Honorable Ciani, since you were elected deputy leader of the Democratic Party, your pacifism has been discussed in the Chamber.
(Pause, smile, sigh). “Well”.
Some leaders in the Democratic Party argue that you have too extreme positions against the war.
«It is the first time that I have spoken about these issues in an interview since the day of my election as deputy group leader. I had promised Elly Schlein that I would not take public positions until the Democratic Party leadership, which then took place two weeks ago. As you can see, I kept my promise.”
Why this foil?
(Smile). “I didn’t want a discussion of such lofty topics to be soiled with the yardstick of the day’s controversies.”
Some say that you should now change your position, and vote to send weapons, because now you represent the whole group, no longer just yourself.
“I am the secretary of a party. Perhaps small, but certainly very serious, which is called Demos. That is, democracy and solidarity, our main missions».
He is not a member of the Democratic Party.
“And none of us are going to do that. We are not a political offshoot of the Democratic Party. We are not co-opted, we do not want or have to change our ideas by virtue of some role».
So if tomorrow a new decree was voted for the shipment of weapons…
“I would vote against again, because this is the belief of the community I represent.”
Demos was born in the heart of the Catholic world, in the community of Sant’Egidio.
«Not only that: it was born from people (various Catholics) dissatisfied with a policy far from people. But we are not a confessional party, nor a projection of Sant’Egidio: some of us belong to it, others not. We were born around the values of solidarity, social justice and peace”.
And his role in the House?
“I don’t understand the scandal. It has already happened many times in the past that in the parliamentary groups there were vice-presidents of other parties! All, among other things, with freedom to vote and conscience».
It’s true: for example Diego Novelli and Valdo Spini (La Rete and socialists) at the time of the Olive Tree.
«And no one asked them to homologate. Otherwise you no longer have an ally with an identity of him, but a subject ».
You were born as a list of support for Zingaretti for the regional ones.
«We talked, we met, then Nicola said: “You moderate centrists…”. I stopped him and said to him: “Look, there aren’t any moderates here”».
Some leaders of the Democratic Party have protested that you have taken the place of Piero De Luca, son of the governor of Campania, an exponent of the Bonaccini motion.
“Another mistake. I was additional, not replacement. And this is the first to know Piero. Who has no grudge against me.’
Is it certain?
(Laughs). «Absolutely yes, I was the one who told him. I read background stories that spoke of struggles and dismissals, but as soon as I realized that a misunderstanding could arise, I immediately spoke about it in the courtroom. I will have many flaws, but I am transparent. I have only one word.”
The paradox wants Paolo Ciani, for ten days a man of discord in the Democratic Party, to be one of the most calm and anti-polemical men in parliament. A tangle of gray hair (once curly), a perennial smile, affable ways, witty jokes, he looks like a Woody Allen from Trastevere. A Catholic, a former objector, a life of volunteering, years of work with the Roma, he considers himself “radical” on matters of principle. His greatest source of pride, however, is a photo alongside a man dressed in white.
Honorable Ciani, in the image that is most dear to you, you see a curly-haired young man in a blue shirt holding Pope Wojtyla’s hand…
“That’s how it went. I was the one on the outside, in a group of six guys from all over the world who had to accompany the Pope on World Youth Day, to open the sacred door and…».
The girl who was between her and the Pope froze.
“You have to understand it. We were all excited, in worldwide vision, in the presence of a giant ».
But the Pope was looking for physical support.
“And so I reached out my hand.”
He solemnly told you: “This is the door to the new millennium”.
«And I replied dumbfounded: “Thank you, Holy Father. Thank you for spending it with the young people.” And here he, throwing me off guard, glanced at me and made a joke: “Yes, a young man: 80 years old”. In his almost imperceptible way she smiled. It is a memory that amuses me and moves me».
Was he among the Papa boys when he died?
“Certain. It was the most beautiful and largest youth demonstration in history.”
What story does she have?
«My father, born in Testaccio, had found himself an orphan: he was hired by Stefer to support the family. He met my mother while she was a union member in the CISL ».
And then his political career began.
“A life in the DC, until he became a parliamentarian, in the Margherita”.
What relationship did you have?
“We’ve argued for a lifetime, but never argued. Despite our different ideas, we respected each other: “I don’t do politics – I thought – as long as he does”. And so it was.”
And his mother?
“He came from a more “bourgeois” family. They had met at the seaside in Fiumicino. You have worked as a clerk at the post office all your life.’
You lived in Monteverde, the district of Garibaldi’s memories, attached to Trastevere, the headquarters of Sant’Egidio.
«The cases of life. One day I find some kids outside of school who say to me: “Can you give us your middle school books? It is for the children of the suburbs'”.
She answers yes.
«And those boys, who were from Sant’Egidio, answered me: “Then come with us”. I ended up in the Trullo, it was the year 1984».
He never left him again.
(Laughs). “No. And not even the Roman suburbs».
The first thing he does is a popular school.
«Among the children of the Trullo. A lot of drugs, many immigrants from the South, illiterate parents, sometimes domestic violence and at the same time an enormous hunger for life».
What drives you to make it a mission?
«The first lever is evident: it was the making of the Gospel. What could be more for a believing boy?».
And then?
«It is thought that to help is to deprive yourself of something. In reality it was me who at the Trullo began to learn from others».
Who was there who still knows?
“Everyone. Like the current president of Sant’Egidio, Marco Inpagliazzo, who is slightly older than me. And then Andrea Riccardi. founder of the community with a group of students from Virgilio, in 1968».
And one who could become Pope in the future.
“Let’s hope. You talk about Don Matteo Zuppi. For me, he is the reference of a lifetime. I remember that when he went to Torre Angela to be a parish priest, I went to see him: “If you need a hand, I’m here”. He, with his Roman dialect, put me off guard: “Then don’t move anymore. I will always need it!”
Describe it to me.
«He is a database, the man of personal relationships, of calling by name: he remembers everything and everyone. Sometimes, when he amazes me, I tell him: “How do you do it?”. He laughs: “And what do I know?”».
After high school?
“I took care of the Roma by volunteering and assisting. It was 1989 and the only problems we had were with the police: maybe for the beard or the broken-down car, they always stopped us. We tell Don Matteo about it, and he says: “Oh well, bring me a picture!”. He invents a sort of card, puts my photo, a stamp and his signature on it. I was skeptical, but it worked: when they stopped us, we showed our card. I still have it…».
University?
«I had enrolled in Economics: I was thinking of developing countries, and I was already imagining myself in Africa. But then I moved on to Literature, with Calvesi, a great professor of art history. Thesis on Science and Machines, Luddism and Don Milani».
First vote for DC?
«Nooooh… The first, perhaps to distinguish myself from my father, even at Democrazia Proleteria, the year of Paolo Villaggio’s ecological electoral appeal. Then I voted for L’Ulivo, Margherita and Pd».
The myths of his youth?
«Gandhi, Don Milani and Martin Luther King».
They tell you: you pacifists want peace, but you do nothing to obtain it.
«I remember the emotion of our first humanitarian corridor, in Sant’Egidio. We managed to get the Chaldeans out of Kurdistan from the war!”
What do you reply to those who argue that Zuppi’s mission to Ukraine and Russia was a mistake?
«That all wars end, and they end with a negotiation. So the problem is not “whether” to make peace but “which” peace. Maybe Zuppi could succeed».
They say: Ukrainians and Russians hate each other.
“All enemies hate each other! I was at Sant’Egidio when the delegations of Frelimo and Renamo arrived (the two political movements protagonists of a long civil war in Mozambique, ed). Frost, hatred, absolute incommunicability. The two delegations even entered through separate doors.
And is there a lesson?
“With our help, they reached an agreement. The lesson is: peace is a patient construction and it can always be done”.
#deputy #leader #group #vote #weapons #Kiev