Italian Catholic priest finds new ways to lead worship at the block

Built on the morning of March 10, Father Andrea Vena went to serve its community, the statue of the Madonna on a three-wheeled vehicle and. This was the day before the Italian government ordered a national bloc, tougher, and some people in Pater Vena Bibione parish of products from food to buy at the farmers market before it closed. Standing next to the statue, Vena Father took the microphone and recited his prayer over a loudspeaker to stop occasionally holy water on passersby and distribute images of saints as “Santini” known for its spread. His prayers were mainly for the elderly, tourism operators, the sick and the most affected by the explosion. “We are every year millions of tourists, with only 2500 inhabitants,” he says of his village by the sea, not far from Venice. “Tourism is all for our economy.” Father Vein is one of many Italian priests, Francis accepted and invitation to go to reach people in need, even in a time when the general is essential to stay home. “The doctors and nurses remain close to the sick and priests must have the same courage,” says Father Vena. Wearing a mask and latex gloves, this week wants to bring the Eucharist to the homes of those who wish to receive them. As Italy remains in lock until at least April 3 priests in this predominantly Catholic country is forced to be used to look for alternative ways to their flock. The mass audience, the most solemn rite in the liturgy of the Church, was banned along with other public meetings. Instead, they turn bring people closer to God many priests in the virtual world. A proliferation of rosaries are organized on WhatsApp or Web sites, such as the new Corona virus (anti) for 24 hours Rosario many priests sing and in addition now placed streamed on YouTube and Facebook channels. If a priest of a small town in Brianza, one of the areas, most of the new coronavirus, asked his selfies admirers he or other images of themselves through e-mail, so that he was able to print, stick them on the benches and not feel alone in his church during the course of a mass. He received hundreds of images and ran her out of the printer toner. “We are a new form of popular piety witnesses who could remember the times of the great revolutions in the Church,” said Father Paolo Benanti, Franciscan and professor of ethics at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He compared the movement of the mendicant orders in the 13th century, which showed Dominicans and Franciscans. “Only today the space for change is not the Hilton, but all the digital sphere.” `Although the Vatican has made no specific recommendation about the cult online, Francis thanked on Sunday the priest, the great” creativity “to demonstrate to stay close to their communities in an emergency. He did it during his weekly Angelus service that the Vatican website has a live streaming. Father Andrew, who has the blessing of the Virgin Mary on his three-wheeled vehicle, also celebrates the Mass live on Facebook, as well as on a local television station. He says he has helped keep his congregation committed to the church and another. “He had followed the last Sunday mass of more than 6,000 people, is already more than 2,000 yesterday,” he says. ‘Even now, without the means of social communication, there would be much more isolated, “he adds. Father Luke Peyron does not think much of it. He is the author of” Digital Incarnation “(digital incarnation) and professor of innovation theology at the Catholic University of Milan and the University of Turin. “I think that the mass broadcasting on social media is a mistake,” he says. “There is no common was a deep reflection on the relationship between spirituality and the world virtual, and now many people are improvised, but there is a risk, never back, “he explained. I meet Father Luke on Saturday in his church in Turin, which remains open for those who want to pray or confess – remote safety, of course. he is far from being a Luddite – his Lenten sermon Friday night that was broadcast by the YouTube channel of a parish in Legnano, hit a town near Milan, one of the areas, most of the new coronavirus. But while “Sermons are one thing, the Mass another,” says Father Luke. “The risk that the virtual world instead of technology to be used to identify a person with him and that God, rather than to God to get closer to the feeling.” His fear is that, like working from home that a preference developed for her admirer starts to ask more and more online masses because it is convenient. Since 1954, the Italian public television broadcasting on Mass Sunday morning for those who can not leave their homes because of illness or age. Father Luke emphasizes the exception remains the must. “Now that the public masses are prohibited, it is better to pray with your family at home rather than follow them online,” he says. Even so, many find comfort in the mass rituals in Italy, even if they pursue on a screen of a computer or a mobile phone. Clare that Canons Don Bosco parish usually works in a bookstore in Turin, says she was following the Mass via Facebook for the last two weeks. “Even if the content is available online, follow live with it. I think it’s an appointment I must stop in time,” he explains. About ten minutes before the start, she sits on the carpet in his house and logs, start preparing mentally. “Of course it’s not the same, and I feel a little ‘alone, but on Facebook you can see the names of those who join in … Simone is connected Letizia is connected,” he says. “It makes me feel a bit ‘when I’m in church, I turn around and see familiar faces among the” benches.
Picture copyright by Antonio Calanni AP