A ‘monument’ let’s say, to this Year of Mercy. How beautiful it would be if in every diocese there were a structural work of mercy”: it’s the Pope’s appeal to dioceses during the prayer vigil on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Divine Mercy, April 2. The local Churches promptly responded: follow some of the initiatives under way or planned in dioceses.
The Emporium of Solidarity is the gesture of charity that the Diocese of Chioggia will implement across the territory of the local Church as a concrete sign of the Jubilee of Mercy. “It’s an area to rethink our relationship with food; a place for nutritional education to food, including the weaker segments of the population; a tool to interact at territorial level and with services to people.”
It’s the identikit provided by the diocesan Caritas, with the intention of “bringing together” food collection and its distribution guaranteed in the past years of crisis by parishes, in structured forms through this stable and concrete sign for aid to families in need in different vicariates or in the pastoral areas of the diocese.
In the past two years – said the director, Fr Marino Callegari – The diocesan Caritas began the collection and the direct redistribution of surplus food from different supermarkets in diocese’s soup kitchens and communities:
“In this way shopping cartons, food-vouchers, prepaid expenses, precompiled shopping lists and small spending bonuses have become a plural mode of aid integrated within the food chain.”
In Caritas counselling centres, in conjunction with local Social Services, operators will be working in the structure of the Emporium “that will thus become a social service, not open to the public at large like regular supermarkets”, pointed out the Caritas director, who made known that “the diocese has purchased the premises of an abandoned supermarket that are being restructured by the diocesan Caritas thanks to the funds from taxpayers’ voluntary contribution.”
The purpose is to go into operation at the beginning of the summer to be active in structured forms from September, at the beginning of the new pastoral year.
“This Emporium, like the others already operational, will be not only a service of the Church for people in difficulty, but a joint endeavour, so that everyone may more considerate of others to build the society of solidarity which it is in the plan of God where every person takes care of his neighbour,” said the auxiliary bishop of Perugia-Città della Pieve, Monsignor Paolo Giulietti, on the occasion of the inauguration of the “Bethlehem” Emporium (Casa del Pane), in the premises of the parish of church of Sant’Orsola in Schiavo di Marsciano.
The “Bethlehem” emporium – the third “activated by the diocesan Caritas in less than two years after the “Village of Charity” in Perugia and the emporium of the “Divine Mercy “in San Sisto – is a sign of the commitment of the diocese, wanted by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti for the Jubilee. The Emporium will be operational as of 4May, thanks to the availability of 40 volunteers, and initially it will serve as a point of reference for 80 families in need, for a total of 260 people, living in the pastoral area of Marscianese.
“A workshop of what is possible”, subtitle: “Stories of people and things seeking new paths”.
It is the evocative title and subtitle of the emporium opened a few days ago in the diocese of Fossano. It’s a rich and articulated reality that brings together in an large venue of over 500 square meters, a clothing shop, along with used and regenerated garments and objects, a carpentry dealing with recycling and reuse, a Caritas centre for the distribution of food parcels and a bookshop. It’s the fruit of the joint commitment of various volunteering associations and other local associations, in addition to the diocesan Caritas”, said Carlo Barolo, vice-director of the weekly “La Fedeltà”.
A large number of people were present on April 10 for the inauguration of the solidarity emporium “7ceste”, located in via Gabriele d’Annunzio n. 8 in Santa Maria degli Angeli, a result of the collaboration between the Municipality of Assisi and the diocesan Caritas. The Emporium, a dream of the director of Caritas, Sister Elisa Carta, has become the concrete sign of the Jubilee thanks to the consistent donation of twenty thousand Euros obtained with the proceeds of the charity marathon “With the heart, in the name of Francis “presented by Carlo Conti and organized by the monks of St.Francis. Bishop Domenico Sorrentino, illustrating the Emporium has made reference to one of the chapters of the “Book of the Synod” that will distributed on May 14 in the Cathedral of San Rufino, precisely the one regarding charity, titled “he had compassion of him”, with the subtitle “From alms, to sharing, to political charity.”
The diocese of Agrigento was not unprepared to the Pope’s appeal, assured Fr. Carmelo Petrone, director of the weekly, “The Friend of the people”. “We undertook a discernment a few days ago, that has almost reached its conclusion, to create in the city “a concrete token for the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, that is the sign of a church sensitive to the needs of the last and weakest ones in our society, and that for many of our volunteers will be a workshop of charity“. The Clinic chosen as a “concrete sign” of the Jubilee of Mercy is already operative in the diocese of San Benedetto del Tronto-Ripatransone-Montalto. The inauguration was held on April 15 with the participation – inter alia – of the bishop, Monsignor Carlo Bresciani.
