Pietro Lagnese, Bishop of Caserta and Archbishop of Capua, has addressed a letter directly to US President Joe Biden to try to prevent the closure of the Jabil plant in Marcianise. The American technology company has announced its intention to relocate production, jeopardizing 420 jobs and the local supply chain.
The letter, delivered to the American ambassador to Italy, begins with words of sympathy and esteem towards President Biden: “Dear Mr. President Biden, this letter may not surprise you: but the feelings that inspire it are certainly profound. I do not know why, and yet there is in my soul a mysterious 'catalyst' of hope and sympathy for you. Despite the abyss of time and space that divides us, an entire ocean, in my soul I find for you a link of communion and a bridge of hope! Why? I do not know. Indeed, I know: because we believe in the one God”.
Lagnese goes on to describe the difficult situation of Jabil, an American multinational with a factory in Marcianise, in the heart of his diocese. “I am writing to ask you for a small miracle. In my Diocese, the Diocese of Caserta, in Marcianise, there is a factory of the American multinational Jabil. The company, according to the managers, must leave Italy and obviously close the Marcianise site in addition to other activities. There are 420 people who will be left without work in addition to the loss of related activities and the closure of other connected Italian centers. At least 420 families will be left without a means of support.”
The bishop emphasizes that the Jabil it is not a company in financial difficulty: “Yet Jabil is not a loss-making or uninnovative company: it produces charging stations for electric cars, the cars of the present and the future; railway control systems in the high-speed market, the trains of the present and the future. And much more. Therefore, it is not economic or production reasons that motivate this transfer but, the workers explain, it is a geopolitical strategy of the United States to bring innovative companies back to America”.
The prelate's appeal is clear and heartfelt: “We do not want to 'arm wars between the poor' but we ask you for a small secular miracle. Intervene to defend these jobs in Italy, in Marcianise. Ask Jabil to find an alternative solution, new production. We entrust ourselves to you. May the Madonna inspire and assist you. Your task and your responsibilities are immense: for this reason we, in Caserta and Marcianise, pray for you. Thank you for what you can do and what you do for the world.”
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