EDITORIAL
Story of passion and resurrection. Story of death and life that overcomes it: this is the mystery we experience in the season of Lent and on Easter morning. Life prevails, it has such strength in itself that it manages to break the dark forces of injustice, violence, pain and death. It is the journey from the passion to the resurrection experienced by Jesus.
The stories in the magazine you have in your hands have a thread that unites them: the “passage” – this means the word Easter – from death to life. This transition is achieved by the love of those who make their existence a gift for others. And nothing is greater than love.
Thirty years ago, on 19 March 1994, on his name day, Don Giuseppe Diana, the young and courageous parish priest of Casal di Principe (Caserta), was killed. Chilled in church, like Oscar Romero. I didn’t personally know Don Giuseppe, but I feel close to him: I spent my years as a young priest frequenting his territory and measuring myself with that difficult social, political and ecclesial reality. Don Diana clearly understood that mafias are like terrorism: they feed on the inaction of public and ecclesial institutions; they oppress people with fear, deceiving them with false advantages.
I remember when I learned of his death: I was in Taiwan and since then I haven’t stopped following his story. A violent story, of death and defamation, even after his earthly end. But like the evangelical seed which does not bear fruit unless it first dies, that of Don Giuseppe is a life story that starts again: in its territory, tragic and beautiful; in Italy and around the world. Don Luigi Ciotti, who we interviewed in the Foreground and who will be with us at the PIME Center in Milan on March 13, is an eloquent witness to this commitment. More than anyone else – in the ecclesial communities – he understood and committed himself to combating the pervasiveness of the mafias in our territories and in too many nations. And he understood the importance of educating young people in the values of legality and civil responsibility as the key to building a just, healthy and growing society, here as in the rest of the world.
The missionary movement was born on Easter morning, when a young and courageous woman announced wonderful news: Jesus is alive, his tomb is empty. Life prevails over death, joy over pain and hope over despair.
Happy Lenten journey and happy Easter to all of you, loyal readers.