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Homage to
Franciscan son of slaves |
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What a strange destiny, that of Benedetto Manasseri, known in Europe as Saint Benedict the Moor (venerated like Saint Benito of Palermo, in all central and south America). He is the first saint with a dark skin in the history of Christianity. Born in Sicily in 1522 - the son of slaves he was branded by his owner - he followed the Franciscan path from when he was just a boy. He entered a convent in Palermo, performing the functions of cook and guardian: He is sometimes depicted as a «dishwasher», standing in front of a kitchen. For his extraordinary thaumaturgical abilities the holy healer was proclaimed the patron of Palermo in 1624, and placed on altars in Spain, Portugal and latin America long before his official canonisation in 1807. Although illiterate, he was able to shed light on the most complex theological disputes. Apart from the face his body has remained completely intact. He is laid to rest in a glass shrine, in the Palermo convent of «Santa Maria de Gesu», where one can see his serge, his cell and the cypress which, as legend will have it he manifested from his staff, in the garden where he regularly meditated. The documents of the time tell that, in his 67 years of life Benedetto healed thousands of cripples, lepers, and sufferers of syphilis. He also saved the wife of a Spanish viceroy, thus gaining fame in the Iberian peninsula and it’s dominions. The cult of such a saint, dark skinned and performing live miracles, did however not please the ecclesiastical hierarchies. Gradually however Palermo forgot it’s dark skinned patron saint, in favour of Saint Rosalie, an authentic wasp, white, virginal and from a good family. Now, as racial tensions seem to spread, Palermo has decided to remember its «Moorish» saint and «recover their own vocation, not only as a tolerant city, but also welcoming in the face of diversity, by once again being a melting pot of ethnic cultures and religions peacefully living together during the times of Frederick the second», as Orlando’s mayor puts it. It is indeed owing to the Mayor’s faithful enthusiasm that the miracle of this truly «different» saint’s «new life» came about. Roberta Passerini |
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