"Today our archbishop, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi, was in Rome where he met Pope Leo XIV, to whom he gave a statuette of the Madonna of Bonaria. The Pontiff was very happy and who knows, maybe, like Francis, he will want to come to the island to pay homage to the patron saint of Sardinia." Father Eugenio Caramia, parish priest of the Basilica of Bonaria run by the Mercedarians, wanted to close in style, in front of the faithful and pilgrims, an intense morning in Cagliari in which the initiative of a group of volunteers, gathered in the association Cammino di Bonaria, has become the heritage of the entire island.
The key
Since yesterday, the Cammino di Bonaria is a reality: it can be traveled from Olbia to Cagliari, 353 kilometers described in the guide edited by the president of the association, Antonello Menne. The "key" was symbolically delivered to the mayors of the approximately 48 territories crossed (in 29 municipalities the route passes right through the city center) and in particular to the president of the Region Alessandra Todde and to the mayor of Setzu, Sandro Palla, the smallest town on the long route between San Simplicio (Olbia) and Bonaria (Cagliari). "And I hope that the key can then pass from one municipality to another among those who have joined our initiative and can gradually expose it to everyone", was the hope of Antonello Menne, creator together with a group of friends of the initiative born from a pilgrimage, made in 2020, in the Covid era, in which the lawyer from Nuoro left Milan to reach Bonaria on foot, in the wake of the medieval pilgrims who traveled the Francigena or the Camino de Santiago.
Enthusiasm
Faith, self-discovery, desire for reflection, beauty, immersion in nature. There are many ingredients that create interest around the Cammino di Bonaria, built by the association, founded in Lula in 2021, without public contributions and with only the work of volunteers, local administrators and communities that have welcomed the project. About five hundred people, yesterday morning, met among the columns of the basilica in front of the sea of the Golfo degli Angeli to christen the pilgrimage dedicated to the patron saint of Sardinia.
The full article on L'Unione Sarda on newsstands and on the app
abbonati.unionesarda.it/Edicola