The countdown ends on Saturday. Then the six Maddalene nuns who live in the convent of Vigevano will have to leave, by irrevocable decision by the Piacenza parent company. But the nuns have no intention of moving. “Not only have we not packed our bags, we won’t even pack them”. Sister Rosalba Zambonetti, the mother superior, speaks. «None of us – she continues – want to leave Vigevano. We are not ready or prepared to move who knows where. We are also worried about the women we host in the convent and the two employees. Our life has always been here.” Four nuns are over 80 years old (some even over 90), two younger ones come from Eritrea and have now integrated. Others have been there since the 1950s and are at serious risk of having to spend their last days elsewhere, after an entire existence spent within these walls.
At the beginning of April, Sister Franca Barbieri, mother general of the congregation of the Daughters of Jesus the Good Shepherd of Piacenza, also responsible for this community as well as others in Northern Italy, had sent a letter to the Diocese of Vigevano in which she clarified her intention to dispose of the structure and move the nuns elsewhere. Economic reasons: impossible to carry on everything, given the now null vocations, the high expenses, the need to make ends meet. The deadline will be June 29th. Everyone in Vigevano is wondering what will happen that day. Will these elderly women be taken away by force? Who will have the courage to come in and force them to move out?
Impossible to know from Piacenza. Mother Barbiericontacted several times by Courier, he didn’t want to answer. All that remains clear, limpid, is the will of these women to stay here, with the support of the community. The last public event within these walls was held on 22 June, when the birth of the noblewoman Giulia di Barolo, founder of the congregation, was celebrated in the convent. Many citizens were present, some unsuspecting. Lay people usually not interested in monastic life, but they do not accept losing such an important institutionwhich also hosts in its rooms tenured teachers born elsewhere who could not afford rent in Vigevano, a rich and therefore expensive city.
The convent has existed since 1879, and has always helped the needy in the area without ever asking for anything in return, collecting food and welcoming anyone who knocked on the door. «The teachers will not be able to afford another accommodation — Sister Rosalba clarified to the local weekly The Vigevanese Informant — . Some have lived here for twenty years. The dismissal of the two convent employees also takes effect on June 30th, the day after we were supposed to leave. Our thoughts go out to them too.”
The Sursum Corda association, which has its headquarters here and supports the charitable activities of the nuns, had launched a petition. Over two thousand signatures, including that of the mayor, Andrea Ceffa. Those from the association themselves make it clear: “They will have to come and take them by force.”. Even the Vatican had been bothered to “save” the nuns with a letter signed by the mayor. The response (aseptic, which did not move anything) leaves doubts as to whether the issue has been seriously evaluated. Mayor Ceffa thus becomes the spokesperson for the community’s regret. «These are not decisions – he comments – that are my responsibility: I am a politician. But the disappointment of never having obtained clear explanations remains. I could understand the desire to use the structure in the future for other works, much less the choice to deprive these nuns, almost all elderly, of the place where they have always lived. Mine is a last desperate appeal: from Piacenza let them listen to the prayer of all the people of Vigevano. Leave us the Maddalen nunsAnd”.
