Italy – Refugees are Guide Toward a New Citizenship
"Today, accompanying refugees and being with them at
the crossroads of history is the fullest way to live our citizenship,"
said Father Camillo Ripamonti, president of Centro Astalli, opening the
colloquium organized at the Gregorian on June 14 for World Refugee Day.
Monsignor Richard Paul Gallagher, secretary for relations with the states of
the Holy See's Secretariat of State, and political scientist Nadia Urbinati,
coordinated by Marco Tarquinio, director of Avvenire, compared notes.
Celebrating World Refugee Day at this time, Ripamonti explained, is
particularly significant: "Refugees are increasingly reduced to migratory
flows, statistics, nameless and faceless numbers, in order to distance them
from the sensibility and encounter with European citizens. Instead, we are
convinced that the only possible future is a common future."
The great news of today, bequeathed by the exhausting pandemic and a war so close at hand, "is that solidarity is no longer a utopia, a matter of good feelings or individual ethics, but has become a necessity in the interest of all. In this journey toward a new idea of citizenship, refugees, custodians of a deep desire for peace, are tireless guides. World Refugee Day 2022 an opportunity to reflect on the contribution of our communities to the construction of a new Europe of solidarity and peace through welcoming those who seek its protection." The meeting was introduced by the testimonies of four refugees, Darya from Belarus, Moussa from Mali, Amjed from Iraq, and Cedric from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which were collected in a video made by Digital Artisans.
Unequal Societies
"This war, in which we are all involved, is here. But it is not the only war in the world; there are wars everywhere. It is the third world war in pieces that the Pope spoke about at the beginning of the Pontificate," Monsignor Gallagher explained. What is needed, he added, is a conversion, yes spiritual, but especially in the face of "reality: we often live in a world of dreams, but we must open our eyes if we want to build the future. My prophecy is that the winter we go into will never be forgotten. A war in the northern hemisphere that will also affect the southern hemisphere."
On democracy and its vulnerability, Nadia Urbinati focused: the 2008 financial crisis, the pandemic and the war have reinforced the idea that only strong, expert governments can solve the crisis, with a centrality of governance at the expense of that of Parliament. "Within democracies themselves, a criticism is emerging about the futility of elections, which send 'incompetents' to make decisions." A situation that sees a "narrowing of opportunities for citizens themselves, within societies that are increasingly accentuating differences between social classes." Societies of unequals in wounded democracies, then, Urbinati's analysis.
Peace and Democracy
"With refugees at the crossroads of history," therefore says the Centro Astalli, means building peace as a commitment that invokes deep values. "Peace is realizing processes of inclusion, making our communities able to respond to the complexity of the global challenges that this time poses to us. Peace is built around the fundamental values of justice, solidarity and equality, in the project of promoting the weakest." The indissoluble link between peace and democracy, Astalli adds, quoting President Mattarella (the whole of Europe "is at a crossroads between regression of its history and the ability to survive the evils of its past") goes beyond ethical impulses and the rejection of barbarism: "It is necessary to promote a new idea of European citizenship that is creative and generative of open, plural and participatory communities. In this sense, the call for peace from mere invocation must become a political choice. And this also depends on each of us, on a precise assumption of personal responsibility."
Other appointments
Wednesday, June 22 - 7 p.m.: at the San Saba Reception Center, Piazza Bernini 22, Rome - "La festa dell'accoglienza," Centro Astalli invites to an evening of conviviality and music with refugees. Speaker Fr. Arturo Sosa, Jesuit Provost General, who will meet with workers, refugees, volunteers and friends in an evening of exchange and mutual acquaintance.
- Thursday, June 23 - 6 p.m.: Centro Astalli is among the promoters of the Ecumenical Prayer "Dying of Hope" in memory of those who lose their lives in the journeys to Europe to be held at the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Card. Michael Czerny S.I., prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development.
- On the occasion of World Refugee Day 2022, Centro Astalli launches the social campaign #laStoriasiamonoi. To participate, simply post by June 20 on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter a photo with a word or message of peace written on a piece of paper, using the hashtags #LaStoriasiamonoi #conirifugiati and tagging @CentroAstalli.
All the words and messages shared will go together with
the words and messages of the refugee students from Centro Astalli's Italian
School and will go to compose a letter that will be made public and will be
delivered to the President of the Republic.
Source: Gesuiti
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