Ribbon cutting for the 22nd edition of the sand sculpture exhibition. Meeting between the city's youth and the auxiliary bishop and vicar general emeritus of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Monsignor Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo.
A message of brotherhood, dialogue and openness to others. This is what started from Jesolo during the inauguration of the 22nd edition of Jesolo Sand Nativity, the famous sand nativity scene entitled this year “Fratelli tutti” and inspired by the papal encyclical of the same name published on 3 October 2020 and signed by Pope Francis on the altar of the Basilica of San Francesco in Assisi.
The ribbon cutting was attended by the auxiliary bishop and vicar general emeritus of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Monsignor Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, reinforcing the invitation to interreligious dialogue contained in the exhibition. Particularly significant was the moment in which a group of students from the fifth grade of the Eugenio Montale classical high school in San Donà di Piave read a message of peace addressed to three friends of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith, later signed by the authorities present.
During the morning, Monsignor Marcuzzo met with the municipal administration and the students of the Cornaro, D’Annunzio and Calvino institutes of Jesolo, receiving their works, the result of an important in-depth project on the parable of the Good Samaritan conceived and then developed by the cultural association Monsignor Giovanni Marcato and the monastic community of Marango di Caorle. The bishop lit a flame, a symbol of hope, fueled by Jerusalem oil contained inside a ceramic dove donated to the mayor of Jesolo, Christofer De Zotti.
In the evening, at the end of the inauguration ceremony of the Jesolo Sand Nativity, Monsignor Marcuzzo spoke during the meeting “Where dialogue ends, there begins war” with the young people of the parishes of the coast, of the diocese and the citizens, which concluded with a torchlight procession and the lighting of a brazier by the bishop as a symbol of hope for peace.
Completing the cultural journey that accompanies the sand sculpture exhibition will be the meeting “In the dialogue of peace, the commitment of young people”, organized by the Marcato association in collaboration with the San Bernardino Institute of Ecumenical Studies of Venice, which will be held Friday 31 January at the Kursaal conference center and in which the students of the fifth classes of the Montale high school and the Cornaro institute will participate, discussing interreligious dialogue, then there will be the testimonies of a young Franciscan friar involved in interreligious dialogue in Morocco and of some young people from the Citadel of Peace “La Rondine” of Arezzo.
The artistic path of the Jesolo Sand Nativity is made up of 12 sculptures created by 14 artists from all over the world. Among these, a work depicting the parable of the Good Samaritan was dedicated to the memory of Giacomo Gobbato with the involvement of the family. The Good Samaritan is in fact the universal symbol of mercy and compassion to show towards our neighbor, whoever they may be. A figure known throughout the world, with such influence that the term “Good Samaritan” refers to a generous person ready to provide help. This is exactly what Giacomo Gobbato did last September, when he was the victim of a fatal stabbing in the streets of Mestre while he was helping a woman who was being robbed.
Mayor De Zotti stated: “The Jesolo Sand Nativity is certainly an exhibition of beautiful sculptures but it has now become something more, a real art exhibition that spreads a message, a food for thought. This is both beautiful but also a great responsibility. It commits all those who work there to do it in the best way and to fix great themes in current affairs, precisely to stimulate thought. We are proud that this year such a high message of peace and dialogue is starting from Jesolo, in the hope that it reaches as many people as possible and manages to impact consciences”.
Monsignor Marcuzzo said: “In Gaza everything is destroyed, there is not even a school left standing. Fortunately in the area of our church something is left, something still works, and there we are trying to help as many people as we can. Around our church, the rectory, the nuns’ house, something like 600 people live, next to each other, all lay people but of different religions, as in a sort of convent. Patriarch Pizzaballa managed to obtain a special permit to bring in trucks with food, some medicine, some educational means. With these supplies we are trying to help people at least not to die, of hunger or from diseases that they cannot cure because there are no medicines. But despite this very difficult situation, where October 7 represents a cause and not an effect, terrible facts that should be condemned but that represent a cry of desperation, there is still hope. People hope that all this will end and that they can live a normal life. From Jesolo, several messages leave and the first one comes to us from the sand itself: a fragile material, like man, from which we can obtain something beautiful. These statues, a Christmas. The same for man, from whose vulnerability he can draw something good”.
