EUROPE SECRETARY S VISIT TO ITALY 4 th 14 th October 2005 There were a number of reasons why the visit was important. Four purposes are clearly identified: To visit the newly arrived mission partners, the Revd Augusto and Mrs Mirna Giron, based in Florence To hold conversations with OPCEMI about a future relationship with the Methodist Church in Italy To hear from and visit the two Nationals in Mission Appointments To meet with the Church Council of Pont St Angelo Methodist Church in Rome, following the appointment of the Revd Trevor Hoggard to the pastorate, and to share in wider ecumenical responsibilities from next September The visit took me to Florence, Rome and Palermo, Sicily. 1. Mission Partners The Giron family are settling into their new life in Florence. Augusto is getting to know the small congregation as well as formulating plans for the next year or so. Already he has held one church & community social event that attracted nearly 50 people. He is building relationships with the local community including restaurant owners and other local businesses. He is already raising the profile of the Methodist Church in the area. Much of his and Mirna s time though is given to supporting their children as they begin to find their way in their new school environment and as they all learn Italian and gradually familiarise themselves and become engrossed in Italian culture. Augusto has a huge old building for which he is responsible, much of which needs substantial amounts of money spending on it to convert it into assets the church could constructively use in its mission and outreach. This includes an enclosed open-air area bit like the cloisters in a monastery! 2. Pont St Angelo and developments in Rome 2.1. I had a very good meeting with the Church Council. This was in preparation for the arrival of the Revd Trevor Hoggard in September 2006. Trevor will be responsible for: the worship, pastoral and spiritual needs of the congregation at Pont St Angelo the development of new mission initiatives among migrants in Rome To play a part in facilitating British Methodist / Roman Catholic relationships 2.2 I had an hour s meeting at the Vatican with the Revd Don Bollen, He is responsible for Roman Catholic Methodist & Anglican relationships. He was very interested with the appointment we have made, and stressed the significance of informal relationships, as well as the formal relationships with the World Methodist Council with whom a formal dialogue is conducted. A new Methodist Roman Catholic statement is to be released in Rome in December 2005. 3. OPCEMI (Opera per le Chiese Evangeliche Metodiste in Italy) 3.1 Meeting with Massimo Aquilante, President of OPCEMI. Our discussions included:
The two NMAs are undertaking excellent work and the programme is highly valued see 4 below. Raising the profile of Methodism in Italy. Currently there are 10 Methodist ministers and the membership is 4000+. Recently, the Methodist Consultation agreed to keep the status quo regarding a distinct Methodist identity within the partnership with the Waldensian Church. Faith & Worship - a small but growing number of Ghanaians are interested in training as local preachers. Another possibility is devising a way of training a few LP tutors. An annual Round Table discussion on Methodist work in Italy. I suggested this could be possible by extending the time spent at European Methodist Council. Otto Per Mille: This is a government rebate system whereby the Church can claim a substantial amount of money from the tax system. However 30% must be spent on work outside of Italy. OPCEMI wishes to join WCO in supporting work in Ghana 3.2 Ecumene Ecumene is the residential centre in Velletri, about one hour north of Rome. The Church is currently investing a substantial amount of money in upgrading the property. The centre runs conferences for lay leaders, the annual Methodist consultation, events for young people. They hope through upgrading the property more people will be attracted to come and use it. 4. Nationals in Mission Appointments 4.1 George Ennin and work among Ghanaian immigrants George is based in Pordenone, NE Italy. He is working with about 700 Ghanaians. He thinks that approximately 1000 Ghanaians are now worshipping in Methodist Churches in Italy. As well as Methodist Ghanaians, he is now receiving requests of help from Presbyterians. They face many issues: Literacy many are not motivated to learn Italian. Even their standard of English is not great. Many of the wives are unschooled they came with or were brought in by their husbands. Work this is a priority over language leaning, yet there are not many jobs available. Housing George is overwhelmed by requests for accommodation Pastoral George does a substantial amount of counselling as he meets many Ghanaians with a variety of emotional, social, marital and economic difficulties Integration because of linguistic and cultural differences the Ghanaians find it very hard to integrate into Italian society. George s response to this context is multi-layered: He sees the Church as a place where integration can begin. He has drawn together programmes of art, history and other cultural programmes He has helped develop new congregations. There are about 12 congregations of mainly Ghanaians but some remain independent of OPCEMI. In Moderna, for instance, the congregation is approximately half and half between Methodists and Presbyterians and wishes to remain an independent congregation.
Evangelism: Many Africans in Italy are unchurched. Some belong to a church back home (Ghana) but have not identified with a Church in Italy; others have no relationship with the Church at all. He is trying to develop and train a number of Ghanaian service teams to help with the pastoral work and practical support that immigrants need. He has organised workshops for home visitation. Has a small number interested in becoming local preachers but has few resources at present, hence the interest in Faith & Worship. Currently there are a number of exhorters who have not received any formal training. It might be possible for MCB to help train a few tutors. 4.2 Pellegrino del Terra, Palermo, Sicily The purpose of this project is to support and enable women victims of human trafficking, mainly from Nigeria, to leave the streets and begin to find opportunities for integration into Italian society. They are brought mainly from Nigeria, having been promised highly paid work, education, and a new life. They sign contracts agreeing to pay a substantial amount of money to the recruiting organisation. Sometimes they are directly recruited by family members, other relatives or by members of the community. Once in Italy they find they are told to go onto the streets as prostitutes to earn the money they owe and if they refuse then various threats are made against them or their families. Vivian Wiwoloku, Director of Pellegrino del Terra thinks in Palermo alone there could be between 1000 2000 women in these circumstances. The project has now established its reputation in Sicily and is supported by the local authorities. This in itself is a considerable achievement given the propensity to corruption and mafia influence in the authorities. The issue was brought to the attention of the Methodist Church when women began asking for prayers for their safety as they worked on the streets. Many of the women are Christians but some are Muslims. Pellegrino del Terra runs a cultural centre and an office, both of which are places of contact for women. Both places are used by women facing a range of problems and not just by those who are living as prostitutes. But through these two places relationships are built and trust developed, and ways found for women to leave the streets and to begin a new life elsewhere. For this to be effective promises need to be made to the women (e.g. protection, a safe house in which to live), incentives given (work and an income) and the potential threat to their families thwarted (stories to be put out to mislead the pimps and organisations who control them) otherwise they could not leave the streets as they would become destitute and even more vulnerable and their families made to suffer. Some of the key factors and players in this very sophisticated process are: Buon Pastore, an international Roman Catholic organisation provides safe housing, health services and personal support Education and skills training through learning how to sew, how to cook, clean and look after themselves, to learn Italian and to obtain official status to be in Italy. (A special grant helped the project purchase sewing machines) Visits to Nigeria to persuade the churches to work in the villages and help prevent women travelling in the first place Time spent on the streets by the project workers, some former prostitutes, with tracts and Bibles, to speak to the women and help them begin to think about a new life. One of the issues to be countered is the
influence of witchcraft and voodoo, yet because many will have had a religious upbringing and are Christian believers, overt evangelism in the form of a direct appeal to their sense of spirituality is an effective way forward. The NMA grant, given as a single salary, is shared amongst three women all work in the office as reception workers. When the team is working through the night on the streets the office is open 24 hours per day. According to Article 18 of Italian law, there are two ways in which women can escape from the streets: o can go to an NGO; need to pass a special course and get testimony that they qualify for papers to be registered. o Can go to Police & denounce pimps but this is more dangerous even though this is what the Police prefer. The Police are becoming more aggressive against the activities of the women. This means there is a danger the sex trade will be forced underground. This will make the projects work more difficult. If women are arrested by the Police they may be returned to their home country. However, this causes great distress for the women as in the Christian villages they may well be rejected by their families and in Muslim villages they might be stoned to death. The women in the office were very moved to discover the project named in the Prayer Handbook. 5. Sicily 5.1 Methodist-Waldensian Church: The Church has two congregations, yet one Sunday Service in both English and Italian with two sermons, one in each language. This is not a settled congregation as many are transitory and on their way to northern or central Italy where it is easier to get work. 5.2 Centro Diaconale La Noce Instituto Valdese The Institute includes a kindergarten and a school (up to age 11). Although it is a private school they have a balance of children from economically poor families, as well as children with a range of special needs to whom they can give specialist support. The Director is Alessandra Trotta. It took many years for the work to be registered due to their lack of contact with friends however persistence paid off and they now have contracts with the city authorities. 5.3 Centro Migranti Centro Migranti, a Methodist centre, offers an advice and education service to immigrants. It began in 1990 after changing from en emigration to an immigration service. Last year they were in contact with 6000 immigrants. The services offered Kitanga Language & Cultural courses General Advice However they need contacts with African countries and to develop international relationships so they can extend their range of activities and networks. I suggested using WCO for contact with Methodist Churches in Africa, and with the Churches Commission for Racial Justice, also the Churches Commission for Migrants in Europe in Brussels. 6. Comment
As you can read this was a substantial visit containing many significant insights and awareness of issues that can only come through experience and encounter with mission contexts. OPCEMI struggles with issues: organisation, finance, ecumenical struggles, and a lack of ministers. However, the work among migrants in particular was very impressive and the Church s commitment to social justice as a key feature of mission. Methodists in Italy hugely value their relationship with us and would like to see it develop through round table discussions, and shared approaches to and engagement with mission activity.