At the Shrine of the Holy House, the traditional Eucharistic celebration for the Lauretan Virgin, presided over by His Excellency Archbishop Santo Marcianò, Military Ordinary for Italy.

This morning, Monday 11 December, the traditional Eucharistic celebration of the Air Force was held at the Sanctuary of the Holy House of Loreto in homage to Our Lady of Loreto, the Patron Saint of Aviators, which falls on 10 December.

The celebration, which ideally concluded the celebrations for the Centenary of the Italian Air Force, was presided over by H.E. Msgr. Santo Marcianò, Military Ordinary for Italy, and concelebrated by the Pontifical Delegate H.E. Msgr. Fabio Dal Cin. It was attended by the Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Luca Goretti, numerous military and civilian authorities, and a large contingent of young male and female cadets from the Italian Air Force Training Institutes.

Also attending the celebration were the Episcopal Vicar for the Military Aviation, Don Antonio Coppola, a delegation of Military Chaplains from Lazio, Marche and Umbria, as well as the Vicar General and a representation of priests from the prelature of the Holy House of Loreto.

The religious ceremony was opened by none other than Msgr. Dal Cin, who wanted to thank the men and women of the Air Force “for having been the honorary escort of the Heavenly Patroness for these one hundred years. Be inspired by the beauty of the conscience and conduct of the Virgin Mary, with the wish that this bond will always illuminate your mission of peace”.

His Excellency Monsignor Santo Marcianò, Military Ordinary for Italy, then took the floor for the Eucharistic celebration. “Today we celebrate the memory of something that began a hundred years ago, while the walls of this Holy House guard the memory of what happened in much more distant years,” emphasised Monsignor Marcianò in his homily. ’But everything, in reality, seems and is current to us: the Mystery of God becoming Man, in Christ, through the “yes“ of Mary, just as the precious mission of the Air Force is current, which, we could say, is realised in the ”yes‘ of each one of you. A link between memory and contemporaneity – added Monsignor Marcianò – which can be summarised in the word ’new’, concerning you and, in particular, the action of God, and the novelty of the celebration we are experiencing today is primarily rooted in the history of the Air Force, whose great achievements and records, extraordinary development and enormous potential we all know.«.

Of this «new» I believe you can be a guarantee, precisely because in the tragic history of the world – with war unfortunately remaining a sad and dramatic “current event” when we hoped it would only be “memory” of the past – the history of the Air Force teaches us that it is possible to respond to multiplying acts of war with gestures of peace.

Over these hundred years, your contribution to peace has taken shape and broadened continually. Your mission, which began at a national level, has expanded extraordinarily, gaining experience in the international arena and becoming a benchmark for many other countries around the world. The human richness that characterises you - the Pope told you a few days ago - represents the best guarantee that your commitment is always directed towards the defence of life, justice and peace, and it makes you men and women marked by great passion, commitment, courage and motivation, ready to pay their tribute of hard work and, at times, of life. If anniversaries did not open up to the future - concluded the Military Ordinary - celebrating would make no sense. This is perhaps the message you intend to convey with the motto of your Centenary, ”In flight towards the future".

“We are proud and grateful to be here today to mark the end of our Centenary,” said the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squadron General Luca Goretti, in his welcome speech at the end of the religious service. “I wish to begin by offering a respectful salute to those who are no longer physically with us, and in particular to those who, this year, we have painfully lost. Their example gives us the strength to look to the future every day. A special salute and thank you, on this emotional day, to all the personnel of the Armed Force, the human capital that for one hundred years has served the country and honoured our Flag, especially to the younger generation with the wish to continue to honour our Tricolour with the same spirit and selflessness as those who preceded them. I thank the families, who support us and give us the strength to continue in our vocation.” The Chief of Staff then concluded, “I believe I can speak on behalf of all those who, in whatever capacity, every day, in the air and on the ground, work in the world of aviation, in offering a special greeting to our mother, to the Lauretana Virgin, who consoles and protects us even in the most difficult moments. And the extraordinary journey of the Centenary of the Air Force could only end like this, and in this place.”.

After the ceremony, the Angelus prayer and the blessing of the HH-139 helicopter of the 15th Wing of the Air Force were held on the parvis of the Basilica, the unit that ensures precious search and rescue operations every day throughout the national territory, and which flew over the Basilica with the Tricolour.

The relationship between the Air Force and the city of Loreto is founded not only on the indissoluble spiritual bond with the Patron Saint of Aviators, but is also consolidated and substantiated by the precious activity of the Aviation English Training Centre, an entity dependent on the Schools Command / 3rd Air Region based in the Marches town. This centre is responsible for the training and assessment of language skills for Air Force personnel, and for assessing and teaching “Aviation English” to Air Force flight controllers and flight crew, as well as to personnel from other armed forces and ministries.