BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPPRESION AND THE YOKE OF ...

seeking 2. It has become much more complicated to renew the right of residence, which
is why some people already living legally in Italy will again become “illegal”.
3. The ships which want to put in at the Italian coasts can be turned away due to
the new measures: How can one then differentiate illegal immigrants from
political refugees if the ships cannot land on the coasts?
Question: In August 2009, the Synod of the Waldensians clearly demonstrated
with a fast to show solidarity and explicit statements its opposition to the
Italian government’s new laws which were particularly sharply directed against
refugees and those seeking political asylum. What part do refugees play in Italian
society?
Maria Bonafede: A fundamental role has been acknowledged and it is indisputable
that the immigrants are put into the areas of work in industry, trade
and agriculture for which no indigenous workers are available. If it were not for
the immigrants many branches of industry would have to close. Over and
above this there is the large sector of so-called “watchers” or “companions”, i.e.
the domestic helpers who care for the older Italian population whose numbers
are steadily increasing. Here we are talking above all of Russian, Polish and Rumanian
women but also of women from Latin America and Africa who perform
a job which demands sensitivity and is indispensible. It is so indispensible
that two months after the announcement of the “security package” the government
had to create a special regulation to extend the deadline for normal registration.
Question: In a report on the Synod it is said that the increase in the number of
refugees has also �had an �effect �on the Waldensian � congregations. � How is this to
be understood?
Maria Bonafede: Many immigrants – particularly those from Africa but also
some from Latin America – are by origin Protestants (Presbyterians,
Methodists, and Baptists) and when they arrive in Italy they encounter Pentecostal
congregations with whom they then live the faith and visit the services.
On average they need two to three years before they discover the existence of the
historically-rooted Protestant churches which are rich in tradition; but when
they do find them they come immediately in large numbers. Some Waldensian
and Methodist congregations in the north-east of Italy (in Lombardy, Veneto
and Friuli) have numerically trebled or quadrupled thanks to the foreign believers.
Small congregations whose Sunday Schools were visited by only a handful
of children suddenly had fifty new children in their ranks. In some cases the old
church buildings were too small and they had to rent or buy new premises.
There is now also a new intercultural further education – both for the natives
and the immigrants. This is indeed a phenomenon which we consider a gift
from heaven, on the other hand it needs an immense effort of intercultural me-
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– „SEARCHING FOR WHAT IS BEST FOR THE CITY“ –