In the time of synodality, which means walking on the same road, walking together, in Prata Sannitica, in the province of Caserta, in the territory of the diocese of Alife-Caiazzo, an episcopal see united in persona episcopi with the diocese of Teano-Calvi and that of Sessa Aurunca, faithful and parish priest walk, instead, different roads, and out of metaphor. It happened on Monday in albis, during the annual procession of Santa Maria. The parish priest had set a shorter route for the procession, but the acolytes, having arrived at the junction to take the new processional route, in an act of disobedience, set out on the traditional route, followed by a good number of the faithful. The parish priest continues on his way but without the simulacrum and with a meager queue, while the acolytes, with the statue of Our Lady and a good number of the faithful, follow the “classic” processional route. Upon returning to the parish church, however, the parish priest is not there to await the return of the statue of the Virgin. In 2013 the Campania Bishops' Conference, in the wake of the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy of the then Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (2002) and based on can. 944 §2 of the Code of Canon Law, which states that it is up to the diocesan bishop to give directives about processions, with which to provide for their participation and dignity, published the document: Evangelizzare la pietà popolare - Norme per le feste religiose e le processioni, intending to call the attention of the Churches of Campania to the urgency of the new evangelization, which must permeate popular piety as well. Francis in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium reminds us that popular piety is: “autentica espressione dell’azione missionaria spontanea del Popolo di Dio. Si tratta di una realtà in permanente sviluppo, dove lo Spirito Santo è il protagonista… Per capire questa realtà c’è bisogno di avvicinarsi ad essa con lo sguardo del Buon Pastore, che non cerca di giudicare, ma di amare”. Paul VI, in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, on the subject of popular piety, stated, “essa ha certamente i suoi limiti, e frequentemente aperta alla penetrazione di molte deformazioni della religione [...]; ma se ben orientata, soprattutto mediante una pedagogia di evangelizzazione, è ricca di valori cristiani”. Liturgical processions can be: a) evocative; c) inherent to other liturgical actions; c) votive, as in the case of those of Our Lady or the Saints. Processions are manifestations of the faith of the people, often having cultural connotations capable of awakening the religious sentiment of the faithful, but they are exposed-as the 2002 Directory reminds us-to certain risks and dangers: “il prevalere delle devozioni sui sacramenti, che vengono relegati in un secondo posto, e delle manifestazioni esterne sulle disposizioni interiori; il ritenere la processione come momento culminante della festa; il configurarsi del cristianesimo agli occhi dei fedeli non sufficientemente istruiti soltanto come una “religione dei Santi”; la degenerazione della processione stessa per cui, da testimonianza di fede, essa diventa mero spettacolo o parata puramente folkloristica”. If the procession is distorted from a theological (people of God on the way; a sign of the witness of faith that the Christian community must give and a sign of the missionary task), liturgical (e.g., ecclesiastical presidency, in order to avoid disrespectful and degenerative manifestations) or anthropological (“journey accomplished together”) point of view, it loses its value and meaning. Thus, the document of the Bishops of Campania, recalls that the procession is a public expression of faith; therefore, it is not allowed to be left at the mercy of spontaneity, but rather it must be cared for and guided in such a way that it is truly a choral witness to the genuine religious sentiments of the community. Accordingly, it is stipulated, among other things, that the procession must be led by the priest or a deacon; that committees may not in any way interfere in the procession; and that the routes, agreed upon with the Parish Pastoral Council, follow the main streets and be of short duration, contained if possible, within the space of two hours. We do not know whether the decision about the route of the Prata Sannita procession respected what the Bishops of Campania established about sharing the choice of the route to be taken. Newspaper sources indicate that the new processional path had already been used on the occasion of the patron saint's day, without any show of force from the parish community. While, therefore, it is desirable to have an ever-increasing participation of the faithful even in such identifiably sensitive decisions, such as those affecting local religious traditions, in order to avert division and scandal, while respecting local provisions and keeping in mind can. 212 §2 according to which the faithful are always free to manifest to the Pastors of the Church their needs, especially spiritual, and their desires, one cannot fail to note that what was done by the acolytes and the faithful, who diverted the processional route, can be framed as liturgical abuse. The Code of Canon Law entrusts not only the bishop (can. 392) but also the parish priest (can. 528 §2) with the task of supervising liturgical abuses. Conscious and objective deviation from the cultic order integrates an abuse. On the subject of liturgical abuses, No. 184 of the Instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, states as a general rule that: “Ogni cattolico, sia Sacerdote sia Diacono sia fedele laico, ha il diritto di sporgere querela su un abuso liturgico presso il Vescovo diocesano o l’Ordinario competente a quegli equiparato dal diritto o alla Sede Apostolica in virtù del primato del Romano Pontefice. È bene, tuttavia, che la segnalazione o la querela sia, per quanto possibile, presentata dapprima al Vescovo diocesano. Ciò avvenga sempre con spirito di verità e carità”. And charity should direct the restoration, in the case, of parish communion, resorting as soon as possible to the just correction of the faithful, restoring discipline and an “autentico spirito di comunione relazionale” (M. Del Pozzo, Gli abusi liturgici: natura, storia, rimedi, Edusc, Roma, 2024, p. 185). It is not excluded, in fact, that the affair may also assume a criminal relevance both canonical and state. If it is more difficult to consider, in canonical terms, that the action of the faithful could present profiles concerning the hypothesis of profanation (profane use) of a mobile sacred thing (can. 1369), such as the simulacrum of the Virgin Mary, more probable could be the hypothesis of impediment of the legitimate use of sacred things (can. 1372), to be punished with expiatory punishment. Sacred things, that is, those that have been destined for divine worship by dedication or blessing, as can. 1171 reminds us, must be treated with reverence and not used for profane or improper uses. In the sphere, state, however, Article 405 of the Criminal Code regulates the crime of disturbing religious functions, which is committed when preventing or disturbing the performance of religious functions, ceremonies or practices that are carried out with the assistance of a minister of worship or in a place designated for worship, or in a public place or place open to the public. The procession, the purpose of which is to exalt religious feeling and to pay homage to the divinity, the Madonna and the Saints also outside the temple, constitutes a religious practice protected by Article 405 of the criminal code, provided that there is the assistance of a minister of the Catholic cult (Court of Cassation, section 3, no. 987 of 17/06/1968). Disruption, then, occurs when it does not take place in a regular manner (Court of Cassation, section 3, no. 20739 of 13/03/2003; Court of Cassation, section 3, no. 369 of 06/03/1967). Finally, the Ceremonial of Bishops, with useful guidance for other clerics as well, states that when presiding over a procession, one always positions oneself after “the sacred object” (No. 1100). If the Ceremonial had been respected, the parish priest of Prata Sannita, being behind the Marian simulacrum, in the midst of his people and not in front of them (Pope Francis), would have been able to listen to the pleas and even the wishes of the faithful, however, in the case, obstinate, and perhaps, in the end, he would have followed that Marian image, staying with his people guided by the sensus fidelium, continuing on the “old way” ... considering that on the “new way” there was almost no one.

Paolo Palumbo