With 5,000 citizens, the community of Manfredonia, along with the elderly of the Nicodemo Project also took part – on Nov. 11, 2023 – in the event “LiberiAmo Manfredonia dalla mafia”, organized by the diocese with Don Ciotti’s “Libera” Association, Foggia branch, which has been committed to the fight against mafias, corruption and illegality for more than 20 years.
Students of all levels, secular, Catholic and trade union volunteer associations, local and regional institutions accepted the appeal of Bishop Mon. Franco Mosconi and Don Luigi Ciotti, founder and president of the Rete Libera.
“Our territory, as Don Ciotti maintains, is too beautiful to be soiled by those clans that feed on indifference and omertà, to the detriment of the environment, stealing the future of the new generations.” In a loud voice, Don Ciotti continued, addressing the young people present, “There are so many of you here thanks to your professors/staff who support you, teaching you those beautiful actions that taste like ‘good’: loyalty, respect, compassion. Do not waste them! Love your territory and take care of it“. Don Ciotti did, finally brought a child on stage and told a story, “The ant has two stomachs, one to feed itself and the other (social stomach) serves to feed the other ants in the anthill that are weaker. We too should behave like the ant, taking care of those next to us who live in destitution and need a loving and comforting look.”
The Nicodemus Project stems from the desire of the Sisters of Charity of Manfredonia to respond to the need of the city’s elderly to have a space for socialization, spirituality and mutual attention. The hall of the sisters’ institute is available, two afternoons a week, to about a hundred elderly people, mostly women, and seeks to involve their families as well in order to spread a culture of encounter, welcome and mutual care, respect for those who are weaker, with the aim of stemming the widespread culture of discard and indifference.
The sisters carry out this initiative with gratuitousness and dedication, but also with stubbornness and tenacity, with the sole intent of focusing their attention on this weak segment of the local population, which is often left alone or confined within the home. And they are also engaged in socio-political awareness-raising among the participants of the Nicodemus Projects, who took a committed part in the demonstration against the Mafia promoted by the diocese of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo.
