As the publisher of italiani.it I would like to thank His Eminence Francesco Moraglia, Patriarch of Venice, for the heartfelt and engaging message he addressed to italiani.it and itVenezia. With emotion I shared the message of the patriarch of Venice with the whole italiani.it team, receiving a great and unanimous appreciation from everyone. His words filled our hearts with emotion and the spirit of Christmas, which in this dark year we believed so far away, has returned to us. With great joy, in full respect of the will of His Eminence, I share, below, your message to all the followers of italiani.it and itVenezia
The message of the patriarch of Venice
"Dear friends of italiani.it and venezia.italiani.it,
an unprecedented Christmas awaits us, to be experienced with many limitations for reasons of public health and safety. This is required of us after a sadly singular and tiring time, heavily marked by the pandemic in progress with the now known consequences on personal, family, working, economic and social life.
My wish is, therefore, that we can live this compelling situation as opportunity to focus on the essential and, in particular, on the "original" meaning of the upcoming holidays. For those who believe, Christmas tells us that God is the Almighty who incarnates himself in the frailty of man; in the little Child of Bethlehem - the Savior of the world! - God the creator "lowers himself" to meet his creature, in his littleness and fragility. And only this Child - who has the face and name of Jesus - has overcome death and can offer us true life.
But, to welcome this gift, it is necessary to enter into the true logic and spirituality of Christmas. And, perhaps, this complicated year that is about to close and has deprived us of many things, could in the end give us the "novelty" of a simpler and more authentic life.
Our beloved city of Venice is, in these days but for too long now, deserted but always full of charm: it thus becomes the poignant, melancholy and very real emblem of the difficulties faced by so many people, families, economic and social "categories" you try so hard - first from the “big” water of a year ago and then from the pandemic - and to which I wish to confirm my closeness and attention.
As I happened to reiterate on several occasions, the two dramatic events that hit Venice must become opportunities to seriously review the model of the city we want for the future. And we must work out, together, a project for a polis that finally brings together - in a harmonious and intelligent way - the different needs (economy, tourism, environmental protection, housing, protection of cultural and artistic heritage, etc.) to create a more sustainable, "livable" and on a human scale.
We are still struggling to see the way out of today's difficulties but we must not lose the strength and confidence to resume the journey. We hope for a prompt economic and social recovery, but we know that the crisis will continue to "bite" for a long time, unfortunately, and in a strong way. However, we need to start over on new foundations - with an "anthropological" "recovery", to say it with Pope Francis - rethinking the actual priorities and fundamental values that illuminate and guide our society and culture, the very idea of the person that we want to carry forward asking ourselves if we really care about the common good understood as the “integral” good of all people and not just of a majority of them.
To the people and families I can reach through italiani.it and venezia.italiani.it, I invite you to keep the flame of hope burning together, not to think "small" but in an "enlarged" and renewed way, capable of regenerating the life. We also rediscover family and proximity ties, keep our hearts open and sensitive, practice solidarity in the many gestures of daily life.
Merry Christmas everyone! May the God of tenderness and mercy, in the Child born in Bethlehem, meet us again and warm our hearts ”.
+ Francesco Moraglia
patriarch
