The cult of San Gennaro could become a world heritage site. Today civil and religious institutions will announce the candidacy of the cult of the Neapolitan patron saint as an intangible cultural asset recognized by UNESCO. The precise title of the candidacy is "The popular cult of San Gennaro in Naples and the world."

The Neapolitan saint is known all over the world, the newspaper recalls. The state of São Paulo, Brazil, recognizes the cult of the Neapolitan martyr among the heritages to be protected and has named one of the city's most important hospitals after him. The Vasco da Gama stadium in Rio de Janeiro is also dedicated to the saint. In the United States, devotion to the saint unites almost all Italian Americans.

The liquefaction of his blood is the most famous miracle in the world and has always attracted thousands of tourists who come to Naples to witness this challenge to the principle of reason. His cult unites believers and nonbelievers alike. Precisely because San Gennaro is an identity totem that belongs to the whole city.

The great French writer Alexandre Dumas, who visited Naples in the 19th century and witnessed the miracle several times, wrote that San Gennaro is the true God of Naples. An exaggeration, of course, but one that captures a profound truth. And that is that the patron has always been a supernatural brand, the supreme figure of the Neapolitan Pantheon.