The 90 years of Fr. Domenico - Jesuits in Europe




Sociologist, blogger, writer, social worker, Professor Emeritus of sociology at the PFTIM (Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Southern Italy) ... reaching the ripe age of 90, Fr. Domenico Pizzuti has always been a clear and sharp voice, an intellectual whose voice from the suburbs has reached the heart of institutions. Today, from the infirmary of the Gesu Nuovo community in Naples, he continues to inspire the civil and ecclesial communities.

"I am ninety years old, and for about a year and 8 months I have been under medical care and observation at the Infirmary of the SS.Nome di Gesù Residence, Naples. For the last 8 months, besides the ailments of age, I have been quite well despite continuing medical treatments. Jokingly I say, "I am a sick person who is still alive!" I keep up to date via the computer and TV also to keep the blog going (which a young friend in Genoa takes care of) and Facebook, where I write articles read by followers from Scampia, Naples, Italy. I appreciate the efficiency of the Infirmary, in the community of Scampia situated in the northern suburbs of Naples where I live , where twice during my active days I resided and worked. I appreciate also the care shown by the community, by the superiors and the fraternity between the members. I have very few external relationships except through the media, and the friends of Scampia with whom I maintain contact especially through Facebook and the blog. I am living this period of my life with a certain heaviness because of lack of activity, even because of the two periods of quarantine we had in the infirmary as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus ".

I have had many rich and significant experiences among which the commitment to faith and justice that characterized the post-Council time, the generalate of Blessed Pedro Arrupe and the General Congregations 31 and 32, which I believe are being lost because they are never spoken of in our communities and are being replaced by a general accompaniment of the poor and a more cultural approach towards the commitment to justice and dialogue with other cultures and religions. I believe that - beyond the commitment towards refugees and the cultural and editorial centers of Aggiornamenti Sociali e la Civiltà Cattolica - the Jesuits in Italy have not assimilated and put into practice the real messages of the last General Congregations and the Social Apostolate which is operating only within some works.

The Covid emergency highlighted the fragility of our social normality with its inequalities and injustices, starting with private healthcare; and the difficulty of the Italian Church to face this emergency, if not with the usual sacramental recipes; but on the other hand, during the lockdown , many Christians took the initiative of celebrating the Word within the domestic churches set up in families, and of voluntary forms of solidarity to respond to the weaker sections of the population. It is a matter of starting afresh by consolidating these experiences and developing them in renewed social relationships».

A true social expert in matters relating to the Society’s identikit and its priorities:

«I am only highlighting some of these priorities after the pandemic: to fight the growing economic, social, cultural, religious, age, gender, ethnic and race inequalities and develop a universal welfare to respond to the social needs of the population. It is the manner of living our faith that does justice. On the ecclesial level: to promote finally the centrality of the "People of God" in Christian communities and the role of women not only in their growing participation in ecclesiastical institutions. As for religious - including Jesuits - it is a question of overcoming the temptation of reducing the mission to the "presbyterial" model of activity and to rediscover the richness of the charisms and traditions of the respective religious congregations ».

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