In a personal moment during Saturday's commemorations, the parents of an Italian soldier killed in Afghanistan last year will present Francis with the distinctive feathered Bersagliere cap worn by the Piedmontese corps, famed for a rugged endurance epitomized by their tradition of marching at a jog.
Francis' grandfather, who hailed from the Piedmont region, belonged to the corps, said Redipuglia parish priest the Rev. Duilio Nardin.
The enduring impact of war, 100 years on, is evident in the visitors who continue to make pilgrimages to the monument, although in ever decreasing numbers, said Fogliano di Redipuglia Mayor Antonio Calligaris.
“The Repiduglia sanctuary until 20 years ago was always full of visitors, but it has been forgotten by institutional memory,” Calligaris said. “The papal visit is very important because it renews attention on this history.”
Days before the papal visit, several dozen mostly elderly visitors scaled the 22 granite levels sloping dramatically upward toward three towering crosses that point skyward.
The largest Italian war memorial, Redipuglia entombs 100,000 Italian soldiers killed in battle, 60,000 whose identity remains unknown and 40,000 who were identified.
The Austro-Hungarian cemetery, one of several in the area, contains 14,406 dead from five nations that fought under the Austro-Hungarian empire, only 2,406 identified.
Among recent tributes is a Hungarian flag signed in July by relatives of a soldier named Istvan Arnter, who died on Nov. 20, 1917.
Many visitors to the Italian monument search the engraved names for their forbears.
“They are making a lot of saints these days. Even popes,” said Margherita Braga, 52, of Brescia, who was visiting the site with her Italian military veteran husband. “But for me, these are the real saints.”
Just two levels up from the altar where Francis will say Mass, the name of a fallen soldier named Adolfo Bergoglio is engraved in a wall. Nardin, the local priest, said he is not believed to be related to the pope.
But World War I historian, Col. Lorenzo Cadeddu, who has found two Bergoglios listed among the Italian casualties of World War I, said it remained a possibility.
“Bergoglio is not a common name,” Cadeddu said. “It is likely that they are related.”
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