by Daniela Bilanzuoli
Every day, in the Mediterranean, we fight to save human lives. And those same lives, immersed in a sea of pain and hope, “saved” a young boy. This is Mattia Ferrari, a 30-year-old priest from Modena, who transformed his ministry into a mission of welcome and assistance. Don Mattia is the chaplain of Mediterranea Saving Humans, one of the most active NGOs in rescuing shipwrecked people. He has recently published his new book, entitled Saved by Migrants, in which he recounts his personal life experience which, between difficult moments and support for the weakest, culminated in the collaboration with the voluntary association. A biography that found an exceptional supporter in Pope Francis: he wrote the preface.
Born into a Christian family in Formigine, a town in the province of Modena, Mattia grew up in an environment of lived faith and concrete service for the least. “My family taught me to love like Jesus, to be close to the marginalized,” he says. «I grew up in contact with the Minime nuns of Addolorata and with the Salesians of the Don Bosco oratory, and little by little I felt the call to follow Jesus specifically as a priest». The road ahead, however, was not without difficulties: at 18 the death of his friend Fabrizio, due to an epileptic attack, led Mattia to a profound crisis. «At that moment I asked myself: “What is the true face of God?”», he says honestly. It will then be the meeting with the last ones that will provide him with the answer that will keep his faith firm.
Having become a priest, in 2015 he began to serve in the church of Sant’Antonio, in Modena. There he approaches the world of migrants for the first time: he meets Martin, a young Nigerian who has just landed. «I remember that he entered the sacristy after Mass, he was alone and disoriented. At that moment I asked myself whether I should ignore him or love him… And in the end, well, I chose to love him”, he says. The parish thus becomes a place of welcome for migrants: not only a material refuge, but also a space for listening and dignity. From that moment on, Don Mattia Ferrari’s mission is increasingly aimed at them: at the excluded.
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Read the complete interview with Don Mattia Ferrari in the issue of Credere distributed in newsstands and religious bookshops from Thursday 17 October and in parishes from Saturday 19 October. Or purchase a digital copy www.edicolasanpaolo.it/scheda/credere.aspx