Italy’s far-right government revives holiday for saint at ‘core of our nation’s identity’

Saint Francis of Assisi was a 13th-century friar who renounced a life of luxury to help the poor and founded the Franciscan religious order. Photograph: INTERFOTO/Alamy

Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government in Italy has revived a national holiday in honour of the country’s popular patron saint, Francis of Assisi, in a nod to “the very core of our nation’s identity”.

Millions of Italian workers are expected to get a day off each 4 October, the feast day of Saint Francis, after the lower house of parliament approved overwhelmingly a bill making it a public holiday. The measure will pass to the senate for the final nod.