We are the hope

Publish date 04-05-2023

by Redazione Sermig

One year ago the disappearance of David Sassoli, friend and president of the European Parliament

«You said that it is social to tear down a wall because there is a world behind it, that it is social to welcome a migrant, because there is a community behind him. And that the family is richer and more modern than a big Facebook group». Elisa Anzaldo, presenter of Tg1, a year ago recalled her former colleague David Maria Sassoli with emotion at his funeral.

Professional journalist since 1986, European Parliamentarian of the Democratic Party for three consecutive terms, president of the European Parliament from 2019 until the day of his death, on 11 January 2022, Sassoli remains for many a significant example of moral righteousness and political acumen. His wide gaze was born from the personal background of a man who grew up in an environment rich in culture and faith. His reference figures, La Pira, Dossetti, Monnet, Schuman directed him along the path of realizing the ideal of peace in Europe that he had always pursued, betrayed for many centuries, which until 24 February last, after seventy years of war truce from World War II onwards, it finally seemed on the way to completion. Sassoli in the years of his mandate in the European Parliament had supported him with great conviction and confidence. «He had the strength to walk and be on the side of the good and the weak. Always pushed to take a step further», confirms Father Francesco Occhetta s.j., political scientist and lifelong friend, in the funeral mass. "You chose calm and calibrated words, you hurled them like an archer into our hearts, words that have shaped our country and Europe, words that smell of fraternity".

Another friend from high school, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, describes him as «a partisan man and also a man of all; the part of him was that of the person: for him politics had to be for the common good. That's why he wanted a united Europe with founding values, and he helped to make the institutions work. Not ideologies but ideals, not calculations but a vision». The vision was that of a sense of renewed fraternity, evoked in last Christmas' message: "We have seen new walls, our borders in some cases have become borders between morality and immorality, between humanity and inhumanity, walls erected against people who ask shelter from the cold, from hunger, from war, from poverty ... The Christmas period is the period of the birth of hope and we are the hope when we don't close our eyes to those in need, when we don't build walls on our borders and when we fight against all injustices. Message that the friend and colleague relaunches as a challenge: «You broke through rubber walls with the tenacity of your kindness, with the ostentation of the respect you had for others, with the exhaustion of dialogue, the strength of prudence and the disruptive of your meekness. Leave us a stubborn lesson in optimism».

«David believed that European democracy could guarantee rights to a growing number of people - Ursula von der Leyen recalls today - but he also knew that democracy is fragile and must be protected from internal and external enemies. I hope we can find his own courage to fight for our values, the courage to carry on our battles, the courage to always look to the future, as he did". This courage is needed more than ever. Dutiful, one might say. Because "we are the hope".

Redazione Sermig

NP Febbraio 2023

SPEECHS FOR ITALY AND EUROPE

With the preface by Sergio Mattarella, some speeches given by David Sassoli during his presidency of the European Parliament are published. Starting from the speech of his inauguration in July 2019, up to the message of wishes for Christmas 2021, written shortly before his health conditions worsened.Two and a half years of speeches delivered in Italy and in Europe that show the strong ethical charge that supported his political commitment and his innovative action.

 

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