Vocation stories

WYD 2000: 2 million young people had a place in the Church, where each one was irreplaceable and expected. Yet free to choose it or not. Which was my place?

It was a woman religious who referred me to a Jesuit for the experience of spiritual direction. A time of discernment, an important adjustment in many aspects of my life.

After the collapse of the regime, I too went to help rebuild our little church. Giving shape to a place that had become a dump. Those stones have marked my life.

I had every reason to be satisfied: I was one step away from realizing the dream of becoming a magistrate, conceived when I was a teenager, after the death of Falcone and Borsellino. Instead I was restless…

While I was preparing for the Judiciary exam and public competitions, in a time that had become more serene, the Lord arrived with His Word, during a school camp.

As a teenager I knew the Jesuits by hearsay. Then I met Martini and Fumagalli. The testimony of the Villapizzone community, a key to discernment.

Math was my great passion. Then, through my sister, I came in contact with the Jesuits. Service to children. Questions about how to spend my life to the fullest.

I was born in Switzerland in 1968. Ideological struggles and dreams of “grandeur”. Then, two Jesuit friends, a biography of Francis from Assisi, the person of John Paul II, the discovery of Ignatius…

Above all, one had been inside me for several years, ever since I began to realize how much poverty there was around me, in the streets, in my neighborhood.

If I had to choose an image to introduce myself, I would choose that of the traveller, the pilgrim, the “caminante.” He who moves because he is searching, who is never satisfied, who knows that further than where he has arrived there is more.

I was born in Pavia, where I lived thoughout my childhood and adolescence. In my human and spiritual formation the experience with the Agesci scouts has been fundamental.

At 17, a crisis of faith and a period of research and “exile”. 7 years later, as a medical student, I came back, with the help of the University Chapel Jesuits.

All it took was an unrequited falling in love for the results of “my” equations to go wrong. It was an existential crisis, which inevitably affected every aspect of my life.

A wonderful race, with providential breaks where during one of these break, I strongly felt my call. Today I strongly experience the wealth of the mission, as the race continues…

Five stars weren’t enough. So, as a young and brilliant manager of a large chain of luxury hotels, I set out again in search for true inner fulfillment.

I have a great passion for Star Wars, art-house films and pizza margherita. Notebook and pen always on the table, to question the universe.

I had many desires, many dreams, and I did not think that faith could allow me to fulfill them. Then, I met a group of young people, new friends. It felt like being born again.

“To my anger and disappointment, God responded with His loving gaze and said to me, “Cesare, you are free, I will be with you whatever you choose” …

I first encountered the Jesuits when I was 18. A summer camp in Selva di Val Gardena, followed by three days of Spiritual Exercises, changed everything.

The last thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a priest. The last place I wanted to end up at 31 years old is the novitiate. It was not my choice.