The figure of Don Gino Samarelli has represented for many years a safe place for anyone who needed a word of comfort but also concrete support. Just think of the humanitarian mission of March 2022 when, a few weeks after the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the priest organized a bus that left Molfetta to reach the city of Lviv, a few tens of kilometers from the battlefield, to put 45 refugees were saved and then taken to Italy.
But not only a life spent for peace and humanitarian values but also for culture and art: with the ArcheoClub of Molfetta in 2021 he promoted the Open Churches initiative and the visit to the Church of San Pietro, challenging the pandemic and the time. “The beauty of the place and its enthusiastic availability are still within us. We have lost a great man but his trace will remain indelible in our community” they write right from the city’s ArcheoClub.
His editorial and musical commitment should not be forgotten either: he was director of the diocesan weekly Luce e Vita from 1984 to 1987, founder of the Digressione Music label which is still involved in events throughout the regional territory.
Finally, since last year he has been an active part of the management of the cultural services of the Diocesan Museum.
