«An invitation to put yourself at the service of a “Assisted suicide” of these territories “. Thus the 139 Italian bishops, cardinals and abbots who signed the open letter to the government and Parliament, judge the National strategic plan of the internal areas proposed by the executive, in which we speak of “accompaniment in an irreversible depopulation path”.
We are talking about the question of internal areas of our countryafflicted by depopulation for emigration and aging of the population, lack of social and health services, infrastructures, lack of work and prospects for the future.
It is a phenomenon known for years that is – in fact – judged “irreversible”that is, without return, from the strategic plan. However, we are talking about a slice not really small from Italy: 4,000 Municipalities of the internal areas, for a population of 13.4 million Italians (22.7% of the national one)on the 58.8% of the surface of the country (Openpolis data).
And behind the data, there is an Italy with its history, its traditions, its environmental, historical and cultural beauty. An Italy that has given a lot to the rest of the country, with emigration to large urban areas and that has contributed to growing the entire society.
It affects and it is really unusual that the bishops have courageously taken a position for one “Outskirts” forgotten of Italy, denouncing the abandonment of these areas by the institutions, soliciting concrete support and suggesting a series of steps, so that the “Restance”that is, “the concrete possibility for people, especially young people, to choose to remain and build their future in the places where they were born”.
Attention to these areas, where one of the few remaining principals is the ecclesial one, comes from Diocesan Caritas and, following their requests, the Italian Caritas He is starting a national coordination for internal areas.
There Italian Church For some years already he has been following the question, with annual conferences on the internal areas, the last of which had the open letter to the government as fruit, which – he explains Happy AccroccaArchbishop of Benevento and promoter of the conferences – wants to be “a contribution that we offer to the government and to Parliament, because we cannot and must not resign ourselves to sanctioning the death of a significant part of the nation”.
Knowing some of these internal realities up close, it hurts me to see how countries have emptied up to a few decades and lives and life buttons. Countries where personal relationships count, solidarity, mutual support and even a heartfelt religiosity still lives.
An Italy that has a dignity and rights such as the rest of the country. And that does not deserve to be abandoned to herself. The soft hope remains that the pastoral gaze of the bishops, sentinels as in its time the prophet (Ezekiel 3,17cited in the letter), pointing the spotlight on the matter, arouse some healthy jolts.
