Forward, together

Fraternity is not a feeling or an act of good will, but a choice to live and rebuild relationships, restore dignity to people and rethink politics and the economy in more just and human terms.

Rosanna Tabasso, new head of the Fraternity of Hope, outlines the experience and method of Sermig since its foundation in 1964. Monica Canalis, involved in politics and in Sermig, tells us the meaning and most important contents of the recent Catholic Social Week of Trieste in the name of "political love". Finally, from the Arsenale della Speranza in San Paolo in Brazil, the story of the visit of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, to a house capable of giving life back to many street people through hospitality and solidarity.

The social weeks of Italian Catholics were born in 1907, thanks to the intuition of Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo, who wanted to contribute to the formation of a Christian-inspired ruling class, in a historical period in which the papal non expedit was still in force and Italian Catholics were not fully involved in life national politics.

20 years of love
In Moncalieri, in the province of Turin, a welcoming house
This year the Beata Vergine Consolata house in Moncalieri turns 20! It was Pierluigi Dovis, head of the diocesan Caritas, on behalf of Archbishop Severino Poletto who asked Ernesto Olivero for his availability to manage the house to offer shelter to homeless people. A man had just died from the cold. «Ernesto didn't even let me finish the sentence – remembers Dovis. After 15 days, the doors of this house opened to welcome the first guests." Over the years, thanks to the availability of many volunteers, we have welcomed 1,037 people, including 218 children, from 45 different countries around the world. We have learned, sometimes even wrongly, what it means to truly love. We saw lives flourish again and not just of guests. We have witnessed many times the miracle of hope which, being reborn, gives shape, direction, dignity and impetus to existence. (Simona Pagani)

By the editorial team
NP August / September 2024