The recent inaugural session of the new European Parliament has led Italy’s Emmaus association to repeat a provocative proposal already made by its international president Renzo Fior and the Abbé Pierre at the international Solidarity Fair in Paris on 13 June: “Let MEPs spend at least ten days of experience and formation in one of our Emmaus communities”. The proposal is not just reserved for Italians: it is extended to all members of the European Parliament, new and old. A few years ago, Archbishop Isidore De Souza of Cotonou (Benin) spent several weeks in a French Emmaus Community and a fortnight in the Italian Community of Arezzo. At the end of the experience, which De Souza underwent before assuming the “political” office of leading his country from dictatorship to democracy, he expressed his gratitude to Abbé Pierre for the human enrichment and practical formation he had received by sharing his life with members of the community, selecting cartons, furniture and clothing, and going out with a truck to pick up the material that people give to Emmaus. “Undoubtedly at the beginning of their term of office points out Emmaus MEPs will have a need to ‘get clued up’: to get to know laws, procedures, the new Constitution, old unresolved problems… take foreign language courses, and various kinds of training. That’s why we are sure that an experience of poor and austere life, of practical work and especially of being able to share life with people suffering from difficulties of every kind, will complete, and greatly, the human and political formation of all those who have been called to administer Europe, for the well-being of everyone. It will enrich them with an experience with a strong social, political and human content”. Emmaus has made available an e-mail address for any MEPs interested in taking up the offer: italia@emmaus.it.
