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The social and political training path promoted by the Archdiocese of Catanzaro-Squillace through the Social and Labor Pastoral Office has begun. The path was opened by the archbishop Msgr. Claudio Maniago, who recalled the value of political commitment as a service to the common good and a responsibility to which no one can consider themselves extraneous.
“Which side is he on?” Mons. Maniago started from one of the questions that most easily accompanies today any initiative that addresses social and political issues. The diocesan path, he clarified, was not created to fit within a group, but to offer a training opportunity capable of helping everyone to consciously live their responsibility in society.
The archbishop confided that he had wondered about the opportunity to launch the initiative in a particularly delicate year. A circumstance which, instead of suggesting a postponement, confirmed its relevance and necessity: «This socio-political training course is a humble, simple attempt to help us all, without exception. We really need it.”
Recalling the testimony of Giorgio La Pira and the magisterium of the Church, Msgr. Maniago invited us to overcome a negative conception of politics.
“Politics is a good thing, it is a form of charity,” he stated, recalling that its true horizon is the search for the common good.
Hence also the need to rediscover the personal responsibility of every citizen. “We all engage in politics”, underlined the archbishop: not only those who hold institutional or administrative positions, but anyone who, through their choices, contributes to the construction of society.
“Everyone does politics, but there are few who know how to do politics”: the training course intends to respond precisely to this need, offering opportunities for knowledge, discussion and discernment.
Particular attention was paid to those who already carry out a service in administrations and to those who could choose a direct commitment to public life in the future.
For the Christian, Maniago explained, politics can be experienced “not as a profession, but as a mission, even as a vocation”. The exercise of public responsibility should not be conceived as the occupation of a space of power, but as the “power of service”, capable of building a cohesive civil coexistence and paying particular attention to the most fragile and poor people.
The path thus aims to contribute to restoring dignity to political commitment and to promoting participation that does not arise from opposition. Even the exercise of the vote, the archbishop observed, should be experienced not simply “against someone or in favor of someone”, but as responsible participation in the construction of a project for the good of the entire community.
After the introduction of Msgr. Maniago, the first training appointment was entrusted to the deputy prosecutor of the DDA at the Catanzaro Prosecutor’s Office Annamaria Frustaci, to whom the archbishop expressed gratitude for having made her experience, expertise and testimony available to the participants.
With this first meeting, a journey begins that intends to train aware and active citizens, recovering the highest meaning of politics as a service to the individual and the community and promoting a culture of participation oriented towards the common good.