Bologna, 5 May 2024 – On the one hand Gino Cecchettin, the father of twenty-two year old Giulia which was last November 11th massacred by her ex-boyfriendon the other the Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, president of the CEI and archbishop of Bologna who, in the aftermath of the feminicide, acted as a bridge between the father of the girl from Vigonovo and Pope Francis who then telephoned him. An important meeting, which sees Cecchettin and Cardinal Zuppi as protagonists as well as Sister Chiara Cavazza, strongly supported by the Franciscan Festival in collaboration with Antoniano Franciscan Works as a preview of the event, and which will be broadcast online tomorrow, Monday 6 May, at 8.30pm. The meeting can be followed by registering on the site www.festivafrancescano.it.
In the year in which Franciscan Festivalin Piazza Maggiore in Bologna from 26 to 29 Septemberwill reflect on the topic of wounds that (open)., “Gino Cecchettin’s testimony”, as the organizers explain, “helps to understand how one can go through such great, unfair and unexpected pain. Like in book written together with Marco Franzoso for Rizzoli entitled ‘Dear Giulia’, Cecchettin reflects on the meaning of this enormous personal and collective tragedy, finding the strength to tell what he learned from his daughter. Between the sometimes morbid attention of certain press, the sometimes brutal judgments for him and his eldest daughter Elena on social media and the affection of many people, Gino Cecchettin’s experience becomes a powerful appeal to families, schools and institutions”.
Gino Cecchettin states: “When I read stories about feminicides I was struck, shaken, but then selfishly I turned the page. […] I was normal, and in the normal world certain things don’t happen. It is not so. None of us are immune, because the idea of abuse concerns everyone without distinction, it concerns the world in which we live.” Among the topics that will be addressed, what the Church does and can do to counter the rampant culture of abuse, how to rebuild a culture of reconciliation, the need to be closer to young people.
The initiative is supported by BPER Banca.
