Don Mattia Ferrari is 32 years old And after being a priest where he was born and raised, in Emilia Romagna, today it is chaplain of Mediterranean Saving Humansa platform of civil society born in October 2018 in Bologna, in response to indignation for the thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean and the policy of closed ports that prevented humanitarian rescue.
Its main mission is to monitor the Mediterranean routes and bring help to those in danger of life. Don Mattia Ferrari was a guest of Seif – Sea Essence International Festivalorganized by Acqua Dell’Elba Foundation on the island of Elba, dedicated to Protection and enhancement of the seanot only as a natural resource, but as a space for meeting and shared growth, where the beauty of the communities manifests itself in every gesture of care and respect, With a particular look at the Mediterraneana place of profound contradictions: crisis and shipwreck theater, but also space for rebirth and solidarity. With Don Mattia Ferrari we have deepened the meaning of his commitment and what the Mediterranean can teach us.
A Seif defined the Mediterranean emblem of the collapse of our society and, at the same time, a symbol of resistance. What did he mean?
“The Mediterranean today is the emblem of the crisis which, as Pope Francis said, is environmental and social together. It is for the poverty and injustices present on all its banks, but also for the migratory crisis, which is actually a crisis of global justice ».
And it is also a symbol of environmental collapse.
“Yes. The Mediterranean is at the center of the socio-environmental crisis, with the raising of temperatures, pollution, loss of biodiversity. But the matrix is the same: injustice ».
Yet in his speech he also spoke of a rebirth. Does it explain to us better?
«In the Mediterranean we see a ransom that was born from below: young people from all over Europe go to the sea to help, to take care of the environment. If it is the emblem of collapse, it is also a symbol of solidarity, fraternity, love. It is a place where humanity gets back on the way ».
How did it arrive in Mediterranea?
«Through relationships. When Mediterranean was born, among the founders there were the Tpo and Là bas social centers of Bologna, with whom I was in contact since my seminar in Modena because they had welcomed a young migrant so we could not find a place. The common fraternity towards migrants made us become friends. In 2018 they also called me to involve the church in Mediterranean ».
Where does it work today?
«I am in Rome, where Mediterranea has one of its bases, inside the spintime, a large community in the occupied palace of via di Santa Croce in Jerusalem. About 400 people of 27 different nationalities live there, with more than 130 families and over 98 minors. There are hundreds of activists and volunteers ».
How does Mediterranea Saving Humans work concretely?
«Our mission is divided into several levels. The best known is that of the ship: we go to the sea to help and counteract shipwrecks and rejections, making solidarity concrete. But today we also operate on the ground, especially in supporting the popular movements founded by the migrants themselves. We receive many help calls: we make their voices resonate, to reach institutions, authorities, churches, civil society. In addition to this, we collaborate with reality in different territories, also outside the Mediterranean, including Ukraine and Palestine “.
When he climbed for the first time aboard the Mediterranea ship, Ionian sea, and what did he tried?
«On April 30, 2019. From the ship you see everything more clearly: collapse and rebirth together. Touches the injustice with your hand, but also the power of solidarity. See people who were destined to drown, and who instead save themselves thanks to the love of other human beings “.
He wrote a book that is titled Saved by migrants. What does it mean?
“Our first slogan was” first save, then we are discussing “. He was born from the head, to reaffirm the primacy of the right to be saved before any political discussion. Then another one was born, from the heart: “We help them, they save us”. Because those who participate in a transformed mission. We too, in this society, also need to be saved: from our mental prisons, by individualism, from solitude ».
Are we an unhappy society?
«We live in a system of performance that generates anxiety, frustration, isolation. Young people have been denouncing him for some time. But the relationships, the encounter with those who flee, remind us that there is another way of living “.
Those who help at sea are often accused of operating out of the law. Is that so?
«We operate within the law and also of common human sense. There is a law of the sea, written in human nature, which says that every person in difficulty must be saved. After the world wars, our grandparents wanted to translate those values into law: international conventions today impose rescue. When we were born we said that ours is a work of civil obedience and moral disobedience: we obey international law, we disobey indifference “.
What can we learn from the sea?
«The sea frees us from superstructures and makes us return to our most authentic condition: that of universal fraternity. It is not a border that separates, but banks that unite. In the sea there has always been a simple rule: those who are in danger is saved. This law, which often ignores on the mainland, speaks to us of our true nature. We are relationships: our humanity is measured in the ability to experience empathy, build solidarity, welcome differences. The Mediterranean is the emblem of the conviviality of the differences: its shores, its ports, teach us that diversity is not a danger, but a wealth “.
Source: Vanity Fair
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