GiuglianoThe Franciscans of the Order of Friars Minor have decided to leave, after 400 years, the convent of Giugliano in Campania, but the mayor is not having it and is writing to the Pope. Nicola Pirozzi, mayor of Giugliano, today sent a letter to Pope Francis recalling that "an entire part of my city grew up, lived and lives in the shadow of that monastery and has always found spiritual and human comfort there".
"Mine - continues the mayor - is a tormented land, suffocated by the environmental problem (the so-called Land of Fires) and by the crisis of values that affects those places where crime involves especially the new generations. In this context the monastery and the friars have always been a point of reference especially for the new generations who in the silence of the convent rooms have found and still find today the tranquility to meet and study".
The convent structure, opened in 1622, is currently inhabited by only three friars. The closure was determined by the lack of vocations. Along with the one in Giugliano, other convents in the provinces of Naples and Caserta will also close in the coming weeks.
"I have turned to you in the hope that this decision may change. My city, my citizens do not deserve to be deprived of a spiritual reference that they feel is part of their existence," adds the mayor. In the meantime - after the flash mob organized by the faithful last week - a torchlight procession through the streets of Giugliano has been announced for next Friday to invite the Order's leaders to review the decision.
Article published on 27 July 2022 - 20:14
