The time of a globalized communion

Dearest friends of AMU, I am sure that many of you are living an unexpected experience, with worries about the health of your relatives (especially the elderly, but not only them), about your work that will inevitably undergo changes and limitations, about the situation of your children or grandchildren, and about all the other consequences deriving from the fight against the epidemic that is threatening our national and international community. In these times, all of us at AMU feel close and in solidarity, especially with those who live in the areas where the epidemic first manifested itself and who have already paid a very high price; we feel it is right to thank you for the civic sense, which is the care of the Common Good that is so dear to us all, that you have demonstrated and that is an example to us now that a sacrifice is also being asked of the rest of Italy. English: What we are experiencing offers us two options: to close ourselves in the frantic search for protection of our personal and family interests, or to open ourselves to meeting others, rediscovering community bonds and generosity that we had lost in the frenzy of “normal” times. We are certain that the second option is the one chosen by everyone, probably with many gratifying surprises of revived or new relationships, the rediscovery of the simple but fundamental values of life, etc. Our social networks are now overflowing with all of this and supporting us, and today all of this is possible even while maintaining the correct distances and due precautions required by the extraordinary period. Many of you will have had the opportunity to follow the latest mission of our Tamara and Francesco in Syria, with the strong impressions that the impact with a civil war of such magnitude generates in those who arrive from outside and, despite having followed the aid and the people involved for years, when they find themselves face to face with this reality they are deeply affected by it. I am confident and optimistic that the comparison with the situation we are experiencing in Italy, despite its gravity and drama, will help us defeat another “virus” much more lethal although inverted by many, that of indifference or worse of cynicism. We are grateful to all of you for your personal and community commitment so that the lesson of this “globalization of the disease” is transformed into a truly globalized communion: we really need it, even more listening to the sinister creaks that come from the world of finance and economics and that foresee gloomy scenarios for the future. Thanks again and count on the commitment of all of us at AMU Stefano Comazzi – President AMU