Pope Francis' Artful Journey: A Day of Speeches, Encounters, and Contemporary Art at the Venice Biennale

The reading of two speeches and a homily, movements by helicopter and on a motorboat: Pope Francis' first trip this year to inaugurate the Venice Biennale on April 28th will be a six-hour visit but quite demanding for the eighty-seven-year-old pontiff. During his stay in the Venetian capital, he will have the most moving encounter: that with the eighty inmates in the inner courtyard of the Giudecca Penitentiary House where a path of contemporary art works has been set up in the Vatican Pavilion, including a maxi fresco by Maurizio Cattelan, as well as works by Claire Fontaine, Sonia Gomez, Corita Kent, and Claire Tabouret. Following the papal defaillance at the Palm Sunday Mass in the Vatican where he decided at the last moment to skip the long-planned homily (perhaps to shorten his stay in the cold), the Vatican announced the entire Venetian program full of appointments, meetings, greetings, and speeches. In Venice, the Pope will embrace inmates, young people, and artists, authorities, and many young people. According to the official program, the Pope will take off at 6:30 from the Vatican heliport to land around 8 in the inner square of the female prison, on the Giudecca Island. There, he will be welcomed by Patriarch Monsignor Francesco Moraglia, the superintendent Maria Milano Franco D’Aragona, the director Mariagrazia Felicita Bregoli, and the commander of the Penitentiary Police, Lara Boco. Immediately after, by motorboat, he will arrive at the Basilica of Health to deliver a speech to the youth of Veneto. Francis, accompanied by a delegation of young people, will cross the boat bridge that connects to Piazza San Marco, and to welcome him will be Luca Zaia, president of the Veneto Region, Darco Pellos, prefect of Venice, and the mayor Luigi Brugnaro. The central moment of the papal transfer will be the mass in Piazza San Marco where, at the end, he will enter to venerate the relics of the Evangelist. Then again by motorboat, he will reach the heliport of the Morosini naval college at Sant'Elena. Saying goodbye to the authorities, he will get on the helicopter and in the early afternoon will be back in the Vatican. Pilgrims arriving in Venice on April 28th for the visit will have to mandatorily pay an entrance fee of 5 euros. The Municipality of Venice and the lagoon authorities have established that the new regulation on tourist flows - which will come into force on April 25th - does not provide for any exemptions or ad hoc modifications. Consequently, an article from the Gazzettino informed, this event will not be an exception. "We have examined the case reflects the Budget Councilor, Michele Zuin, coming to the conclusion that the arrival of the Pope will be a very important moment for the city, but we cannot make differences between one event and another, as there are many in Venice. We also considered that many pilgrims will come from the diocese and that most will be residents of the Municipality". Therefore, they are exempt from both the payment of the contribution and the reservation, which will instead apply to non-Venetians.