{"id":11502,"date":"2020-03-16T13:42:58","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T18:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=11502"},"modified":"2020-04-07T09:11:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T14:11:33","slug":"from-the-trenches-an-italian-on-the-fight-to-contain-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/from-the-trenches-an-italian-on-the-fight-to-contain-covid-19","title":{"rendered":"From the Trenches: An Italian Perspective on the Fight to Contain COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last updated on April 7th, 2020 at 09:11 am<\/p>\n

Dear American friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I write from the\ntrenches. Here in Lombardy, in Italy, we are on the front lines of a war. In\nthese last couple of weeks, we have been alone. We have faced mockery in the\ninternational press: the New York Times, for example, released this article<\/a> which openly and blatantly disrespects our\ncountry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\nonly say that I hope that no one in New York ever has to experience life the\nway we are experiencing it now in Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfaith that remains deeply rooted in our towns, cities and provinces has been a\nsource of consolation and help. Sadly, though, the solidarity and help we\nItalians hoped for from Europe and countries overseas has not materialized.\nNonetheless, our friendships will not be weakened but strengthened by this\ncrisis, this silent pestilence that threatens all of humanity and that has\nbecome a daily fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprecautionary measures enacted in Lombardy and all regions in northern Italy\naffect and limit every aspect of interpersonal life: we must maintain a one\nmeter distance from friends and family members, which impacts one of the main\ndimensions of the human person, our natural desire for social interaction. As a\nCatholic, this has hit me in another way: In Italy, which has faced famine and\nplague more than once in Italy, all public masses have been suspended. This\nmeans a limitation on another kind of relationship, the most important for me: the\nconnection I feel with Jesus Christ. But this compulsory \u201cfast\u201d has not just\ncaused melancholy, it has also spurred a surge in devotion of people going and\npraying before the tabernacle in open churches. In Lombardy, where there is a\nspecial devotion to the Virgin Mary and many Marian shrines, we have seen this\ncrisis as a call to pray the rosary, asking for an end of the Coronavirus\noutbreak. These are some of the signs of hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nisn\u2019t easy to live locked in our homes with the government restrictions on our\nfreedom and movement. It is a situation rife with difficulties and anxieties,\ntruly life in the trenches: life in a war against a viral outbreak that is unconventional\nand truly novel. For weeks, every day at sunset, we\u2019ve waited for the official\nupdates. And every day, the number of deaths increases, especially in Lombardy\nand other northern regions. While we are constantly concerned about the numbers\nshowing an increase in infections, we find hope in the numbers of recovery. As\nof this writing, there are over 24,700 infected in Italy, with nearly 1,900\ndeaths, and about 2,400 people who have recovered. In Lombardy, the numbers are\n10,100 infected and 1,300 dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where\nI am writing \u2014 Saronno, a province of Varese \u2014 is a place of industrious\npeople, \u201cself-made\u201d individuals, craftsmen, small business owners, and co-ops.\nIn the past, all of these things helped create a network of solidarity that\nsupported economic strength and recovery. But now, streets are empty. It seems\nlike the month of August, when the region empties as people go on holiday. But\nif people are less devoted to consumerism and the market, they are no less\ndevoted to God, and ultimately the salvation of people, the welfare of souls,\nwill not depend on food stocks and the market but on hearts and minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nof our best Lombard writers, Alessandro Manzoni, wrote The Betrothed<\/em><\/a> in 1827. He talked about\nthe love between Renzo and Lucia, their complicated engagement and marriage in\nthe early 17th<\/sup> century. The story provides a real view of the\nbrilliance, faithfulness, and self-sacrificial love characteristic of our\nregion. In chapters 31-33, Manzoni writes about a plague that struck during the\nprotagonist\u2019s lifetimes, and it bears similarity to what is happening now. Doctors\nface death in order to save lives and take care of infected people. This is how\ndoctors are behaving now, courageously\u2014in contrast to the lying and insulting\nreports by international mainstream media about doctors choosing whom to treat\nwhile letting others die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nsparse streets, friends keeping their distance and only waving at one another\nif they should meet, the stockpiling of food: all of these are troubling. But\nwe also find ourselves spending more time at home with our families. In this\nway, in fighting the coronavirus we are also fighting another scourge, that of\nconsumerism and globalism. Italians are singing the national anthem from their\nwindows, lighting candles to encourage one another; or else singing hymns to\nthe Lord and lighting a candle as a sign of hope in God. If you have friends or\nfamily in Italy, especially in the north, please reach out to them: show them\nyour closeness, your compassion. If you are able, send donations or care\npackages, which can be used to help the lonely and the poor. Whatever you do,\ndo not forget us: we need your support, because we are determined to keep\nfighting, with straight backs, getting our hands dirty, and our heads held\nhigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dear\nfriends, in every difficulty in life, even serious ones such as this, we know\nthere is always hope: that Divine Providence will provide us help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nletter is an opportunity for me\u2014and I hope it will be for all of you too\u2014to express\nthat confident assurance. God bless the USA, and may He help Italy at this\ncritical time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I can only say that I hope that no one in New York ever has to experience life the way we are experiencing it now in Italy.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":11513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"\"I hope that no one in New York ever has to experience life the way we are experiencing it now in Italy.\"","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[804,511,805],"tags":[2688,2218,2230,1608],"class_list":["post-11502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-culture","category-foreground","tag-from-the-trenches","tag-coronavirus-2","tag-covid-19-2","tag-italy"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the Trenches: An Italian Perspective on the Fight to Contain COVID-19 - 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Publicly engaged for decades in the promotion of life, family and religious and educational freedom, Luca\u00a0 has served as a board member for various international organizations promoting Christian values and human rights, including his current role as a board member of the International Organization for the Family. He has authored books and essays for the Novae Terrae series by the publisher Rubbettino; he has been a correspondent for several Italian newspapers, and currently collaborates with La nuova Bussola Quotidiana, an online newspaper. He is a also a great bicycle enthusiast.","sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/lvolonte1","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/l_volonte"],"url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/author\/lvolonte"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11502"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11525,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11502\/revisions\/11525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}