Giuseppe Puglisi

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Tomb of Giuseppe Puglisi in the Cathedral of Palermo

Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi (born September 15, 1937 in Palermo ; † September 15, 1993 ibid) was a Sicilian priest and anti- mafia activist who was murdered for his engagement. He is a blessed of the Catholic Church .

Life

Giuseppe Puglisi was born in Palermo in 1937 as the son of a tailor and a shoemaker . The Brancaccio district , in which he was born, is located in the east of Palermo and was a poor district in which the Sicilian mafia, the Cosa Nostra , exercised absolute rule.

Puglisi was ordained a priest in 1960 after studying and seminar time . At that time, the relationship between the Church and the Mafia was still close and friendly; both cultivated strict anti-communism and the church was supported by the local mafia giants.

Padre Puglisi, known by everyone as "Don Pino", made a name for himself in the pastoral care of young people both in the city and in various places in the province of Palermo. Youth unemployment was and is much higher in Sicily than in northern Italy . In 1991 Puglisi returned to Brancaccio, where he founded a youth group, a reading group, and a community center. For the most part, the young people in the neighborhood had no prospects and so got caught up in organized crime. Puglisi fought drug trafficking and during his sermons in the church of Brancaccio, San Gaetano, he attacked the Cosa Nostra and their representatives there, who were often present during mass. He sharply condemned the brothers Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano , who ran the Brancaccio mafia family. He also did not shy away from denouncing the corruption in the city administration and naming names. So he came increasingly into conflict with the Cosa Nostra, who saw their power threatened.

In May 1993 Pope John Paul II visited Sicily. In a spontaneous sermon in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento , he condemned the Mafia and its crimes.

On the evening of September 15th - his 56th birthday - Padre Puglisi was shot dead by two mafiosi on his doorstep. One of the murderers, who was later arrested, testified at the trial that Padre Puglisi smiled at her before he died and said, "I expected that."

beatification

The Roman Catholic Church initiated a process for the beatification of Padre Puglisi, which on June 28, 2012 with the consent of Pope Benedict XVI. for the promulgation of the decree by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints . The beatification was carried out on May 25, 2013 in the Foro Italico in Palermo by the Archbishop of Palermo , Cardinal Paolo Romeo , and his predecessor, Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi .

Aftermath

Don Pino's commitment to the poorest (and thus against the Mafia) became a role model for many Sicilians. Several youth welfare and social work organizations that are named after him emerged from this movement. Don Pino shaped the young priest Corrado Lorefice , who later became the Archbishop of Palermo.

In 2005, Padre Puglisi's Life and Death was filmed by Roberto Faenza under the title Alla luce del sole (“In bright day”) with Luca Zingaretti in the lead role. The title refers to the time of the crime and the fact that no witnesses were found, even though the murder took place in a busy piazza .

In January 2014, Pippo Pollina , the Italian singer-songwriter born in Palermo, memorialized the courageous Don Pino with his song E se ognuno fa qualcosa (“When everyone does something”) on his album L'appartenenza (“Belonging”).

literature

  • Francesco Deliziosi: Don Puglisi. Vita del prete palermitano ucciso dalla mafia. Mondadori, Milano 2001, ISBN 88-04-48852-2 .
  • Corrado Lorefice: La compagnia del Vangelo. Discorsi e idee di don Pino Puglisi a Palermo. San Lorenzo, Reggio Emilia 2014, ISBN 978-88-8071-228-2 .

Web links

Commons : Giuseppe 'Pino' Puglisi  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report in the Palermo edition of La Repubblica
  2. ↑ Beatification of a Mafia Victim: Pope Condemns Crimes of the Mafia , Spiegel Online , May 26, 2013
  3. ^ Andrea Bachstein: Corrado Lorefice. Priest of the poor and new Archbishop of Palermo . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 29, 2015, p. 4.
personal data
SURNAME Puglisi, Giuseppe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Puglisi, Pino
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Sicilian priest and anti-Mafia activist
DATE OF BIRTH September 15, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo
DATE OF DEATH September 15, 1993
Place of death Palermo