The Inauguration was set for May 2020 . Covid-19 came and it was postponed . My time in Palermo was nearly over , as I was due to move to Trieste in July .
‘ Don ’ t worry , I promise you that you will not leave Palermo without Via Pietro Valdo Panascia inaugurated ’, Mayor Orlando said . The promise of a politician , I thought , overwhelmed by sadness for knowing that I would have not been able to say goodbye to Palermo as I wished . I was wrong , very wrong . My farewell service in Palermo was on 5 July 2020 . I then received a communication from the Mayor ’ s office : ‘ Via Pietro Valdo Panascia will be inaugurated after your farewell service on 5 July , at 12.30 ’.
The street was closed to traffic , due to the ‘ eternal ’ road works we Italians are used to : this meant that around the Waldensian church there was a very large and unexpected space , that allowed us to celebrate complying with Covid rules . Archbishop Corrado Lorefice came to say goodbye , and to attend the street inauguration : so much has changed in ecumenism since Rev . Panascia ’ s and Cardinal Ruffini ’ s times ! All of our friends were there : Catholics , Lutherans , Adventists , Jews and Muslims . The Committee for Ecumenical Prayer Vigil against Homophobia were there . The partners of ‘ La Noce ’
Peter Ciaccio in Palermo , holding the Via Pietro Valdo Panascia street sign .
were there . Rev . Panascia ’ s relatives were there . Ah , I was the pastor of the Waldensian Church , but I am actually a Methodist !
Via Pietro Valdo Panascia ? It was difficult , but worth trying . It was not the victory of the Waldensians , but of an entire welcoming city that allowed the pastor of a minority congregation to contribute to the common good .
Looking back over 30 years
Peter Ciaccio
On 18 March 2021 it was 30 years since I arrived in Torre Pellice to work for a year as a volunteer for the Waldensian Church . That ‘ year ’ ended up being 2½ years and I still spend most of my holidays there . I have also been a trustee of Waldensian Church Missions since September 1993 . In lockdown I have been
8