While touring Noto's cathedral, we spotted an out of the ordinary work of art. It is pictured below.
Perhaps you can guess what the artwork represents.
If not, here is a clue. Every day, 1,000 refugees arrive in Italy from Africa. Most arrive in Sicily because of its proximity to northern Africa. The refugees who arrive travel in large wooden boats. Many refugees never arrive, perishing during the voyage.
The artwork is obviously a cross and it is made from pieces of boats used by migrants crossing from Africa to Sicily. The remnants were recovered from beaches along Sicily's southern coast, nearest Africa.
As explained below, the artwork tells the story of the voyage, the pain (dolore) and the hope (la esperanza).
After arriving in Sicily, the migrants are relocated throughout Italy so they are not concentrated in one location. While living in Florence and traveling elsewhere in Italy, we have seen many African refugees. In Florence, through our church and volunteer activities, we have met and gotten to know several recent arrivals--from Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire and other countries.
Some Italians complain that Italy should not accept migrants and they also complain that other EU countries are not doing their fair share to address the crisis.
One Italian friend had a different view. While working with other volunteers alongside several recent arrivals from Africa, she said matter-of-factly, "We are a Catholic country. Of course, we are going to accept and care for them."
The President of the European Commission recently lauded Italy's extraordinary response to the migrant crisis and saving living at sea. He said, "Italy has saved the honor of Europe."
For all of these reasons, we found the artwork in the Noto cathedral especially moving.
No comments:
Post a Comment