in various communities here in Rome, knowledge of other churches, church
groups and secular organizations, I can confirm what I have just said and add
that now I know with more certainty that the Lord that I follow has the face
of Jesus Christ, who is the life, the only truth and the only way to salvation.
And this Way I want to proclaim to the men and women I meet on my way.
And I think that this proclamation should be accomplished by the creation
of community spaces that, in a society dominated by individualism, operate
to prepare the hearts of men and women for listening to the Word of God.
I’m very glad to have this new experience at the Wesley House. I’m sure
that spending a year in Cambridge will be good to open my mind and to
strengthen my faith in view of the pastoral ministry.
I’m also grateful to the Committee of the Waldensian Church Mission
that offers me this opportunity.
15 August in the Waldensian Valleys
In Italy 15 August is a national (Catholic) holiday remembering the assumption
of the Virgin Mary. In the Valleys the day is an occasion for the Waldensians
of the Valleys to get together. The location alternates between the two major
valleys, Val Pellice and Val Chisone/Germanasca and each year a different
Church ‘hosts’ the event – providing food for those who’ve not brought a
picnic and endless supplies of coffee and soft drinks. This year we were in
San Germano – Parco Widemann – a great location, but due to the weather
forecasts not as many people came as normally do, which was a shame, because
the weather was great and the park an ideal place for a picnic.
The day starts with a short service, which is followed by brief interviews
with the Moderator and greeting from any synod visitors from outside the
valleys who are present. The service this year was led by Giuseppe Ficara – an
old friend of the Waldensian Church Mission – who has very recently arrived
to work in Luserna San Giovanni having served in Sicily for 20 years. His
sermon, based on Romans 12: 17–21, was a challenge to work for the common
good – a significant message from someone with daily experience of the
corrupting influence on society of the Mafia. Then there is a break for lunch,
sometimes accompanied by groups of musicians. The afternoon begins with
a presentation or debate. Last year Claudio Pasquet and Franco Giampiccoli
spoke about Beckwith as it was the 150th anniversary of his death. This year
the speakers were Renato Salvaggio and Libero Giuffrida, one a member of
the Waldensian Church in Palermo, Sicily, the other a doctor and a member
of the Waldensian Church in Chivasso near Turin who both spoke about their
difference experiences of the Mafia. Salvaggio remembered when he was a
young member of the Waldensian church in Palermo and Pastor Pietro Valdo
Panascia spoke openly against the Mafia killing of seven policemen in 1963;
since then the Church has always stood out against the Mafia. Chivasso is in
the North but the Calabrian Mafia (N’drangheta) is very active there and the
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