Delegation of Calabria

Palmi, 27 November 2015. Charity tour “Solidarity Week – The Hunger of Our Neighbour”, promoted by the Delegation of Calabria in support of needy people in the Calabria region, still underway at several venues across Calabria including local parishes, pastoral institutions (Caritas), communities for the elderly and young people. As the tour arrived at the city of Palmi, a hugely warm welcome was reserved to members of the Constantinian Order who were on hand to deliver a consignment of basic food items to 60 families from the Parish of ‘Maria Santissima del Soccorso’, following a donation from ‘Esselunga S.p.A.’. All families were picked by the local Caritas management team from among the poorest households in the area. “What we’re doing”, said the Vice Delegate, Aurelio Badolati, Commander of Knight with Star, visibly touched at the thought of bringing humanitarian aid to his own hometown, “is just a small fraction of what could be done to ease the suffering of people, a drop in the ocean, but a great many drops can ultimately make a river”. Before the Vice-Delegate’s address in the splendid old ‘Church of the Most Holy Cross’, High Mass had been officiated by the parish ‘Don Emanuele Leuzzi’. The prelate took many opportunities to express his heartfelt thanks and deep gratitude for the event during his homily, lavishing praise on the Order and paying homage to those Constantinian Knights who had fallen in the service of Christianity in a bid to uphold its values. In attendance at the ceremony were Rocco Gatto, Knight of Merit, and Paqualino Guerrisi, along with the Coordinator for the Benefactors, Roberto Bendini.

Next destination on the charity tour is Polistena (RC).

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Lamezia Terme, 25 November 2015. As part of humanitarian project ‘Solidarity Week – The Hunger of our Neighbour’, promoted by the Delegation of Calabria in support of impoverished people in the region, the Constantinian Order’s charity tour has now landed in the city of Catanzaro too. The food supplies, originally donated by ‘Esselunga S.p.A.’, were made available at this November event at the parish church of ‘Santa Maria Goretti’ at Lamezia Terme. Local volunteers were handed the relief materials at a symbolic donation ceremony, presided by our Dame Maria Neve Marzo Spizzirri and held at a venue adjacent to the church. Subsequently, parish priest Don Giuseppe Angotti celebrated the Holy Mass, reciprocating, in a warm and heartfelt response, the cordial greetings conveyed by our Vice Delegate, Aurelo Badolati, Commander of Merit with Star. In a speech addressed to the congregation, Mr Badolati explained how ‘in this day and age, as we move further into the third millennium, attending to the duties of a knight entails launching crusades to assist the most vulnerable members of society, outcasts and individuals with little or no social visibility at all as humanitarian acts of selflessness can go a very long way towards putting a smile back on their faces.” Alongside our Dame Spizzirri, other attendees included the following Knights of Merit: Giuseppe Spizzirri Marzo, Pasqualino Guerrisi, Rocco Gatto, as well as Marcello Bagalà, one of the Order’s trusted volunteers currently helping with the project.

Next up on our charity tour is Palmi (RC).

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San Ferdinando, 22 November 2015. Second edition of ‘Solidarity Week – The Hunger of our Neighbour’, a charitable project promoted by the Delegation of Calabria to provide assistance to individuals facing hardships in the region and made possible, as was previously announced, by Esselunga S.p.A. following their donation of a substantial basic foods consignment. The whole operation was the result of an initiative spearheaded by our Grand Prefect, HE The Ambassador Augusto Ruffo di Calabria dei Principi di Scilla. This time round, the charity event reached out to the lovely little village of San Ferdinando (RC), a small municipality overlooking the Gulf area near Gioia Tauro, on the Calabrian side of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The food distribution ceremony was held in conjunction with a religious service celebrated by the local parish priest, Don Antonino Massara, at the ‘Chiesa Madre di San Ferdinando Re’, which turned out to be so packed with people for the occasion that many were not able to find a seat. The prelate felt it imperative to publicly express his thanks to the Order – here represented by the Vice Delegate, Aurelio Badolati, Commander of Merit with Star, the knights of Merit Rocco Gatt and Pasqualino Garrisi, the latter having been at the helm of the initiative – voicing deep gratitude on behalf of the local community too “for this remarkable donation by means of which the light of Christ is bound to shine even more brightly over Calabria.” As Holy Mass drew to a close, the Vice Delegate, returning appropriate thanks, gave a brief talk to provide an outline of the Order’s programmatic goals and, more importantly, to emphasise its historic ties with the Holy Roman Church. There was also time for more surprises towards the end when parish volunteers, headed by the now retired Benefactor Carabinieri Marshal Antonino Guerrisi, unexpectedly presented the Vice Delegate and the contingent of knights who had attended the event with a commemorative plaque in acknowledgment of their significant humanitarian help.

Next destination on the charity mission is Lamezia Terme (CZ).

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Giffone, 21 November 2015. Charitable program “Solidarity Week – The Hunger of our Neighbour”, launched by the Delegation of Calabria in aid of low-income individuals facing economic distress in the region, saw its debut in the pleasant village of Giffone, a small community in the province of Reggio Calabria, nestled between the Massif of the Aspromonte and the Calabrian Serre. The project was made possible by a significant donation of basic food staples from Esselunga S.p.A., one the major Italian retailers in the supply chain business and was the brainchild of our Grand Prefect, HE The Ambassador Augusto Ruffo di Calabria dei Principi di Scilla whose great sensitivity towards what happens to be the poorest region in Italy gave the project huge momentum. Shortly after the food consignment had been delivered by parish volunteers, the highly symbolic act of donation was further highlighted by celebrating Holy Mass in the ‘Chiesa di Santa Maria del Soccorso’, which turned out to be full to capacity for the occasion. Attending the ceremony were the Vice Delegate, Aurelio Badolati, Commander of Merit with Star, the Knights of Merit Rocco Gatto, Pasqualino Garrisi and the leader of the Benefactors of the Delegation, Roberto Bendini, along with top state and military officials. The religious service, which was concelebrated by Don Elia Longo and the rector of the church, Don Salvatore Tucci, saw the parish priest acknowledge his debt of gratitude to the Order for their help. At one point during his speech, the prelate turned to the 18^th century wooden effigy of the ‘Madonna del Soccorso’ to address the following words: “the Virgin Mary has come to the rescue of the many parishioners currently experiencing great trials by having us blessed with this remarkably generous donation.”

Next up on our charity tour is San Ferdinando (RC).

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Reggio Calabria, November 2015. Humanitarian aid project “Solidarity Week”, organised by the Delegation of Calabria, is scheduled to get underway in the second decade of November. The initiative is perfectly in line with one of the Order’s programmatic goals, namely, to provide assistance to disadvantaged low-income individuals through the provision and distribution of basic food necessities, which on this occasion resulted in a whole truckload of them being donated to the event by Esselunga Spa, one of the major Italian chains operating in the supply chain business. The Grand Prefect, HE The Ambassador Augusto Ruffo di Calabria, whose resourcefulness and keen sense of initiative proved determinant to the event, had no doubts whatever about choosing to allocate the bulk of such provisions to Calabria due to the region’s unenviable top spot in the economic report released by the ISTAT institute (Office for National Statistics): Calabria is currently the number one region for cases of extreme poverty. Standing in a line of continuity with charity project “The Hunger of Our Neighbour”, a programme first conceived by the Grand Master, such a humanitarian appeal had already met with approval at the highest levels of the Delegation’s management and was further announced through a series of events organised in close partnership with other charity agencies. While this is just the beginning, the project is to get off the ground by the end of November, when the whole of the food supplies, shipped at no cost by a well-known truck transport company based in Villaricca, is due to be delivered in Calabria where they will be distributed through a number of donation events taking place in each of the provinces right across the region. The operation will mostly involve parish churches, institutions for pastoral care (Caritas), community centres for both the elderly and the young and by providing for the most vulnerable members of our society, they will act in full accordance with those ‘Christian values’ which the Vice Delegate Mr Aurelio Badolati, Commander of Merit with Star, recently referred to in one of his speeches from not long ago.

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