Remembering January 7, 2023

Remembering January 7, 2023, when Pope Francis received a large delegation from Sermig in the Clementine Hall in the Vatican.

"Dear friends of Sermig, never tire of building the Arsenal of Peace! Even if the work may seem finished, in reality it is a construction site that is always open."

There are places that are like metaphors. They tell what they have been and the new paths they have crossed. They make visible the pain of the past and, at the same time, the possibility of redemption. The Arsenal of Peace in Turin has been made of this substance since August 2, 1983. The old arms factory that produced much of the artillery for the wars of the Risorgimento and the two world wars has been transformed by the unpaid labor of millions of young people and adults into a concrete testimony to peace. In the words of Pope Francis, in a "fact that speaks for itself," a "sadly, dramatically timely message" in a world where the winds of war are blowing strongly. Francis spoke in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. He did so in an audience with the Fraternity and friends of SERMIG, accompanied by Archbishop Roberto Repole and Archbishop Emeritus Cesare Nosiglia. Shortly beforehand, Ernesto Olivero spoke, emotionally moved by a meeting he had been looking forward to for years. He summarized his life as a married man, a father, and now a grandfather. An unbroken bond with his wife Maria, "now in Heaven." He then recalled his meetings with the mayor of Florence, Giorgio La Pira, who introduced the first young people of SERMIG to Isaiah's prophecy of a time when weapons would no longer be manufactured and people would no longer practice the art of war.
The rest is history: a trail of goodness fueled by thousands of volunteers together with the Fraternity of Hope, made up of those who saw in SERMIG the fulfillment of their vocation: families, individuals, priests, consecrated men and women, young people, and every state of life. All were represented at the meeting in the Vatican, led by Rosanna Tabasso, the first young woman to ask to live her consecration at SERMIG, who is now the group's leader after Ernesto Olivero's decision to resign.

The Pope listens with simplicity. "From the fruits," he says, "it is clear that SERMIG has not been merely activism, but has left room for Him: prayed to, adored, recognized in the little ones and the poor, welcomed in the marginalized." What the Arsenale della Pace has to say begins precisely here: "it is the fruit of God's dream," "a dream that has moved arms and legs, inspired projects and actions, and materialized in the conversion of an arsenal of weapons" where today "weapons of peace, which are encounter, dialogue, and welcome, are crafted by hand." "And how are they crafted?" Francis asks. "Through experience: in the Arsenale, young people can learn concretely how to encounter, to dialogue, to welcome."

This is what the Arsenale della Pace has sought to do since the beginning of its history, through what Ernesto Olivero calls the rule of the unexpected, embodied by the doorbell and the person who knocks at the door. Ultimately, the world's tragedies have entered Piazza Borgo Dora 61 in this way. From the appeals of missionaries to humanitarian expeditions on every continent, from dialogue with prisons to the welcome of foreigners, Sermig has never shied away.
"This is the path," Francis emphasizes, "because the world changes to the extent that we change. While warlords force so many young people to fight their brothers and sisters, we need places where we can experience fraternity."

A word emphasized several times. "Sermig is called 'fraternity of hope,'" Francis comments, "but the opposite can also be said, that is, 'the hope of fraternity.' The dream that animates the hearts of Sermig friends is the hope of a fraternal world." But all these realities: "peace, hope, encounter, harmony, are built only with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God. It is He who creates peace, hope, encounter, harmony. And construction sites move forward if those who work on them allow themselves to be worked within by the Spirit."
Matteo Spicuglia


I remember the trepidation of that morning. Like everyone else, I had in my heart the knowledge that from his gestures and words we would receive an answer to the question that often resurfaces in prayer: "Lord, we are doing our best, but how do you see us? Lord, are we doing your will?" Forty years after Sermig entered the Arsenale della Pace, I felt that the meeting with the Pope was like passing a sieve. On the one hand, I wanted him to put his seal on our history lived in fidelity to the Church, but at the same time, I was afraid. In the Clementine Hall, the atmosphere was intimate but joyful; a prolonged applause greeted Pope Francis. The Pope had listened attentively to Ernesto's emotional greeting, greeted him affectionately, then spoke, calling him by name... as I listened to the words of his speech, first disbelief, then amazement, and finally wonder and praise to the Holy Spirit grew within me. I still can't believe the beauty and depth of those words. "The Arsenal of Peace is the fruit of God's dream... of the power of God's Word. That power we feel when we hear Isaiah's prophecy: 'They will beat their swords into plowshares... they will learn war no more.' This is God's dream that the Holy Spirit carries forward in history through his faithful people." Every time I reread the text of the speech, I am moved to be part of the story of what the Pope calls "a kind of great tree that grew from a small seed," "a group of young people together with the Lord Jesus," where the Lord has kneaded himself with all of us "because," the Pope says, "this is a work that cannot be done without God. Because war can be waged without God, but peace can only be made with Him. And I joyfully accept his invitation: go forward!"
Rosanna Tabasso, President of Sermig


Dear friends,
We are here in St. Peter's, in the heart of the Church, and I am filled with emotion. We are here to pray that God's omnipotence may envelop us with His Fatherly Presence, following His Son Jesus, with the strength of the Holy Spirit.
We are here with Mary, who blessed Sermig from the very beginning. May everyone feel welcomed, everyone here to experience a moment of communion. We are on a pilgrimage, sharing the effort we made to get here. And this pilgrimage has followed our effort, our emotion. The heart of the Church is here, the desire to start over with a better heart, more eager to do God's will.
Ernesto Olivero

NP May 2025


POPE FRANCIS ADDS HIS SIGNATURE TO THE ICON OF MARY, MOTHER OF YOUTH

Incredible stories, those of God, are never-ending. Thus, a man from the ends of the earth has appeared in the history of the Church: Pope Francis. From the very beginning, I thought it would be a good thing to ask for a third signature for the Madonna of the Three Hands and, in the meantime, suspend the publication of this story. Desire bursts into my heart, and I say to myself: "If I ever meet the Pope, Our Lady will be with me, and so will my prayers." This is what happened on October 5, 2013: a half-hour private meeting in the Apostolic Palace, a meeting desired and desired by my bishop, Msgr. Cesare Nosiglia. I have the Pope before me, and I feel like calling him immediately "the long-awaited Father." "Pope Francis, I have an incredible story to tell, the story of the Mother of Youth and a prayer written in 2000 and signed by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Would you like to make it yours too?" The Pope reads carefully, enters into silence and wonder, then takes my pen and writes: "Francis, 5/10/2013." A small, small signature that immediately makes me understand his humility...
(from: Tre mani dalla Russia, Priuli e Verlucca, 2015)