Unesco, Naples candid San Gennaro heritage of humanity
Institutions such as the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, the president of the Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca, and the minister of culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano will also be present at the ceremony.
“The candidacy is ready: we will submit it to Minister Sangiuliano”, the Curia said. Now it will be up to the Ministry of Culture to examine the dossier entitled “Cult and devotion of San Gennaro in Naples and in the world”. There will not only be one linked to the cult of the saint, but other Italian regions will also be able to send their candidacies. In the end, the one that the Italian National Commission for Unesco will have to submit to the United Nations will decide. All of Naples is waiting for another miracle.
The miracle of blood – The miracle of blood, that is, its liquefaction, takes place three times a year: on September 19, the day on which San Gennaro is celebrated, the Saturday preceding the first Sunday in May, and on December 16, the date which commemorates the intervention of the patron saint who stopped, in the 1600s, the eruption of Vesuvius thus saving the city). After a procession, the archbishop shows the vial of blood to the crowd of faithful gathered in the cathedral. If the liquefaction takes place quickly, it is considered a good omen for Naples and its inhabitants.
The cult of San Gennaro is not only widespread in Naples and its surroundings (which in fact is taken for granted), but is known all over the world. As in the USA, in New York, in particular Little Italy, the Italian-American neighborhood, thanks to the strong community of Campania immigrants over the years or in Brazil or Australia, where the devotion for “yellow face” (as it is called affectionately by the Neapolitans because of the bust of the saint covered in gold) is no less.
San Gennaro, history and curiosities – The news is often uncertain. We know that he certainly lived between the third and fourth centuries, a period characterized by the persecutions of the emperor Diocletian against Christians. He was probably born in Benevento, of which he also became bishop. When in Pozzuoli a deacon friend of his was imprisoned, Gennaro (it was not his real name but his surname) decided to visit him. For this reason he too was imprisoned and sentenced to death by decapitation on 19 September 305. A faithful collected the blood in two ampoules. The cult towards her spread rapidly and was then inextricably linked to the city of Naples and its protection from catastrophes and natural calamities.