Archbishop Lorefice denounces loss of civic sense in Palermo: cracks, drugs, hatred.

Last Updated: September 4, 2024

Explain in brief the following article:
“The anchoritic martyrdom of Rosalia was the decisive focus of this Jubilee Year.” This was stated by the Archbishop of Palermo, Corrado Lorefice, in the homily of the Mass celebrated this evening (September 4) on the esplanade of the Sanctuary of Monte Pellegrino, for the conclusion of the 400th anniversary of the finding of the remains of Saint Rosalia, on the day dedicated to her as the patroness of the city. The mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lagalla, was also present at the liturgy.
“If it is true that martyrdom is ‘the highest sign of charity towards God and towards men,’ then Rosalia’s martyrdom is also martyrdom, anchoritic martyrdom: a gift of oneself to God in the solitude of the hermitage,” the prelate affirmed. For Lorefice, “that of Rosalia de’ Sinibaldi was not a selfish and sterile escape from life, from others, from human responsibilities, from the city, in contempt of earthly things.” And he explained: “What does the Rosalian Jubilee leave us as an inheritance, the martyrdom of Rosalia? Taking care of oneself. Today we live in an era of the exacerbation of the care for the ‘outer man’ and we have forgotten the care for the ‘man hidden in the heart.'”
“The lives of our children disillusioned, bent and broken by new drugs,” he added; “the spread of violent and aggressive relationships among the new generations, especially in meeting places, of languages poisoned by lies and hatred. A culture of oppression and death prevails. The city, disfigured by the loss of civic sense, is incapable of finding solutions and coping with the waste emergency exacerbated by nefarious speculative interests and political balances. Tormented by old and new poverties, due to the lack of essential conditions for a dignified life (land, a home, a job), it produces ‘human waste,’ especially in urban and existential peripheries.”