CREDIBILITY IS THE KEY

But still, has anything changed along the way?
“I have never doubted my faith. I’m sure that the secret is to remain a child. Today I am more knowledgeable, that’s clear, I am a little wiser than before, but I haven’t lost my curiosity, the desire to learn. I’m sure I still have many things to learn from God, from children, from old people, from believers and from atheists. My daily thought is not what I could teach, but what I could learn.”

Your writing transpires a sense of astonishment, as in the history behind SERMIG. It has developed beyond expectations....
“Quite true. I believe a sense of astonishment should accompany us all through life. I would like to answer God’s calling every day. How can I? There’s a beautiful saying which states: “When a pupil is ready, the teacher comes”. I would like to be that pupil, always.”

How does one communicate faith and a sense of astonishment nowadays?
“It’s not a tormenting thought for me as I’m sure that who searches shall find, even faith. For this, personal effort is necessary. An authentic search avoids false smiles and false joy as well. Many people say Christianity is joy. I am convinced that Christianity is first of all an encounter with Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died and has risen. This encounter gives you a deep joy – it’s true – but it gives doubts and sadness too. Why was Jesus killed? Why so many children raped? Why so much starvation? Why no response to a prisoners call for redemption?”

Why?
“Christianity itself asks each of us to become a little part of the answer. To react differently only leads to confusion which contradicts Jesus’ message. The Gospels teaches us that only Christ has words for eternal life. But these words must become concrete and embodied by each of us. Once I use these words, I must be ready and available: my phone always on, all day, all night. This is the only way Jesus can continue to communicate full-heartedly to a cruel, corrupt and plastic world. If Christians were to truly love and embody Christ, that is all we would need.”

Credible believers, that’s what you want to say ...
If I’m a scented rose, its perfume expands everywhere. If I’m a plastic rose, I can fool who I may but there will be no perfume. Only credibility gives birth to evangelization and doubt to those lost to an illusion. People must have to say about Christianity: “Look at them, and how they love each other!”. Otherwise, without credibility, we can hold a thousand concerts, publish books, transmit TV specials but nobody would believe us.

SERMIG was founded in 1964, a period characterised by ideological contrasts. Nowadays, the situation seems the opposite. How have young people changed their expectations?
I believe that SERMIG is God’s will. At first, I couldn’t imagine SERMIG growing in such a way. I didn’t even like its name!... We were young, we had a dream about abolishing starvation and we wanted to offer people a service. The acronym “SER.MI.G.” (young missionary service) comes from these ideas. Now I realize that this dream is fundamental and absolutely right. The biggest problem today is that young people don’t have ideals, they don’t dream about a better world. Adults have corrupted them. Today, so many youth die without anything and for no real reason. but I know there is still a lot of beauty inside of them. I remember an important event ...

Could you tell us?
“In 2002 we promoted a meeting here in Turin Without the aid of newspapers or media, a little group like ours had managed to gather 100 thousand people for the World-Wide Meeting of Youth for Peace. My expectation was at most 10 thousand people. In the morning, someone told me that a group of “squatters”; (n.d.t. young anarchic adults) wanted to talk to me.

I think the importance of this event is still hidden and I still wonder why media are only interested in young people breaking shop-windows, fighting and raping?”

What’s the method you use with young people?
“We love them, but we’re not easy-going. We have a deep feeling with them, but we are strict too, when necessary. I often tell them they are “ idiots” when they use drugs, because they kill themselves twice. First, they destroy their capacities, preventing St. Francis, St. Claire, Dom Luciano Mendez, Michelangelo to emerge from their souls. Second, people that use drugs and smoke joints support criminality and become friends of Mafia. When I explain this to the young, nobody speaks and silence arises. Many of them listen to my words with attention, some of them change their way. You see, I’m sure we have to look young people right in their eyes, we have to talk to them, dialogue with them. Love is the key for the Church but the Church must also be brave, open-minded and ask questions like: “Tell us what we’re doing wrong! Tell us what we are missing and help us change! I’m sure in this way there will be vocations once again.”

What do you expect from the Church today?
I expect the Church to ask itself why young people don’t go to church anymore. If we were to ask them directly, we would discover that many of them accuse us that we don’t believe in what we say, we don’t behave according to the Gospels’ teachings. A young guy from Sicily confessed me this about his educator, some years ago. That is why its so important to listen to young people, not because they are saintly, pure or meek –but because they spit the “truth” directly in your face .We are all imperfect, but together we can find something really good for everybody.