The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, packed with students of all levels, welcomed the Holy Mass to inaugurate the new school year, presided over by Msgr. Claudio Maniago, metropolitan archbishop of Catanzaro-Squillace. Together with the young people, school directors, teachers and parents were present, testifying to the profound bond between school, family and ecclesial community.
The celebration opened with the greeting of Prof. Anna Maria Fonti Iembo, who after forty years of qualified and constant service leaves the position of director of the Diocesan Office of School Pastoral Care. The teacher expressed gratitude to the Lord and to the diocesan community for the long journey shared with the world of school, lived with educational passion and deep faith.
Her successor will be Don Ferdinando Fodero, who takes up the baton with the commitment to continue in the name of continuity and renewal.
In his speech, Msgr. Maniago invited everyone to rediscover the authentic value of school, often called into question by complaints and criticism: «When we talk about school – he said – everyone recognizes that it is important, but often the first words we hear are of dissatisfaction. Today, however, we want to thank you because school exists and is a precious place, where you spend a fundamental part of your life.”
The prelate defined school as “one of the most beautiful professions”, a place where the future is built with dedication and patience, recalling the Tuscan priest Don Lorenzo Milani, who fully understood the educational mission as a service to the growth of young people and social justice.
Returning to the image of the “construction site”, the archbishop explained that the school is never a completed work, but a continuous work of construction and hope: «The school is a construction site where we work together, where every year we restart and build. It is a place of hope, because educating means believing that a great plant can be born from a small seed, capable of bearing fruit for everyone.”