Following the removal of around 150 migrants in July from a parish in the Tuscan city of Pistoia, even the "migrants' priest", Don Massimo Biancalani, was moved by request of the Bishop to another parish. The priest says he will continue to welcome and shelter migrants even at his new parish.
The parish of Vicofaro, in the Tuscan city of Pistoia in central Italy, known for hosting and sheltering migrants, is experiencing profound change.
Following the removal of approximately 150 guests staying at the parish in July, due to an order of the mayor for health and hygiene-related issues, even the parish's priest, Massimo Biancalani, a central figure in this decade-long experience, will be assigned a new role.
A decree by the Bishop removed last Monday Father Biancalani from his role as Priest of Vicofaro, in Tuscany, where he had been working for years with a team of volunteers to shelter migrants, often ending up at the center of controversies. He was offered to be the Director of the Diocese's missionary office.
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The priest, while saying he is available to take this role, considers it "problematic" should this mean "abandoning the work of sheltering and welcoming [migrants]", and therefore wishes to review the offer he received.
"I want to understand what will be the destiny of this important experience, which has a mandate that reaches beyond the Diocese: there is an intervention by Pope Francis, and there are two letters from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development of the Vatican. Our experience can surely be improved, but there must, in all cases, careful attention paid to it," the Priest said on Monday (August 11).
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Father Biancalani continues sheltering migrants at the new parish
Father Biancalani now leads the parish of Ramini, which is a few kilometers from Vicofaro, where he continues sheltering migrants, even if in a less extensive way.
"At the moment, we have approximately thirty guests in Ramini, some of them come from Vicofaro, and these are those who are most in need. In my opinion, they needed to be helped first instead of leaving them for last, and then leaving them party abandoned to themselves," the priest explained.
The priest said he never stopped thinking of the young migrants who were relocated to other facilities of the Diocese and of the Caritas in July.
"I would like to recall that they are over one hundred, some of them placed in better facilities, compared to Vicofaro, and we are very pleased about this, but others are in conditions that resemble more an attempt to 'park them somewhere', than a truly stable solution. Others instead are on the street in Florence or other places," he said.
Father Biancalani added: "I am pleased with their relocation to smaller facilities," but he expresses his worry for "the length of the project and its long-term perspective," because "sheltering these young migrants cannot last just a few months, these are long paths [for inclusion in society]. For us, these young migrants are persons who belong to a specific community, Vicofaro, we took care of them with great care and affection, and we will make sure to see what happens to them."
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