RP
PERUGIA – Always alongside the weakest. The sum deriving from the signatures of the 8×1000 that the CEI allocated, in 2022, to the Archdiocese of Perugia-Città della Pieve is 2,196,662.76 euros. This is what emerges from the “economic and social balance sheet” presented during the diocesan presentation of the “8xMille 2022 Report”. Publication containing data and regional socio-pastoral activities and of each of the eight Dioceses of Umbria which can also be consulted and downloaded on the official website of the CEU: www.chiesainumbria.it.
The meeting was attended by Archbishop Ivan Maffeis, new president of the National Committee for Relief, Don Marco Briziarelli, director of the diocesan Caritas and delegate of the regional Caritas, Daniele Morini, director of La Voce, and Deacon Giovanni Lolli, diocesan coordinator and regional for Sovvenire.
«These are resources amounting to approximately 2 million and 200 thousand euros which the Diocese has been able to capitalize on – specified Monsignor Maffeis –, with interventions ranging from the reception and solidarity initiatives of Caritas, to the Villaggio Santa Caterina, from Fontenuovo to the Case della Carità, from the educational, sporting and training initiatives and structures of our parishes and our Oratories, to the restoration of churches and the maintenance of cultural heritage. To these figures must be added the contributions that the Central Institute disbursed in 2022 for the support of the clergy”.
In the diocese of Perugia and Pieve, it was possible to contribute to works of worship and pastoral activities for 719,813.01 euros, to finance interventions for buildings for worship and the conservation and valorisation of cultural heritage for 791,893.75 euros, to promote charitable works for 684,956.00 euros. This is a contribution, that of the 8×1000, to the aforementioned “macro expenditure items” which is not sufficient for their total coverage if there were no other financing revenue instruments deriving from the periodic collection campaigns offered (including deductible/deductible) promoted by the Sovvenire itself, from Caritas, from the Missionary Works, from other ecclesial bodies engaged in socio-charitable activities at a local, regional and national level, from the generosity of many benefactors and from the productive world, as well as the contributions of public and private institutions through targeted projects in the social and cultural sphere.
In the 2022 report, from the report of the diocesan bursar, Dr. Bruno Bandoli, emerge «the funds for pastoral activities that have started to function again after Covid, first of all the pastoral care aimed at young people for whom the parish realities and the oratories in particular have represented an important point of restarting social life» . Just think of the 34 “Gr.Est.” (Summer Groups) active in the Oratories, also frequented all year round by thousands of children and young animators who together live an experience of strong friendship, sharing and faith. Furthermore, the various charitable works, remembered by the director of the diocesan Caritas, Don Marco Briziarelli, where over the last year thousands of people in serious difficulty have found a listening ear, welcome and support (around 1,750 families in the five Solidarity Emporiums alone). The key work presented in the report is the “Villaggio Santa Caterina” in Solfagnano, 15 km from Perugia, which provides hospitality to elderly people over 65 in 12 mini-apartments where to date they have welcomed 135 elderly people, as well as distributing home-delivered meals for many other needy people in the area. For the manager of the “Villaggio Santa Caterina”, Mauro Grilli, «the 8xmille is vital for us and we owe it a lot of gratitude, as we do to those who signed it».
Archbishop Maffeis, in the introductory note of the “8xmille 2022 Report” – recalling the first 40 years (1984-2024) since the revision of the Concordat between the State and the Church, which introduced the 8xMille instrument – underlines the importance of «educating the Christian community to be responsible towards those who serve and preside over it», which, the archbishop specifies, «remains a decisive objective: not only to avoid the danger of taking the 8×1000 mechanism for granted which may decline , but also and above all to develop in every baptized person a sense of participation and co-responsibility, as a sign of ecclesial belonging. In this way we would also avoid taking funds away from charity, as well as from religious buildings and cultural heritage”.
The importance of the 8xmille signature. «Let us feel called to this mission, is the invitation made by Deacon Lolli, to «support our Church economically and let us face it with serenity, reminding our friends that through the 8×1000 the Church multiplies good, supports the priests, allows us to build and renovate our places of worship and their heritage of art and faith, through the oratories it educates our young people and helps them to look to the future with hope, through the Caritas network it reaches the needy and families in difficulty of every race and religious belief.”
Tags: #8×1000 million Perugian Church
