(ANS - Turin) -The Subalpine diocese is mobilized to welcome refugees. The Office for Migrants and Caritas are developing a hospitality plan, while hundreds of families and parishes have answered the call of Archbishop Nosiglia to open their doors to refugees, and the first foreigners are arriving in Salesian houses in Turin.

                                             By Marina Lomunno (Avvenire)

They come from Mali, Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are sixteen young refugees, aged 20 to 23, who are welcomed in the Salesian Houses of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta which have been made available for migrants brought by SPRAR, the government system for the protection of asylum seekers and refugees.

Right now the first ones are settling in at the School in Valsalice, the Oratory at Crocetta and the parish of Monterosa. By the end of the month some refugees will be housed also in the Salesian houses in Cumiana, San Benigno, Novara, Vercelli and Trino Vigliano, as soon as they sign agreements between the City of Turin, the Archdiocese and the Salesians. “In addition to the sixteen young adults there are also four unaccompanied minors from Egypt who will be hosted in an apartment at the "Harambee" residential community for minors in our parish of Casale Monferrato," says Fr Don Domenico Ricca, chaplain of the Ferrante Aporti juvenile prison in Turin. He is coordinating the Salesian work for refugees.

Fr Enrico Stasi, SDB, Superior of the Salesians in Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, says: "The refugees who are coming to our houses at present are the first concrete fruit, after the celebrations of the Bicentenary of Don Bosco. If he were here today, he would be looking after the refugees since they are now the poorest young people."

The plan is for the refugees to spend up to twelve months in our houses. During that time the young people will be encouraged to take courses in Italian and will be given job training to enable them to be integrated in the local society.

Published 22/10/2015