Visit the small community that since 1966 – following the charisma of Charles de Foucauld – has been a symbol of fraternity between the families of those who work at the Roman amusement park. They live in an old caravan wagon converted into a house and chapel. And among their stalls they offer their “Noah’s Ark”, a game with a message of peace and hope.
Vatican City () – Pope Francis went to Ostia, on the Roman coast, this afternoon to visit Sister Geneviève Jeanningros, a Little Sister of Jesus who lives with the community of fairground and circus performers at Luna Park. “The Holy Father – reads a note from the Vatican Press Office – blessed a statue of Our Lady, protector of the Travelling Show and the Circus and greeted the families and children present.”
Francis had already visited this small and extremely significant community in 2015, during a visit to the local parish named after the Queen of Peace. The community is the fruit of a long friendship between these sisters, who are inspired by the charism of Blessed Charles de Foucauld and the world of street entertainment.
“The fraternity between the people of the carousels, both mobile and in fixed places, has been present for years in several nations and was strongly desired by Little Sister Magdeleine, our foundress,” the Little Sisters of Jesus recounted in a text written a few years ago. She was born in Rome, in Luneur, in 1966. Like other little sisters present among the workers, the country people, the nomads, the circus people, the Sinti and the Roma, the minorities, her meaning is to live like Jesus in Nazareth, a discreet presence, a small family among the others, trying to be… like them, one of them… living from our work, from prayer, from welcome, from relationships of friendship…”.
When the fairground in Rome’s Eur district closed in 2008, the sisters also lost their jobs. “With them,” they say, “we fought for more justice… but we couldn’t get anything.” Some have resumed their journey from square to square, others are fighting hard to help their families. We wanted to continue to be present in the world of attractions, both at festivals and fairs and at markets. Several friends had invited us to stop and be with them in a permanent park. We accepted the proposal of Ginetto Pugliè, whom we had known for a long time and who welcomed us in the park of Ostia Lido, which was easier to reach by metro from Roma Laurentino, where we lived. Then some people from Luneur joined us.”
“We travelled every day from Rome to Ostia,” the testimony continues, “and then our neighbours gave us an old wooden caravan and a van that had been transporting bumper cars for many years. With the help of a friend from the amusement park, we were able to make a ‘fraternity’ out of it, with a chapel, a small kitchen and a small living room, two bedrooms and a storage room, and so we lived on a plot of land inside the Parcolido together with twelve families.”
“We were also able to transport our ‘Noah’s Ark’ game, which expresses a message of peace and hope,” the sisters continue. “Alongside the game stand, we have a stand with various crafts and, above all, with nativity scenes from many countries. It is very strong for each of us to belong to the world of attractions. We feel and consider ourselves your sisters.”
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