For a few weeks there diocese of Alexandria is experiencing a particular time: the apostolic visit of Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello is underway, sent by Pope Leo to evaluate the overall state of the diocese. In recent days, the Cardinal met priests and lay people with pastoral and economic responsibilities, collecting information and observations on various aspects of diocesan life.
Immediately after the news broke, various pieces of news circulated on social media and local media, including gossip and conjectures, about the lifestyle of Bishop Guido Gallese, 63, who has led the diocese since 2012: from the use of a “luxury” electric car, the Tesla, to the management of the former convent of the Capuchin Friars, Casa San Francesco, up to the Santa Chiara College, recently renovated and intended for university students. Questions were also raised about the economic management of the diocese and about the movements of priests and the mergers of parishes.
To clarify, Enzo Governale, director of the Social Communications Office and spokesperson for the Bishop, explained the meaning of what is happening: «The Apostolic Visit is not a judicial process», he explained, «but an act of pontifical jurisdiction through which the Pope manifests his closeness to every local Church. Cardinal Bertello is here to evaluate the state of the diocese, not to judge the bishop. If there had been a personal problem, Monsignor Gallese would have been summoned to Rome for a private meeting, a cardinal would not be mobilized for weeks».
On the accusations regarding the management of the assets of the diocese, Governale clarifies: «Come on Casa San Francescothe departure of the friars was their internal choice. The bishop decided not to leave a void: today the soup kitchen has tripled its guests. On the Santa Chiara Collegeseeing students instead of empty rooms is a sign of hope. The interventions were carried out thanks to the support of the State and the Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria Foundation, not to generate profit, but as an investment for young people and the poor.”
As for the choice of the electric Tesla, often the subject of criticism: «The car was not purchased with funds from the diocese, but personally by the Bishop», specifies the spokesperson, «it is a tool for traveling thousands of kilometers every year in a sustainable and efficient way. In ten years it will be normal to see bishops in electric cars, just as today it is normal to see more and more electric vehicles on the roads.”
Regarding the possible consequences of the Apostolic Visit, Governale underlines: «It is not a process, but an opportunity for growth in truth. It helps to understand if the pastoral path taken is the right one and, if necessary, correct the aim. The Church lives like this, with humility and responsibility, to sow something new in our land.”
Cardinal Bertello, originally from the diocese of Ivrea, former president of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, he arrived in Alessandria on January 11th and has already held several meetings. After a return to Rome, he will return to the diocese in February. Governale assures that, despite the media controversy, the Apostolic Visit proceeds in complete tranquility, while the Bishop remains embittered by “the distorted use of some real data amplified into pure gossip and slander”.
