The Holy Father, as Primate of Italy, keeps informed of local affairs and often sends pastoral messages to local dioceses or parishes facing an emergency or serious problem. These are not always 'publicized' unless one follows the local websites. Thanks to Lella's blog, which led me to one such message ,regarding protests by two communities at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius near Naples, who are protesting the proposed opening of a garbage dump near them that threatens their environment.
Pope expresses closeness
to Vesuvian communities facing
an environmental threat
Translated from the diocesan website
10/23/2010
Pope Benedict XVI today sent the Bishop of Nola, Mons. Beniamino Depalma, a message for the people of Boscoreale and Terzigno.
The Holy Father, who has been following with paternal concern the worrisome news coming from Terzigno, asks you to convey his spiritual nearness to the people, in the hope that with the cooperation and good will of everyone, a just and shared solution to the problem may be found. His Holiness gladly imparts his blessing to the dear people of the area.
In the past several days, Bishop Depalma and the diocesan church have appealed to the government institutions concerned to listen to the people's voice "in defense of their territory, their work, their economic activity and their quality of life".
The Vesuvian communities, he said, are merely asserting their "right to breathe healthy air so they can live a normal life". In a new appeal, Mons. Depalma stressed that the new dumpsite would "definitively mean the death of a territory in which development, work and tourism must instead be relaunched", saying "laws should be for the good of man".
At the same time, the bishop called on his people to stay calm and reasonable, to avoid violence, and to keep within the limits of legality in expressing their protest.
"We Christians address our appeal to local administrators, and plead with you with all our strength: do not sell the land for this dumpsite. No money nor environmental compensation can justify it. Better to remain poor but dignified, than to be destined to live in a poisonous environment.
"In the name of God, we cry out: It is not licit for anyone to sell the dignity of the people, especially not for electoral reasons".
P.S. It seems this story is much bigger even than it already is....
EU to Italy:
Clean up Naples trash or face fines
Pre-dawn standoff on Saturday between policemen and Terzigno demonstrators aiming fireqorks at them. Below left, the police fire teargas back.
MAPLES, Oct. 23 (AP) - The European Commission warned Italy on Saturday it may face sanctions if it doesn't remove the 2,400 tons of trash that have piled up in the streets of Naples in the country's latest garbage crisis.
For over a week, protesters in Terzigno, a small town near Naples, have torched vehicles, burned Italian flags and hurled stones and firecrackers at police to protest the stench and filth at a local dump and plans to open a new one in Vesuvio National Park.
Clashes continued overnight and residents around Naples set fire to heaps of trash. The situation around Terzigno was calm Saturday, but protesters did occupy a train station for a few hours, news reports said.
Pope Benedict XVI chimed in Saturday with words of support for residents, saying he was spiritually close to them and was praying for a "fair and mutually-agreed upon solution to the problem," according to a message received by the local diocese.
European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik said the violence between residents and police over where to dump Naples's waste showed that Italy hasn't taken sufficient measures since the last garbage crisis flared in 2007.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has promised a swift solution to the mess, saying the government will take over management of the dump and pledging euro14 million ($20 million) in compensation to residents.
Naples and surrounding areas have suffered garbage crises for years, the result of corruption, poor management and infiltration by the local mob. Three years ago, Berlusconi intervened to help ease an emergency caused when collectors stopped picking up trash because dumps were full and residents were protesting the creation of new ones.
Potocnik said the latest pile-up showed that the government still hadn't taken definitive measures to resolve the garbage problem.
"The Campania Region still has no waste management plan and the Acerra incinerator, the only one existing in Campania, is not functioning properly and (is) at full capacity," Potocnik said in a statement. "This means that in Campania, the authorities are neither able to carry out a program to dispose of the old baled waste nor to manage the new daily waste production."
In March, the European Court of Justice found that Italy was in breach of EU rules for having failed to set up sufficient waste disposal infrastructure. Potocnik warned sanctions could be next if the EU sends the case back to the Court of Justice.
Berlusconi's disaster chief and garbage czar, Guido Bertolaso, chided the EU for its criticism.
"The EU would do well to do its job, and rather than pass judgment, give us a hand to find an alternative," the ANSA news agency quoted Bertolaso as saying.
Later though, Bertolaso said he welcomed an EU fact-finding mission which Potocnik had said was under consideration. Bertolaso said that within a week the EU would find a clean city.
Government ministers and politicians blamed the local mafia, the Camorra, for being behind the crisis. Giuseppe Pisanu, a former interior minister who heads Parliament's anti-mafia commission, said there was a "serious interference" of the Camorra in Naples' garbage collection.
"We have to create the structural conditions so that the problem is resolved at its roots," he said, according to ANSA.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/10/2010 07:11]