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(from left). Mezzenzana Silvano, don Roberto Davanzo, Massimo
Don and Don Giancarlo Pavanello Paintings |
I just returned from China. Here are some travel news reported by www.chiesadimilano.it Saturday 5
us also Corriere della Sera, and Future Republic told about it in the edition of Milan. Just as the site www.missionline . org
Pellegrini in China to understand Milan
A delegation from the Milanese Curia is these days in Beijing: experience to get familiar with Chinese immigrants in the diocese and help open the future always the Diocese and the company
Eight thousand miles of travel and eight days of meetings to understand who lives in Milan for more than eighty ' years. And the discovery begins by looking at the different points of view: safe and proud, almost haughty, that the Chinese encountered these days on the streets of Beijing
, humble and awed, almost frightened of the well known original inhabitants of the Asian subcontinent eighteen thousand residents Chinatown in Milan on Via Paolo Sarpi and the area of \u200b\u200bVillapizzone.
"I can not give me peace - Don confides Giancarlo Boards, responsible for the Pastoral Care of Migrants of the Diocese of Milan - because the Chinese and Asians in general are still strangers to me. Ambrosian church as with immigrants of this nationality struggle to communicate. " "The Chinese immigrants are among the more" alternative "to the way we are: even at the religious, and most of the Muslims. At least they are monotheists ... - Echoes Don Roberto Davanzo, director of Caritas Ambrosiana -. We lack the "grammar" in order to relate as a Church with the Chinese immigrants. "
A Church eager to welcome dialogue and
Giancarlo Don, Don, and Don Massimo Roberto Pavanello (Head of Pastoral Care of Tourism of the Diocese of Milan) from Monday until February 7 and are in China to respond to these needs. They are the vanguard of a Church - spurred by Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi - not just to put words and gestures of welcoming the immigrants, but want to understand their world, in the context of living as protagonists.
Walking along the Chiang An Jie (44 kilometers ...) in Beijing (more than 13 million inhabitants) or along anonymous avenues Chendge "small town" - as they call it here - with 3 million people (twice in Milan ), 300 km north of the capital, it is clear that the average knowledge of this people is restricted the stereotypes of media communication. Or how knowledge is reduced to the impressions made from it by living with the immigrants in Milan in a condition of life "ordinary" but, often, evidence of weakness and, in a context radically different from what we trained them and cultural genres. "We must begin to know" at home "to live together, otherwise you can not develop any real relationship," argues Don Giancarlo.
And the problem is not only the 18 000 who have come so far in Milan. There are 1.3 billion Chinese and more will arrive in Italy. "In our cities, their presence is almost imperceptible, Don says Davanzo. The Chinese - for example - are not in need of listening to the centers of Caritas, are self-sufficient. But apparently have no problems. We can not open their eyes to them. "
in China to be "appropriate to the future"
This knowledge, for the group of priests of the church in Milan travel between Beijing and Chendge, is taking shape in the encounter with the rituals of heartfelt but short-lived celebration Chinese New Year (between 2 and 3 February, 48 hours of continuous explosions of barrels), on a visit to the ancient Buddhist sites of a popular devotion intimate and intense, listening to carers local, through observation of the concrete life of the people in town and country ...
"A dialogue can be decisive in keeping with their experiences such as these, proposals for an increasing number of people - add Don Davanzo who is also chairman of 'Agency' Dome Travels ". - Following this experience we bring to the parishes the opportunity to come here to learn about the history of the Catholic presence in China and how it developed. We must learn from those Christians who are here have been able to talk with the great moral philosophies of Asia. Coming here will help to be adjusted to the time that we live. You must play to advance to the protagonists the future. "
endorses the draft boards don 'Experience necessary. While I understand the sense of religious Muslims, I know nothing of the religious sense of life for the Chinese. We must bring our people here, we must raise awareness. This avoids the suspicion and fear is not generated. We must put into practice the teachings of our Archbishop. "
As Matteo Ricci, a church that knows how to stand with those who are different
Another significant "meeting" in Beijing was with Father Matteo Ricci, Italian Jesuit in China from 1582 to 1610. "The church emphasizes the dimension of identity when in fact he is expressing their fear, thus weakening its identity. Father Ricci became the Chinese with the Chinese and teaches us that we should not hide their identity, but we must consider the other is not an enemy but a friend. This tells of a missionary Church to be in a context radically different from their own. " One skill that will serve much the Church of the West, increasingly surrounded in "home" by different peoples and cultures.
MILANI Davide
to the spirit and culture
Two proposals that "travel Duomo" is experiencing in these days in China and then propose to parishes and groups. Don Massimo Pavanello, "These pilgrimages promote mutual understanding and give strength to the faith: our and their"
Mezzenzana Silvano, CEO of "Duomo Travel" has a clear idea: "Two proposals for a trip in China, each for ten days, cost about two thousand euro. Beijing Chendge area. A proposal of a spiritual nature, of a cultural nature. " Travel
Cathedral - which makes travel more than 15 thousand pilgrims each year, leading to Milan in Milan with 35% of the market - thereby significantly enhances its offering. It will be an to "touch" the reality of China, told for many clichés but in fact known by few. "We delude ourselves to have the world at home: in fact it is good to go and meet him in person. A speech all the more necessary for China, which advances the future, "adds Mezzenzana.
The trip to China is first experience to understand and learn the centuries-old Catholic presence and to worship Father Matteo Ricci, beloved by the Chinese. "Coming here is to know a long tradition of the Church - said Don Massimo Pavanello, head of the Ministry of Tourism of the Diocese of Milan -. We can not judge the situation of the Church in China stopped in the last 50 years. The church has been here for centuries. Changing your mind on how to consider the presence of the Gospel in this land helps us truly knows these people. Pilgrimages promote mutual understanding and give strength to the faith we and them. "
The trip to China with Cathedral Travel offers many opportunities for pilgrimage "classic." "So many important shrines in China, much frequented by Chinese Catholics - still don Pavanello -. Popular piety is widespread in this area: Mary Queen of China Dong Lu, Our Lady of Sheshan in Shanghai, Our Lady of the collection in Shan Dong, Our Lady of Grace in Ban Sishane, Our Lady of Lourdes in Qing Yang, Madonna Mo Zi Shan Mongolia and Lady of the Rosary in Fu Jian. "
Along with the more properly religious dimension can be a trip to China to immerse yourself in a rich and ancient culture, in contact with the great spiritual traditions and philosophies that have driven this country that have spread from there in the world. And just to show the world the riches China has declared 2011 "Year of Cultural Tourism."
MILANI Davide
