Pope Francis will visit the Piedmont
spumante town of Asti for his female cousin's 90th birthday on
November 19-20, the local bishop said Wednesday.
Argentine-born Francis, 85, will have his private family visit
on the Saturday and will then say a public Mass in the Piedmont
city on Sunday, said mons. Marco Prastaro.
"We're happy that the Holy Father is coming to Asti," said
Prastaro.
"Our city must be able to show it is the city that is dear to
the Holy Father, a beautiful image that Asti can give the world,
in which the Pope feels at home".
The pope, whose birth name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born in
Buenos Aires on December 17 1936 but his father Mario José
Bergoglio was an Italian immigrant accountant born in
Portacomaro, in the province of Asti.
His mother, Regina Sívori, was a housewife born in Buenos Aires
to a family of northern Italian (Piedmontese-Genoese) origin.
Mario José's family left Italy in 1929 to escape the Fascist
rule of Benito Mussolini.
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