St Francis feast likely to become Italy national holiday – again

On September 23, the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Italy’s Parliament, voted for a bill restoring the holiday. The vote was 247-2 in favour, with eight abstentions.

The bill is widely expected to pass into law, but must first be put to a vote in the other house of Italy’s Parliament, the Senate. No date has been set for the Senate vote on the bipartisan initiative introduced by the centre-right party Noi Moderati (Us Moderates).

St Francis is considered Italy’s patron saint, and his feast was celebrated as a national holiday by the country until 1977. Next year will be a significant year of celebration as it will mark the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis in 1226.

The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, said: “I am delighted that the chamber has given the initial green light to this proposal: Rediscovering St Francis also means reviving his message of peace, which is more relevant than ever.”

Italy currently has 12 national work holidays on the calendar, of which eight are solely based on religious feast days. One of the religious holidays varies from city to city in line with the location’s patronal feast. The solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul on June 29 is a holiday in Rome because they are the city’s patron saints.

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Italy moves to make Oct. 4 feast of St. Francis of Assisi a national holiday (By Hannah Brockhaus/CNA)