There is a new light illuminating the diocese of Florence, indicated by Pope Francis and announced by the outgoing Cardinal, Cardinal Giuseppe Betori. It is Don Gherardo Gambelli, 54 years old, the new Archbishop of Florence, who will have the task of guiding the Catholic community of the Tuscan diocese in the great challenges of our time. In the Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiori the faithful welcome him with long applause after his appointment, recently revealed but long awaited.
Don Gherardo, who returned to Florence in 2022 as parish priest of the Madonna della Tosse and chaplain of the Florentine prison of Sollicciano, after a long mission in Chad, lived for 11 years alongside the Chadian people, now at the end of their strength, tormented by the clashes for the control of lands and other fratricides, among the communities of the approximately 200 ethnic groups present in the country, but also due to the hunger that affects 970 thousand individuals suffering from serious food insecurity. A context, that of Chad where the missionary lived, today aggravated by the war between Russia and Ukraine and the consequent shortage of supplies of cereals and fertilizers. In that part of the world, in addition to his pastoral commitment as a priest, he was also a chaplain in the N’Djamena prison. A look, that of him, aimed at the last, at the discarded, like that of Pope Francis, since the beginning of his pontificate, a fraternal look.
Don Vincenzo Russo, former chaplain for 20 years of the Solliciano prison and president of the Opera Madonnina del Grappa, welcomes with joy and hope the appointment of the new archbishop of Florence and his former companion in the seminary and describes him thus: «I learned with the news of Don Gherardo’s appointment is of great joy and hope, because I believe that he is a person who has a correct sense of spiritual and Christian life, close to the most needy, the invisible of our time. Don Gherardo is a person free from all that scaffolding that sometimes prevents the Church from living the Gospel fully. His gaze is aimed at those who suffer, at the discarded, at the poor, at forgotten humanity. His approach to the inmates of the Solliciano prison is that of a brother, meek and humble, sincere, and who knows how to listen to people’s suffering. The Gospel is contact, it is relationship and the bishop must be the one who dialogues, even with priests, to remove that feeling of loneliness that we often feel”, explains Don Vincenzo. «The fact that he has had great experience in Africa and inside the prisons, both there and also in Florence, where he is a chaplain, will certainly allow him to live his mission as a guide for all of us, with the profound knowledge of that drama that affects millions of human beings today. The appointment of Don Gherardo is in perfect line with Pope Francis’ thoughts. Don Gherardo’s is not a Church made up of hierarchy, but a Church close to the life of the poor, which starts from them, as Jesus taught us. Only in this way do we become truly credible”, concludes Don Vincenzo Russo.