,000 people a year, was born in 1955 from the desire of the founder of Secours Catholique, Father Jean Rodin, to allow people in precariousness around the world to stay for free or leaving what they can, "explains its director, Gonzague Amyot d'Inville.
- A rare "chance" -
In front of the refectory, a group of women dressed in colorful boubous improvise a dance, immediately joined by good sisters.
Amused Rachel Kwanya, a resident of the popular district of Mirail in Toulouse, looks from afar. She is still struggling to realize the "chance" she has to stay in a space with large green spaces for several days.
"Given my financial conditions, the little I could bring to come here was enough, it's weird anyway, it's not often that happens," says the 51-year-old.
Along with several thousands of Sri Lankans, Filipinos, Iraqis, Cameroonians and Americans of all ages and social backgrounds, Rachel and François attended in the morning the traditional international mass, celebrated this year by Bishop Luc Ravel, Archbishop of Strasbourg.
Massed inside the underground Basilica of St. Pius X, due to capricious weather, the crowd sang "Alleluia" with one voice, before silently recollecting themselves, while the messages in several languages 250 priests co-celebrants.
Pilgrims wishing it will also be able this year to attend a musical on the life of Bernadette, a first for the site. Did this show, as well as a documentary on Lourdes released this year, contribute to the increase in attendance? "In any case, it was something unexpected that embodies what we really wanted to say," says Father Cabes.
© 2019 AFP