The Antoniano of Bologna turns 70: hospitality and solidarity

Bologna, 17 June. (askanews) – The Antoniano of Bologna has turned 70, in the name of the Franciscan values ​​on which it is founded: music, art, culture, theater and, above all, solidarity. In 1954, on the day of Saint Anthony, a Bologna the canteen for people in difficulty and the cinema-theater. Since then, over 3 million meals have been distributed by Antoniano, who has never closed the doors of his canteen to the needy. “We – Fra’ Giampaolo Cavalli, director of the Antoniano, told askanews – are rooted in a history where the door has always been open, where the friars, the operators, the volunteers have always tried to make everyone feel to his home without too many questions, without too many inquisitions. And from today onwards the Antoniano wants to continue to keep the door open, he wants to continue to answer people’s questions, especially fragile people and he wants to continue to tell words and attitudes that can inspire a social life, a common good to be built together, a possible future which above all has a denominator which is that of being a community, of being a family, of knowing everyone, of belonging to the one human family”. Starting from the end of the 1950s, the distribution of meals and charity and solidarity activities were accompanied by two new realities which have since then been closely linked to the history and evolution of Antoniano: the Zecchino d’Oro, born in 1959, and the Piccolo Coro dell’Antoniano, founded in 1963 by Mariele Ventre and directed by Sabrina Simoni since 1995. Initiatives that have allowed us to further expand our range of action. “Antoniano is not just Bologna – added Cavalli -. It is also 26 organizations spread across Italy supported thanks to the notoriety of the Zecchino d’oro and in recent days there is also an active SMS which allows us to support the network of canteens of Operation Pane Bologna and the many realities scattered across the Italian territory and the number is 45538. This helps us to guarantee many meals for all these canteens”. To celebrate the anniversary, a street party was organized in Bologna, which showed how solidarity has no boundaries and, above all, how there is still a possible community space even among young people, as demonstrated by the fact that the largest number important number of volunteers who have approached Antonino in recent years are boys and girls between 19 and 30 years old.