The people of the wind” “

There are some 9 million gipsies (“people of the wind”) in Europe, of whom between 6 and 7 million in the countries of Eastern Europe. It’s an estimate difficult to establish with precision, but one that conveys the idea of a presence that assumes different forms. In Eastern Europe gipsies live in permanent settlements sometimes comprising tens of thousands of persons and with actual gipsy parishes to cater to their pastoral needs (cf. SirEurope 39/2002). In Western Europe, by contrast, gipsies tend to live in nomad camps. What they all have in common, however, is the social prejudice against them, which amounts, in many cases, to genuine violations of human rights. Amnesty International’s Report for 2002 cites numerous cases of “torture and maltreatment of persons of romany ethnic origin” by the police forces and by the local population in Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. The Catholic Church is devoting attention to a large part of this population (comprising rom, sinti, xoraxané, gitanes, etc.). Under the auspices of the Pontifical Council for the Care of Migrant People, in collaboration with the Hungarian Episcopal Conference, it is holding the 5th World Congress of the pastoral care of nomads in Budapest from 30 June to 7 July. Theme of the Congress: “Church and gipsies, towards a spirituality of communion”. Some 150 delegates are expected to attend, representing the over 35 million gipsies present in the world. Here are some of the questions that will be tackled during the conference. The “weak point”. “When we compare the situation with that in other countries we discover that the problems are similar. The weakest point remains, now as before, that of anti-gipsy prejudice”, explains don Piero Gabella, president of the Tzigane international Catholic Committee, which is based in Antwerp and responsible for the pastoral care of nomads in Italy. “That doesn’t mean to say that gipsies are saints, because they bring with them many problems and contradictions – he explains – but it’s not fair to place the blame on them for a large part of existing social problems”. Father Gabella, who himself has lived in a caravan in nomad camps for over thirty years, notes that “the attitude of prejudice towards them has recently worsened”: “In Italy there are town councils that are proposing programmes to expel gipsies as a pretext for gaining votes at the forthcoming elections – he says – and in Eastern Europe the cases of violence and maltreatment are increasing”. From a pastoral viewpoint this year’s congress will have to tackle some important questions for the future: with the opening of the frontiers between Eastern and Western Europe it will be easier for nomads to move about (just to give one example there are some 140,000 gipsies in Italy but between 2 and 4 million in Romania alone), so that the gipsy presence in Western Europe is set to increase. The Catholic Church must also come to terms with the uncurbed proselytism of the movement of the “evangelists” (so called by the gipsies, but in actual fact part of the Pentecostal movement in North America). “Throughout Europe mass conversions are taking place – says Father Gabella – , also because with them they are able to equip themselves with an ecclesial organization headed by rom and sinti pastors. They study the Bible and pray a great deal. This movement enjoys great support among the nomad population, which loves to conceive the faith in a “miracle-working” manner, something that is not easy to reconcile with the Catholic message of conforming our will to that of God and not vice versa. They are attracted, moreover by the atmosphere of enthusiasm and emotion that is created during the celebrations. That may mean that we should perhaps give more scope in our liturgies to music and other forms of expression which gipsies love so much”. In the south of France, for example, the richness of colours, music and dancing of the traditional pilgrimage of gitanes to Saintes-Maries-de-la Mer (attended this year by some 15,000 gipsies between 19 and 25 May), each year draws the attention of the faithful and excites curiosity among the public at large: it is a genuine expression of their Christian fervour. In each European country nomads are accompanied by priests and male and female religious who try to share their way of life. Another problem to be tackled at Budapest – concludes Father Gabella – is posed “by the frequent mobility of nomads, which risks not being able to ensure the constant presence of pastoral workers” among them.