Pope Francis visits his father’s birthplace

PORTACOMARO, Italy — Pope Francis returned Saturday to his father’s birthplace in northern Italy for the first time since ascending the papacy to celebrate the 90th birthday of a second cousin.

Francis’ private visit Saturday will be followed by public one today to celebrate Mass for the local faithful.

The pope’s father, Mario Jose Francisco Bergoglio, and his paternal grandparents arrived in Buenos Aires on Jan. 25, 1929, to reach other relatives who had joined the tail end of a decadeslong emigration from Italy.

The future pope, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born nearly eight years later in Buenos Aires. Francis grew up speaking the Piedmont dialect of his paternal grandmother Rosa, who cared for him most days.

The elder Bergoglio was born in the town of Portacomaro, 6 miles east of Asti, an agricultural town that lost population not only to emigration abroad but also to nearby Turin as it became an industrial center.

Today, the town has 2,000 residents. The pope’s family emigrated after the peak, which saw 14 million Italians leave from 1876 to 1915.

Francis, 85, has made the welcoming and integration of migrants a hallmark of his papacy, often facing criticism as Europe in general, and Italy in particular, are consumed with the debate over how to manage 21st century mass migration.

He used the occasion to again denounce Europe’s indifference toward migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea and what they hope will be better futures.

Francis began his visit to Portacomaro on Saturday with lunch at the home of a cousin, Carla Rabezzana. He later visited another cousin nearby, stopping at a nursing home along the way to greet and bless the guests.

“When he told me he would come to celebrate my 90th birthday, I said it made my heart racer,” Rabezzana told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. “In response I was told: ‘Try not to die.’ We burst out laughing.”

The pope has many more third and fourth cousins still in the area.