Pope’s last 2024 trip: A land full of history and legends

During his visit to Ajaccio on December 15, 2024, Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the Antiquarium Saint-Jean, an early Christian baptistery, also known in Corsican as the baptistry of San Ghjuvà (St. John). This monument bears witness to the slow evangelization of Corsica, which owes much to the popes.

The event has not yet been made official by the Vatican, but only by the Diocese of Ajaccio. Shortly after his arrival, Pope Francis will pay a brief visit to the historical religious site before moving on to the Palace of Congress to deliver an address on popular religion.

In 2005, researchers from the National Institute of Preventive Archeological Research unearthed this 6th-century baptistery, a cross-shaped basin set in the middle of an apse in the residential district of Saint-Jean, near the center of town. Associated with the site's ancient cathedral, researchers believe it was used “for the washing of the feet of catechumens, prior to actual baptism.”

In 2022, the authorities inaugurated an “Antiquarium,” a small museum dedicated to the history of the first Christians in Corsica, a little-known story that bears witness to a slow evangelization. In his Histoire de Corse (1931), Fr. Casanova asserted that “for the first six centuries, the history of the Corsican Church contains only legends and traditions worthy of respect.”

One of these legends is that St. Peter himself sent missionaries to Corsica in the year 46, and that 13 years later, St. Paul himself set foot on the island, visiting the Roman cities on the east coast and the Cap Corse peninsula. However, historians today seem to agree that the first traces of Christianity in Corsica are relatively late -- surprisingly, since the island is so close to Rome -- and date to the 5th century.

Christianization accelerated during this period, in particular with the arrival of bishops from North Africa (Tunisia). These bishop had been exiled to Corsica by the Vandal invaders, “barbarians” who defended the Arian heresy and who took over Corsica from 455 to 534.

Corsican Christians were therefore greatly inspired by the influence of North African Christianity, and over the centuries appropriated its saints. Such was the case of St. Restitude in Calenzana, St. Julie in Nonza, St. Perteo in Lucciana, St. Dévote (the patron saint of Monaco) in the former diocese of Mariana, south of Bastia, and St. Florent, who gave his name to the town of the same name.

These coastal settlements show, however, that the evangelization of the island did not reach the center of the country, where the inhabitants still practiced pagan religions.

Traces of these ancestral beliefs have never been totally eradicated, as shown by the persistence in certain villages of the superstition of the evil eye (“l'Ochju”) or the shamanic belief in mazzérisme, a kind of healer who acts on the world of dreams.

However, Fr. Casanova believed that the evangelization of the island began in earnest with the pontificate of Gregory the Great (590-604). It was with Gregory that the first directives to combat paganism were issued. The Pope condemned the persistence of traditional practices, even among Christians, and called for their eradication. This was carried out progressively in the 7th century, notably with the felling of sacred trees and the destruction of certain shrines. Gregory I also ordered the adjustment of the first dioceses, implying that they had become outdated.

The Christianization of the island was also reinforced by the “Donation of Constantine,” a forged legal text that transferred authority from the emperor to the pope. To counter the rise of new powers, notably the Lombards — who wanted to take control of Corsica — the pontiffs used this document to establish their temporal authority over former imperial dependencies, including Corsica. A similar legend has it that Charlemagne ceded Corsica to the Holy See.

In the 7th century, the Holy See obtained a large domain in the north of the island to exploit its softwoods. The pope's men had a basilica built there, bearing the name of St. Peter. One of the consequences of this settlement is that the mountain overlooking the area has since taken the name of San Petrone (Mount St. Peter).

However, evangelization was slowed by the arrival of the Muslim invaders in the western Mediterranean basin. These formidable armed fleets stepped up their raids, pillaging Rome in 846. The Holy See continued to try to assert its authority in Corsica, where the “Moors” established bases for almost a century. During this period, many Corsicans found refuge in the Rome area — including, according to legend, a certain Formosa, who became pope in 891.

As the island passed from hand to hand, despite the claims of the Church, pagan religious practices continued in the center of the island until the beginning of the second millennium. Finally, in the 11th century, the Republic of Pisa intervened to drive out the Muslims, aided by Genoa.

The Holy See, which claimed sovereignty over the island, lent its support to this undertaking, during which numerous churches were built. Promising to reorganize the clergy, Pisa was finally granted control of the island in 1091, putting an end to the Holy See's claims to Corsica.

Though largely forgotten, the memory of papal “dominion” over the island has endured through the ages. “Pope Francis is at home here, Corsica is Church land,” an autonomist politician told us with a touch of humor.