From 29 September to 2 October, the Mission Festival brings the missionary commitment of the Italian Church to the streets of Milan, in particular to the Columns of San Lorenzo, and welcomes the testimonies of many men and women committed to taking care of a wounded world.
Now in its second edition after the one in Brescia in 2017, the Festival, promoted by CIMI (Conference of Missionary Institutes in Italy) And Missio Foundation (pastoral body of the Italian Episcopal Conference) in collaboration with theArchdiocese of Milanwas presented this morning in one of the most beautiful places in Milan, in the Chapel of Sant’Aquilino, in the Basilica of San Lorenzo.
After the greetings of the two promoters, represented by father Fabio Motta (CIMI representative in the Board of Directors of the Mission Festival, PIME missionary) e Don Giuseppe Pizzoli (Director of the National Office for Missionary Cooperation between Churches and of the Missio Foundation), the operational director intervened to illustrate the objectives and program of the Festival, father Piero Masolo (PIME missionary and collaborator of the Office for Missionary Pastoral Care of the Diocese of Milan), the artistic director, Lucia Capuzzi (journalist of Avvenire) e Msgr. Luca Bressan (Episcopal Vicar of the Diocese of Milan for Culture, Charity, Mission and Social Action).
Three of the numerous guests of the Festival days then brought their testimony on some of the main themes of the event: father Sebastiano D’Ambraa PIME missionary known for his commitment to interreligious dialogue between Christians and Muslims in the Philippines; Kindi Tailawho fled as a child from the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo thanks to the help of some Italian missionaries, graduated in medicine in our country and then returned several times to Africa for missionary experiences; Adriano Karipunaa symbol of the resistance of the indigenous peoples of Amazonia against deforestation.
Finally, they intervened Massimo Minellipresident of Confcooperative Lombardia, which together with the Lombard BCC Federation and Fondosviluppo is the main partner of the Festival, and the representatives of the two main supporting realities: Claudia Sorlini, vice president of the Cariplo Foundation, e Hidden AgnesProject coordination and operational structure of the Cuore Amico Association.
THE PROGRAM AND THE GUESTS
More than 100 guests, Italian and international, who will participate in the 29 events of the main program with the title “Vivere per dono” and in the rich calendar of the “Festival è also”; over 150 missionary witnesses who will animate aperitifs in the bars and bistros of the center; 200 volunteers to help manage the over 30,000 people expected; over 20 religious structures and parishes to welcome the 1,500 people who have already reported a request for hospitality from all over Italy.
The location chosen as the pole of the event is the Columns of San Lorenzo, a place with a double meaning, the heart of Christian Milan and a meeting place for the Milanese nightlife and young people. But meetings are also planned in other significant places, such as San Vittore Prison House and theCatholic University of Sacred Heartas well as Sunday Mass in Duomo, with the choirs of young people from different realities of the diocese of Milan. The red thread of the mission will also connect the same Basilica of Sant’Eustorgiowhere the missionaries will take care of moments of spirituality, with the St. Stephen’s Basilicawhere the Missio Milano exhibition will be set up for the days of the Festival; Lombardy Palacefor an exhibition and theatrical performances, with the conference room of the Diocesan Museumwhich will host book presentations and a meeting on ethical fashion, and the Church of S. Giorgiowith the workshops on restorative justice and Agenda 2030.
And Vetra square (behind the Basilica of San Lorenzo) will host the two events in which the largest presence is expected: Saturday 1 October, at 9.30 pm, “Get up and #ViviPerDono”, to look forward to the World Youth Day in Lisbon, in 2023: an evening that will alternate darkness and light, silence and music, in the presence of Archbishop Mario Delpini. Sunday 2 October, at 5 pm, the final act of the Festival, where peace will be the motif that will accompany the music and testimonies of the “Missio Contest – Peace Concert”, with the presence of the artists Liza Miller and Anna Tchikovskaya, respectively Russian and ukraine.
On the opening day of the Festival, Thursday 29 September, Diego Cugia, aka Jack Follain connection with the Egyptian activist Patrick Zaki, will accompany you on a journey between prison and ransom, at “Ora aria” (7 pm). On the same evening, the journalist and writer Mario Calabresi And don Luigi Ciottiwhich has made its parish out of the way, fighting the mafias and inequalities, will discuss in the meeting “Mission Frontier: memory and justice” (9.30 pm).
Friday 30th SeptemberThe President of the CEI, the cardinal, will also be present Matteo Zuppiin the conference “Making life bloom – The Magdalene mission” (11 am), on the announcement of the Good News in a wounded world, while during the conference “Justice and gift” (6 pm), the Minister of Justice Marta Cartabiawill deepen, with the criminologist Adolfo Ceretti and the chaplain of the women’s prison in Santiago de Chile Nelly Leónthe theme of restorative justice paths.
Economists from different schools will discuss the ways to a more equitable and supportive world, Saturday 1 October, during the conference “Beyond the economy that kills”. Sister’s words will be significant Alessandra Smerillisecretary of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, of the senator for life Mario Monti and the indigenous activist against deforestation in the Amazon, Adriano Karipuna.
Among the guests protagonists at various conferences and meetings, called to decline the meaning of the title “Living by gift”, in its double meaning of gratuitousness and forgiveness, we point out father Christian Carlassare, a Comboni missionary and bishop of Rumbek, in South Sudan, where he survived an attack; the Camillian religious, father Bernard Kinvi, which in Central Africa devastated by violence came to protect up to 1,500 Muslims; father Pier Luigi Maccallimissionary of the SMA, and sister Gloria Cecilia NarvaezFranciscan of Mary Immaculate, united by the experience of a long rapture in Africa; Zakia Seddikiwho continues, with the Mama Sofia association, the mission of her husband Luca Attanasio, the Italian ambassador killed in Congo.
The proposals of the main program are flanked by those of “Festival is also”: 4 affiliated museums, 27 bars and bistros for “missionary aperitifs”, meetings with the authors and presentation of 14 books, 5 film screenings, 11 churches open for artistic itineraries and guided tours, 4 shows, various workshops for children, teenagers , youth and adults and five-a-side football tournaments.
All useful information, updates and ways to take advantage of the conventions on www.festivaldellamissione.it