Christian journal brands Salvini as Satan

This week's front cover of the Famiglia Cristiana

ROME - The front cover of this week’s Famiglia Cristiana journal continues to divide the Church and the government even further apart on the topic of immigration, over the branding of Salvini as Satan.

Their headline as “Vade retro Salvini,” plays on the phrase coming from the Bible, which is used in exoricisms; “Vade retro satana”, meaning, “Go back, Satan.” The paper is available at the entrance of churches across all of Italy, and this week the bright yellow-lettered headline next to an image of a hand reaching up towards the surprised face of the Interior minister will be hard to miss.

The Famiglia Cristiana article, which came after the umpteenth tragedy of migrants dying at sea, discusses the commitment of the Italian Church in the situation as well as criticising the Interior Minister. "As pastors we do not pretend to offer the best solutions. It is neither our position to judge the decisions of others and take contemptuous standpoints. However, what is most important is that at all times, citizens, politicians and pastors must not let worries and fears influence our choices, determine our responses, or feed a climate of mistrust, anger and rejection ".

In response, Salvini dismissed the article as “bad taste”; “I do not pretend to teach anyone, I am of course not the best of Christians, but I don’t think that I deserve this.”

"I have the support of many women and men of the Church, even the catechism says that we must accept as much as possible," he adds.

"I would expect a cover like that from the Repubblica or the Espresso, but not from them."

In the same edition, there are a couple of personal accounts of integration in Italy as well as two editiorials on the topic of the migrant crisis. One of them was written by Don Antonio Mazzi, founder of the Exodus charity: "At Exodus we have opened five youth centres in Calabria. We teach Italian, we help them catch up on the school that they missed out on in their homeland, but more than anything, we listen to their pain and their fears, we look after their health and we try, with difficulty, to make them understand that in Italy there are also people who love them and who also want to make the world a more peaceful place. I must say that, as I returned from Calabria and reflected upon some of the stories that I had heard from the migrants and their sadness that has slowly destroyed every last flame of hope, these brave “invaders” had restored my faith in humanity.”

lb