The celebrations for the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of the Madonna as Patron Saint have begun in Loreto with Cardinal Bertone.
During the solemn liturgical celebration, presided over by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and co-celebrated by the Archbishop of Loreto and Pontifical Delegate Giovanni Tonucci and other bishops from the Marche region, General of the Air Force Giampiero Gargini, Commander of the Air Force Schools/3rd Air Region of Bari, was present for the Air Force.
In the afternoon, before arriving at the Basilica, General Gargini had met with the personnel serving at the Marche aeronautical entity for a farewell greeting, in view of his planned retirement from active service on 20 April. During the meeting, General Gargini wished to thank the Department for the work carried out during his approximately three-year tenure, expressing his sincere “appreciation for the careful maintenance of the provided infrastructure and for the demonstrated operational capabilities, which make SLE-AM a centre of linguistic training of excellence, not only for the Armed Force”. With their participation in the opening celebrations of the 90th anniversary, the tribute of devotion to the Madonna of Loreto was thus renewed, she who was proclaimed Celestial Patron “of those who navigate the airways” on 24 March 1920 by the then pontiff Benedict XV.
The 90th anniversary event is part of the established relationship between the Italian Air Force and ecclesiastical institutions, which, particularly in Loreto, has often translated into concrete solidarity initiatives. The Foreign Language School itself, formerly the NCO Advanced Training School of the Air Force, under the command of the Air Force Schools Command, is located within the facilities that housed the historic ‘F. Baracca’ Institute from 1930 to 1983. This Institute was planned as part of a series of humanitarian activities that, initiated soon after the proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patron saint of aviators, aimed to assist families and orphans of aviators in poor financial circumstances. In 1925, these efforts culminated in the establishment of the National Welfare Organisation for Widows and Children of Airmen, renamed in 1937 the National Organisation for the Children of Aviators (ONFA). ONFA was based in Loreto until 1983 and is now located in Cadimare (La Spezia).
