De Lucia, Chief Prosecutor of Palermo at Gonzaga
Going beyond the media maelstrom of news and giving importance to the formation of young people so that they are able to reflect, deeply and critically. This was one of the principle aims of the meeting between the chief prosecutor of Palermo, Maurizio De Lucia, and the young people of the Gonzaga Campus on 3 February. Many questions were put to the prosecutor on the arrest of the head of cosa nostra, but also on issues related to legality and justice, and the future of Sicily.
Forming young people
“What the city of Palermo is going through is important,” the Director General Fr Vitangelo Denora SJ said. “We often talk about young people, but we do not talk to young people and with young people. Young people must become protagonists in the fight against the Mafia. Our wish is that we always focus not on superficial readings but on meaningful interpretations and reflections for the growth of these youngsters of ours. A good thirty years ago, on 2 June 1982, the young people of Gonzaga met General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa in this school, after sending him a letter. Today, with Prosecutor De Lucia, we continue in the wake of that meeting too’.
Beyond the news: the arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro
“The education of young people must go beyond the news,” the Prosecutor De Lucia said in his opening address. It is always necessary, before anything else, to make a reflection between things as they occur and how they are told. The mafia must be exhibited, bearing in mind its enormous complexity, as a criminal system that we must confront. Ours is a job where one has to deal with evil,” Prosecutor De Lucia said. “16 January was a superb day because a result was achieved after a long and very complicated job. Now we must always have our feet on the ground to keep going in the fight against organised crime. Often information was spread around that was not necessary. It is easy today to sell a news pill – for immediate use and consumption – as opposed to serious in-depth journalism”.
The future: seeking and building the good
Today the mafia phenomenon is not as strong as it was in Dalla Chiesa’s time. We think we have the tools to deal with this section of civil society that offers services to the mafia by becoming complacent and deluding itself into believing it can obtain favours. Sicily is ready for a strong cultural and radical change,’ he continues. “It is an island that has a history full of culture and beauty that young people must preserve. You young people have the task of seeking and building the good. The citizen must be someone who also knows how to say no. It is on the concept of citizenship that great nations are built. The role of the prosecutor is really a function of service”, he concludes, “and whoever is destined to carry out roles of power, must do so with the awareness of serving, not of holding power. Your school, like others, is truly inspired by the spirit of service, we must continue on this path”.
