«The words and the judgment that the hon DeLuca he wanted to express towards Don Maurizio Patriciello have generated considerable dismay. If from them, in fact, emerges the determined desire to argue with other institutional presences or with other groups politically considered adversaries, the meaning of the judgment on the person and pastoral action of a priest in the ordinary context of the Parish in which he works is not understood. and that, due to the serious threats he has been subjected to by the Camorra underworld, he is forced to live under guard.”
Monsignor Angelo Spinillo, bishop of Aversa, the diocese in which Caivano falls, the territory in which Don Maurizio Patriciello operates, takes the priest’s defense with determination. «We think – continues Spinillo – that in no way can we accept reducing the attention of a priest to the life of his people to a mere spectacle and, consequently, also seeking possible and respectful forms of dialogue with all the institutions responsible, of every order and degree. While we express sincere concern for what this event may mean regarding the level of civil debate and political confrontation, we hope that common attention to the common good of all citizens can prevail and, overcoming the banality of personalism, allow the entire society to breathe greater hope of vitality and justice in participating in the common journey”.
In your opinion, what are the reasons that led President De Luca to ridicule a border parish priest who faces every day, at the cost of his life, the delinquency that pervades that area of the diocese of Aversa?
«Sometimes the temptation is to persecute those who talk to another just to hit the latter. It is ridiculed because, in reality, as in this case, and as Don Maurizio himself highlighted, the aim is to hit the interlocutor who is believed to be a political opponent. A circumstance that sounds absurd in a situation like this one Caivano Green Park, where all institutions should collaborate.”
You participated in meetings with the country’s top institutional representatives together with Don Patriciello; What impressions did you get?
«The impression is that the appeal made by Don Maurizio to the institutions, including President Meloni, had the effect of drawing the attention of the institutional world to that part of the territory of our diocese. But it is, however, an attention given only by the institutional world and not by ordinary people, by all of us who live in that area on a daily basis. I believe that this is the key that is needed to truly turn the page in Caivano.”
His diocese is the diocese of Don Peppe Diana, the priest of Casal di Principe murdered by the Camorra. Do you notice any similarities between the Casal di Principe of 30 years ago and the Parco Verde di Caivano today?
«Analogies are difficult to find, these are two substantially different situations. They have in common the impositions by organized crime. A common factor is the arrogance of the stronger over the weaker. In both cases, in Casal di Principe as in al Caivano Green Park, arrogance uses people’s needs. He makes it appear as if he wants to remedy these needs, while using them to enslave these unfortunates, these people to his own will. An arrogance that has an approach that is based above all on poverty.”
Have you always shared Don Patriciello’s behavior and statements in recent years?
“Yes, always. Over the last ten years there has been a crescendo of sharing, starting with attention to environmental issues. Our diocese falls entirely within the perimeter of the land of fires. Don Maurizio was always attentive to this issue and since then we have traveled a long journey together. We were listened to at all levels, reaching, with our voice, even to the European Parliament to constantly dialogue with the institutions and we almost always had attentive interlocutors from the extraordinary commissioners appointed specifically for this phenomenon to regional, provincial and municipal representatives. There was a lot of availability even if few steps were taken due to the lack of resources at government level.”
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