Don Ciotti to the LGBT Christians of the ford: "Thanks for the contribution you have given and you will continue to give to the Church"

From the preface by Don Luigi Ciotti* to thener "The time of waiting was made. Short history of the Guado and of Christian homosexual groups in Italy in eight stages and in sixteen texts", edited by Gianni Geraci, December 2020, page 3

When, in 1977, I met Ferruccio Castellano,the Ford it seemed impossible. There were homosexual people of Catholic faith, on the one hand. And the Church on the other: not only the institution Church but the ecclesial community in its almost total wholeness. In the middle, an impetuous river of misunderstandings, prejudices and fears that seemed precisely to mark an insurmountable border between one and the other.

It was thanks to the patient and determined work of people like Ferruccio if in the following years it was possible to throw boulders into the river, so that one step at a time - uncertain steps, slippery, sometimes even false steps - those two worlds could meet. Not everyone understood that those stones were thrown to listening and meeting purposes, not clash.

Not everyone had the strength to get up after the inevitable falls in the icy waters of indifference or condemnation. Unfortunately, Ferruccio himself at a certain point left us, overwhelmed not only, but also, by the labors and disappointments of a path as adventurous as, at times, bitter.

Your group was among those who first and with greater sensitivity and foresight wanted to believe in the possible landing on the other side. In the possible welcome by a church finally ready to interpret the Gospel as a radically inclusive word. And I am grateful to you for the commitment that in these 40 years you have put in involving more and more people, in knocking on many new doors - as those who are badly closed in the face! - In throwing seeds of trust where there were only skepticism and mutual distrust.

"For us - reads this beautiful collection of writings - The other bank above all means a liberation landing, a land where you can live a love purified by selfishness and all ambiguity. (...) There is for everyone another bank to go, together possibly, because so fatigue becomes lighter and, if one stumbles, can immediately find help."

The universal value of this message affects me. I am striking to understand, in the words chosen to rework your experience, an indication valid for anyone who wonders about the value of dialogue, of authentic relationships, of transforming the accidental path of the ego into an exciting journey of us.

Thanks for your delicacy, your perseverance, your generosity in welcoming to accompany the labors, doubts and hopes of so many people. Thanks for the contribution you have given and you will continue to give to the Church.

* Presbyter of the diocese of Turin. He founded the Abele and free group of which he is president.

Read the ebook> "The time of waiting was made. Short history of the Guado and of Christian homosexual groups in Italy in eight stages and in sixteen texts", edited by Gianni Geraci, December 2020, 32 pages (PDF file)