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REcall

The Silent Resistance of Priests & Nuns > A Commemoration Strategy

In Three Acts workshop Rome 8-14 September 2013 Authors : Arno Geesink Julia van der Krieke Beata Labuhn

REcall is a research project founded by EC Culture 2007-13 Programme (n. 2012 - 0927 / 001 - 001 CU7 COOP7) focused on the possible roles Museography can play when dealing with Difficult Heritage such as the ones coming from conflicts and wars. REcall wishes to envision new ways to the handling of Painful Places & Stories going behind any traditional approach: there is the need to shift from the ‘simply’ commemoration attitude to a more active involvement and participation of people in/with Places & Stories, through design strategies of ‘reappropriation’ (www.recall-project.polimi.it).

The views expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the authors and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

REcall Consortium POLIMI-Politecnico di Milano/DAStU - Coordinator - (Italy) AAU-Aalborg University (Denmark) NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway) UNEW-Newcastle University (United Kingdom) Fasltad Memorial and Human Rights Centre, Falstad (Norway) Museo Diffuso della Resistenza, Turin (Italy)

The Silent Resistance of Priests & Nuns > A Commemoration Strategy

in Three Acts

Associated Partners Ergan Foundation (Norway) Romsdal museet (Norway) Snark - Space Making (Italy) Media Partners HIC and NUNC

authors: Arno Geesink, Julia van der Krieke, Beata Labuhn

Partners Workshop Venice Biennale Sessions IUAV-UdR Architettura e Archeologia dei Paesaggi della Produzione ISVER-Istituto veneziano per la storia della Resistenza e della Società Contemporanea Partners Workshop Falstad Levanger Municipality Partners Workshop Rome Routes Agency IED-Roma La Casa della Memoria e della Storia-Roma Associazione Quadraro Associazione Ugo Forno Final Event Convenors Royal Norwegian Embassy in Berlin Freie Universität Berlin, Center for Digital Systems

Issued in April 2014 under Creative Commons: license CC BY SA 3.0

REcall

Docs

Table of contents 6

Introduction / Not New Kinds of Monuments Per Se, But a Site-Sensitive Intervention

8

Starting Point / Story 04: The Silent Resistance of Priests and Nuns

10

SISTER ACTualization

12

The Double Resistance of Priests & Nuns? /The Catholic Church and The Holocaust

15

“No” to The Martyr-Heros, “Maybe” to The Modest Heros, “Yes” to the Act Itself

17

Convents as The Places ‘Where It Really Happened’

21

47

In Search of Reciprocity

49

Who Are The Immigrants, What Do They Need and What Can They Do?

51

What Does The Neighbourhood Need?

52

3rd Preliminary Thoughts on The Commemoration Strategy & Design

A-political, Transreligious and Hidden Character of the Acts

53

A Commemoration Strategy in Three Acts

23

The Act as A Monument

54

SISTER ACTualization in Three Acts

25

The Endangered & Vulnerables of Today / Could Priests & Nuns Help Immigrants from Lampedusa?

56

Act 1/ Unfolding The Convent’s Wall - poster & sketches

60

Act 2/ Meeting in A ‘Syrian‘ Tea Garden - poster & sketches

27

In Tune with The Pope / Francis Calls Out to Convents to Harbour Immigrants 64

Act 3/ Story Telling Continues Inside - poster & sketches

30

1st Preliminary Thoughts on The Commemoration Strategy & Design

73

Pictures of The Models & The Objects

31

Memories Hiding & Unfolding Behind the Walls of the Convents 74

The Lonely Planet Guide 1:1

33

Nun-Places/ Our Research on The Convents 76

Models of The Convent 1:200 & 1:50

33

Typology of A Convent/Co-enobitic Reprocity & Fortified Walls and Inner Gardens

37

The Hiding Paradox/Historical & Archaeological Research 84

At Work

38

The Alphabetical List & Map of the Convents in Rome who Helped Jews & Others 85

Special Thanks

41

Four Days & Three Nights in Our Convent/The Building

45

The (Hi)stories in ‘Our’ Convent/ WWII-Acts as Episode in the Sea of Stories

46

2nd Preliminary Thoughts on The Commemoration Strategy & Design

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Where?

What?

How?

Why ?

Introduction Not New Kinds of Monuments Per Se, But a Site-Sensitive Intervention

Starting Point: “The Silent Resistance of Priests and Nuns“

This book is a summary of our process in finding a strategy and a design for the commemoration of the silent resistance of priests and nuns in WWII. We had one starting point and one goal. The starting point was the ‘silent resistance of priests and nuns‘ and the goal was to make a new kind of monument. Yet we didn’t want to make a new kind of monument for the sake of ‘making something never done before‘, ‘something interactive and abstract‘ as this is how ‘the contemporary art & design‘ should be. Our ambition is not to be new per se, just for the sake of proposing something new. Our main concern was to make something context-sensitive, something which would fit the city of Rome, the concrete place and the topic itself. If the combination of topic, place and use would ask for a ‘classic monument’, we would do it. We explicitly did not want to make something abstract, an intervention only understandable after a lot of explanations. Instead, the figurative, narrative, sometimes colorful and sometimes eccentric formal language of the Catholic art and clothing were very fascinating to us.

Our ideas started very ‘abstract‘ and have undergone several turns of ‘getting into shape‘. With every turn we have been asking ourselves the same kind of questions, which helped us to make more and more concrete choices. There have been four questions, which we have been asking ourselves again and again: 1. Why commemorate and for whom? 2. What to commemorate? 3. Where to commemorate? 4. How to commemorate?

As the questions repeated the answers became more and more concrete.

Our commemoration strategy aims to integrate on one side the essence of the historic topic and its future actualization and on the other side the characteristics of the commemoration place and its transformation. The first step consisted out of trying to grasp the conceptual and semantic essence of the topic. What kind of crucial characteristics, paradoxes, nuances does the topic of the ‘silence resistance of priests and nuns‘ bear?

How could this essence be actualized? In which contemporary circumstances could the historic meaning be actualized? The second step was about defining the spatial and historical characteristics of the commemoration place and the appropriate intervention allowing for a meaningful actualization. In our case it was the convent, which we investigated both as a building typology and as a concrete place on the Via dei Genovesi.

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Starting Point The Story of The Silent Resistance of Priests and Nuns The following assignment was given to us: “During the Nazi occupation, Rome is home to the Pope and the Vatican state.

There has been much discussion about the position taken by Pope Pius XII, on the papal throne in 1939, in relation to the German invaders. Two opposing theories explain the ‘silence’ of the Vatican at this time. One theory sees the Pope as close to the Nazis due to their role as anti-Soviets and anti-Communists in Europe; the other, however, explains the neutrality of the Vatican as a way of being able to stay in the city and provide clandestine assistance. For our purposes, it is not important which is the correct explanation. In the project we do not intend to discuss the higher echelons of the Vatican, but rather the dozens of nuns, priests and monks who secretly helped those in need during those terrible days in Rome. Convents, seminaries, confraternities and even places of cloistered communities, hid Jews, gave shelter to military deserters, resistance fighters, fugitive political dissidents and their families, and to the partisans, regardless of religion or political views. Some of these events, which led to the deaths of clerics and other members of the Church, are both well-known and even commemorated, but many others have remained in the shadows, similarly to a multitude of other minor acts of day-to-day resistance in Rome. Priests were considered so dangerous that the fascist political police sent their men to listen to their sermons in church to assess whether they constituted incitement against the Nazi-Fascists. Everyone knows the story of Don Pietro Pappagallo, shot at the Fosse Ardeatine; that of Father Giuseppe Morosini, tortured and then shot in Via Tasso in Forte Bravetta, accused of hiding weapons for the partisans. But not everyone knows the incredible story of Don Paolo Pecoraro who, on March 12th 1944, stood up in the midst of the crowd listening to the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, with a red flag and began shouting his protest against the Nazi invaders. The Pope had him arrested and brought to the Vatican, but only to save him from the hands of the German military. We should also not forget Don Gioacchino Rey of the parish of Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio, who was violently beaten for his outspoken opposition to the

Nazi round-up and deportation of the men from the Quadraro; he managed to ensure that the under-16s and over-60s were not taken. Many documents mention Don Volpino of the parish of Santa Maria della Provvidenza in via Donna Olimpia who took in and saved at least 65 Jews, as well as resistance fighters and politicians. A key role in this work of aid and rescue was played by all the parish priests and church members of the villages and the poorest neighbourhoods of Rome. These include the nursing sisters of the Ramazzini Sanatorium who even helped the men of the “Bandiera Rossa” partisan company; Don Adolfo Petriconi and his curate, Don Parisio Curzi, of the parish of SS. Redentore in Val Melaina who were arrested and sentenced to death, though ultima tely saved by a last minute stay of execution; and Father Libero Raganella, parish priest of the poor district of San Lorenzo. Many remember the incredible episode of the Nazis who entered San Paolo Abbey (which had taken in about 620 fugitives) with weapons drawn and took away several politicians, escapees of the draft and Jews, despite a further attempt on the part of the monks to help them escape. A special role was also played by the nuns who hid many Jewish women and girls. We mention, as examples only, the Augustinians of Santi Quattro Coronati, and the sisters of San Pancrazio al Gianicolo church . This section of the project will highlight those ‘minor’ episodes concerning the men and women of the church, Christians, Catholics, who, by acting in accordance with their beliefs, ended up tortured and/or killed. We also focus on a real and spontaneous network which allowed the refugees to escape, but also to work at organising the resistance from their hiding places in different centres of worship around Rome.”

Sources:

Photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/recall-project/sets/72157634274802457/ A map of the main places of the silent resistance of priests and nuns in Rome: https://mapsengine. google.com/map/edit?mid=znRxps0JSFq0.kNA3Wl4d60TM Video: Roma Città Aperta, Roberto Rossellini, 1945: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64MEeMYPT78 Video: La Buona Battaglia di Don Pappalardo, Gianfranco Albano, 2006 (television miniseries): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IInaJja67g

1.

SISTER ACTualization Commemoration of the acts of ‘helping the endangered and vulnerable‘ during WWII through helping the ‘Endangered and Vulnerable of Today‘ > LampedusaImmigrants in the Roman convents

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The Double Resistance of Priests & Nuns?

The Catholic Church and The Holocaust The topic of the Catholic Church and the Holocaust shows two completely different interpretations of the silence of pope Pius XII. “One theory sees the Pope as close to the Nazis due to their role as anti-Soviets and anti-Communists in Europe; the other, however, explains the neutrality of the Vatican as a way of being able to stay in the city and provide clandestine assistance. “ Our literature study has only re-affirmed the unsolvable double reading of the phenomenon. The most important thing however is that the resistance deeds of the individual priests and nuns are to be considered as absolutely heroic in either case. If the silence of the pope was truly aiming at gaining inviolability, which would facilitate the helping of the endangered and vulnerable people, then the individual priests and nuns were still running risk as much as other resisting groups in the society.

If the silence of the pope actually meant that the pope was sympathetic to the Nazi and Fascist regime, then it would mean that the priests and nuns were doing good deeds not only despite the orders of the occupying Nazis, but also despite the wishes of their own leader. In either case the individual acts of resistence by priests and nuns are to be considered as worth commemorating.

- Behan, Tom (2009), “The Italian Resistance: Fascists, Guerrillas, and the Allies”, Pluto Press, 320p - Canepa, Andrew M. (1992), “Pius X and the Jews: A Reappraisal”, Church History, 61:3, 362-372 - Corner, Paul (2002), “Whatever Happened to Dictatorship?”, The Journal of Modern History, 74:2, 325-351 - Cornwell, John (2008), “Hitler’s pope: the secret history of Pius XII”, Penguin Books, 426p.

- Foot, John (2010), “Italy’s divided memory”, Palgrove Macmillan Ltd, 161p.

- Hallie, Philip P. (1992), “Moral terror, grateful hope; Italian Jews under fascism”, Commonweal, 15-17 - Ledeen, Michael A. (1976), “Felice and the Controversy over Italian Fascism”, Journal of Contemporary History, 11:4, 296-283 - Oliver, Pearl M. (2005), “Saving the Forsaken: Religious Culture and the Rescue of Jews in Nazi Europe”, Yale University Press, 256p.

- Painter. Jr., Borden W. (1990), “Renzo De Felice and the Historiography of Italian Fascism”, The American Historical Review, 95:2, 391-405 - Pezzino, Paolo (2006), “The Italian resistance between history and memory”, published online, Routledge - Phayer, Michael (2001), “The Catholic Church and the holocaust 1930-1965”, Indiana University Press, 324p.

- Ventresca, Robert (2006), “Debating the Meaning of Fascism in Contemporary Italy”, Modern Italy, 11:2, 189-209, DOI - Visani, Alessandro (2009), “The Jewish enemy. Fascism, the Vatican, and anti-Semitism on the seventienth anniversary of the 1938 race laws”, Sapienza online, University of Rome

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Movie “Roma Citta Aperta”

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Acts of silent resistance by priests & nuns: mostly helping & hiding

HELPING & HIDING PEOPLE

SPEAKING UP

DYING FOR IT

Stolperstein in front of Pappagallo’s house. Plaque on the wall of Pappagallo’s house.

Commemoration of silent resistance: stress on dying

Pappagallo’s grave at Fosse Ardeatine.

DYING FOR IT

IMBAL-

SPEAKING UP

IMBAL-

HELPING & HIDING PEOPLE

In which ways did the priests and nuns resist? Most of the times they helped people ( Jews, resistance members, desterters) to hide or to escape.

Sometimes priests and nuns helped to hide weapons like in the case of Don Giuseppe Morosini. Occasionally priests spoke up against injustice and for the rights of the suppressed and oppressed or called out loud agaist the Nazi-regime. Famous examples are Don Gioacchino Rey of the parish of Santa Maria del Buon Consiglio, “who was violently beaten for his outspoken opposition to the Nazi round-up and deportation of the men from the Quadraro; he managed to ensure that the under-16s and over-60s were not taken”. Or Don Paolo Pecoraro “who, on March 12th 1944, stood up in the midst of the crowd listening to the Pope in St. Peter’s Square, with a red flag and began shouting his protest against the Nazi invaders”. When captured, some of the priests and nuns had to give up their lives for the acts of their resistance. These people, the martyr-heros tend to get a lot of attention. An example is Don Pietro Pappagallo who is commemorated in two movies, twice at the place where he used to live and at Fosse Ardeatine, the place of his martyrdom, where he got killed together with other 350 people. But the focus on martyrdom, a condition the victims did not choose, emphasizes dramatic punishment instead of the commemorable act of resisting despite personal danger. The singling out of the ones who were caught neglects the ones who weren’t punished for their deeds, although these unpunished ones have actually been more successful. Yet, the dozens of succesful heros stay in the shadow of history, anonymous and unrecognised. We definitely experience an imbalance here. But do we actually want to focus on these individual modest heros? It stroke us that the Catholic church itself does not really pursue the recognition of individual priests and nuns. Is the act itself not worth memorizing more? Therefore we’d rather look further into exceptionally commemorative acts of nuns and priests, focusing on the act itself.

Movie “Una Buona Battaglia”

“No” to the Martyr-Heros “Maybe” to the Modest Heros “Yes” to the Act itself

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Convents as The Places Where ‘It Actually Happened’ After our visits to the dramatic Fosse Ardeatine and Forte Bravetta, we decided not to focus on sites of capture, torture or execution. First of all these sights are focusing mainly on the ‘fall of resistance‘ creating martyr-heros. Secondly these places have no direct relation to where the act of resistance actually took place. Wanting to commemorate the act of nuns, priests and monks who secretly and successfully helped those in need during the terrible war days in Rome, we chose to focus on places where resistance actually took place; in convents, seminaries and confraternities that “gave shelter to military deserters, resistance fighters, fugitive political dissidents and their families, and to the partisans, regardless of religion or political views”. The data-research on the convents led us to many discoveries. Between October 1943 and June 4, 1944, more than 4000 of the 10-12,000 Jews in Rome found safe refuge in schools and cloistered monasteries. This was possible due to an agreement between the Holy See and the Wehrmacht. The SS-general Stahel forbade any search in Catholic places. Religious institutes were identified as “Property of the State of Vatican City “ or “Employed by the Holy See”. This measure is evidenced by a document of 25 September 1943 issued by the Governorate of Vatican City. After the armistice of 8 September 1943 there came a requested delivery of 50 kilograms of gold by Roman Jews alleged to keep them safe (this turned out to be a false promise), during the lightning raid on 16 October, thousands of Jews needed to escape. Hunted by fear and distress, men and women went to Catholic institutes for help, repeating the request until a safe place was found. Cellars, corridors, places behind doors and chapels became safe havens. Scattered everywhere Jews met in patios and gardens; careful to avoid noise or to make suspicious movements. At the sound of a siren everyone would disappear into their closets and attics. The presence of Jews became a fact in the daily life of Catholic houses. They had to be given a new name and be registered as such. To many it seemed appropriate or useful to learn prayers and hymns, as well as attend Mass and processions. Often Jewish girls and

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boys were mixed with other school children. In case of a search, they had agreed signals and gestures. Conventional expressions were used in telephone communications to alert the families, in case of an impending raid. Part of the situation was telling lies about one’s own past without confusing facts, and the willingness to eat non-kosher foods if necessary.

The children were told not to urinate with others, to say the Shema in silence and to look after their younger siblings. The strangeness of the environment created inconvenience at times, exacerbated by the fear of being discovered. Many times Jewish children didn’t even know of each other’s Jewishness. Not infrequently there was mutual respect, as well as understanding, but probably misunderstanding too. In general we can say that many Jews and other persecuted Romans were helped through means of Catholic institutions.

Literature: - Anonymous (2003), ‘Ebrei con relgiosi e religiosi per salvare la memoria:La convinzione comune maturata a conclusione del convegno promosso dagli storici religiosi’, Vidimus Dominum - Bianchi, Alessandro (2013) ‘Refugees should be housed in empty convents, monasteries, says Pope.’,

Elenco degli Istituti religiosi femminili e maschili che ospitarono ebrei a Roma (1943-44) Grazia Loparco CSR - Coordinamento Storici Religiosi

Ecumenical News, http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/refugees-should-be-housed-in-emptyconvents-monasteries-says-pope-22446 accessed on the 5th of November 2013 -Brinkman, S (2013), ‘Pope: Let Refugees use Empty Convents!’, http://www.womenofgrace.com/ blog/?p=24118 accessed on 5th of november 2013 - La Rocca, Orazio (2003), ‘Roma 1943, l’incubo di Auschwitz: un nuovo studio rivaluta il contributo di preti e suore. Così la Chiesa salvò 4 mila ebrei nascosti in conventi e catacombe’, La Repubblica

POVERTÀ E RICCHEZZA DI UNA STORIA NASCOSTA L’accoglienza degli ebrei negli Istituti religiosi. Roma 1943-1944

- Levi, Arrigo (2004), ‘Ebrei Italiani e Shoah Aiutiamo a ricordare’, Corriere della Sera, - Loparco, Grazia (?), ‘Elenco degli Istituti religiosi femminili e maschili che ospitarono ebrei a Roma (1943-44)’, ?

-O’Kane, Lydia (2013), ‘Pope’s message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees is released.’, Vatican Radio, http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-message-for-word-day-of-migrants-and-refugee accessed

AGENZIA SIR – Servizio Informazione Religiosa - 24/09/2003

on the 5th of november 2013 - O’Leary, Naomi (2013), ‘Pope says emty convents should house refugees’, www. reuters.com, accessed

DEPORTAZIONE EBREI ITALIANI: MEDAGLIA DEI GIUSTI AL PAPA"

EMANUELE

PACIFICI

(YAD

VASHEM),"LA

on: 5th of november 2013 - Pacifici, Emanuele (2003), ‘Deportazione ebrei Italiani: La medaglia dei giusti al papa’, yad vashemSantamaria, Gianni (2003), ‘Roma ‘43: 4000 ebrei salvati in convento’, Avvenire - Palmo, Rocco (2013), ‘”Our Empty Convents Aren’t Ours For Money; They’re For the Refugees”,

E’ la proposta lanciata oggi da Emanuele Pacifici, presidente dell’Associazione di Yad Vashem,

After Curia Summit, Pope takes Sanctuary With Asylum Seekers’, http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.nl/2013/09/our-empty-convents-arent-for-making.html accessed on the 10th of september 2013 - Scoppola, Petro (2003), ‘Ebrei, la salvezza venne dai conventi’, Avvenire - Vian, Gian Maria (2003), ‘Cattolici anti-semiti? Ragioniamo sui numeri’, Avvenire

EBREI SALVATI DA COMUNITÀ RELIGIOSE IN ITALIA DURANTE L’OCCUPAZIONE TEDESCA (1943-1945) SCHEDA26/09/03 RACCOLTA INFORMAZIONI VIDIMUS DOMINUM, EBREI: CON RELIGIOSI E RELIGIOSE PER SALVARE LA MEMORIA La convinzione comune maturata a conclusione del convegno promosso dagli storici religiosi

Roma (Italia), 26 settembre (VID) - C’è una storia nascosta, che deve essere ancora raccontata:

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Literature:

A-political, Transreligious and Hidden Character of The Acts; Some Thoughts on The Motives behind the Silent Resistance During the workshop week in Rome and after studying relevant literature, concerns developed regarding the motives of Italian resistance under German occupation. As the resistance was virtually non-existent under earlier Fascist rule, the majority of intrinsic motives could not be ideological. The massive increase in partisan activity in the final months of the occupation, as the Germans were conducting a very demanding fighting retreat which left little resources and attention for repression, seems to be facilitated by the permitting circumstances, instead of higher moralities. A multitude of motives for resistance could be discerned such as post-war Soviet geopolitics, securing a future independent Italy, gaining secular power, personal gain or prestige, distancing oneself from the Fascist regime, personal danger, etc. The intrinsic motives of resistance – which are susceptible to scrutiny - cannot be known by us.

Yet the priests and nuns don’t seem to driven by political motives at all, just by the moral values of mercy, charity and compassion. They equally helped Jews, German Protestant Desterters and atheistic communists from the civil resistance. Our only doubt in the beginning of the research was that the priests and nuns could use the helping time to convert people to catholicism in a way; especially in the case of small children which were taken into convents. This concern got discarted in the due course of the research as we discovered that the people (including children) who were hiding in the convents often were actually encouraged to (secretly) uphold their original religion.

Sources: - See the litarature list on p. 19.

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The Act as A Monument; What is the most appropriate way to commemorate a good act? Shouldn’t it be through its repetition? Could an act become its own monument?

While reading the text where the monastery was first mentioned ‘On contemplative life’ by Philo Judea, written in 40 AD, we stumbled upon the use of the word ‘monument’ in the context of the earliest monastic way of life: “They [monks & nuns] have also works of ancient authors who were once heads of their school, and who left behind The Nature of their Books.

They see them as monuments of the method used in their allegorical works; taking these as patterns, as it were, they imitate the practice of their predecessors.”

The monument as mentioned here is used as a template to shape the daily life of the monks who are pursuing asceticism through their daily routine. The daily routine was about praying, cooking, eating, taking care of the building, its gardens and of possible fields around it. Some of the convents had a specialization like beer brewing, wool weaving, studying, copying manuscripts, taking care of the sick, taking care of (orphaned) children, etc. If the convent had a closed profile, the work of the monks and nuns was concentrated inside the convent. If the convent hasd a missionary profile, its members were also doing charity work outside of its walls: in the neighbourhood, in the nearby city or while travelling the world.

This essence of monastic lifestyle can be embraced in our transformation proposal, to create an active but reserved way to not just remember, but to practice the venerable lessons of the past. The monument can become more than just a static place for commemoration, but form the basis for valuable action based on the acts of the past.

Sources: http://www.sacred-texts.com/gno/fff/fff09.htm

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The Endangered & Vulnerables of Today; Could Priests & Nuns Help Immigrants from Lampedusa?

This act of helping endangered and vulnerable people can be translated into similar practice in present time, which will add real value, making the commemorative lessons of the past tangible. The intended influence and moral lessons of the monument can thus become a living evolving memory, instead of a dead fabricated one. Not a reference to a fixed event, but a dynamic story to pass on. By adhering to the praised lessons of the past we can emulate and practice them on a daily basis for a greater good. If the best way to commemorate an act is through its repetition and the act is about helping the oppressed, endangered, vulnerable & socially excluded (as the case was with the Jews, the partisans and the German deserters), then we should ask ourselves.: “Who are the socially excluded of today that should be helped?“ During our wandering through the city of Rome, we have crossed paths with many vulnerable people: homeless persons, beggars and drug-addicts. They are on tourist squares, on the Termini station and in unused porticos of the hundreds of churches. Their amount was striking. Our first thought was to concentrate on the homeless and very soon we discovered that this group consisted mostly of immigrants. Most of these immigrants arrived in Lampedusa from the African, the South American and the Asian continent. After a short quarantaine period in Lampedusa, they spread over Italy. The majority of them chooses to come to Rome.

We were wondering if, like the oppressed Jews, resistance members and deserters from WWII, these vulnerables of today could find shelter in some of the approx. 750 convents in Rome, instead of wandering the streets.

Sources: - Interview with Chiara Peri on the 17th of December 2013 - http://www.imap-migration.org/ushahidi/index.php/reports/index/?c=0&sw=12.038528,33.561839&ne=16.1247307, 37.599994&s=1314835200&e=1385855999

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In Tune with the Pope; Francis Calls out to Convents to Harbour Immigrants

“Empty convents and monasteries should not be turned into hotels by the Church to earn money....[the buildings] are not ours, they are for the flesh of Christ, which is what the refugees are.”

To our great surprise we discovered that around the same time we were doing our first investigation in Rome, there was a press release on the 10th of September 2013 about the visit of Pope Francis to the Jesuits Astalli Center during which he called out to Catholic convents to open their doors to immigrants from Lampedusa.

“Disused church buildings should be used to house refugees, who must be embraced rather than feared, Pope Francis told asylum seekers in Rome on Tuesday, underlining his papacy’s emphasis on the poor and the plight of immigrants. Turning convents and monasteries that have emptied due to a drop in vocations into hotels has raised funds for the Church, but also attracted criticism. The pope said: “Empty convents and monasteries should not be turned into hotels by the Church to earn money ... (the buildings) are not ours, they are for the flesh of Christ, which is what the refugees are,” In july he visited the italian island of lampedusa, where tens of thousands of illegal migrants arrive yearly, and condemned indifference to many who die making the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean seeking a better life” [Reuters, Naomi O’Leary]

Sources: - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/10/us-pope-refugees-idUSBRE98918N20130910 [accessed on the 5th of November 2013] - http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.nl/search?q=empty+convents - http://www.womenofgrace.com/blog/?p=24118 [accessed on the 5th of November 2013] - http://www.news.va/en/news/popes-message-for-word-day-of-migrants-and-refugee [accessed on the 5th of November 2013] - http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/refugees-should-be-housed-in-empty-convents-monasteries-says-pope-22446 [accessed on the 5th of November 2013]

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Pope’s message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees is released 2013-09-24 Vatican Radio

Tuesday, September 10, 2013 [Whispers in the Loggia]

“Our Empty Convents Aren’t Ours For Money; They’re For the Refugees” After Curia Summit, Pope Takes Sanctuary With Asylum Seekers

Excerpts from the Speech on The Day of The Immigrants by Pope Francisco

Pope: Let Refugees Use Empty Convents!

Posted on September 11, 2013 by SBrinkmann [Women of Grace]

Serve: “It means to welcome the persons who arrive with care, to establish human relations, of closeness to establish bonds of solidarity. To serve means to recognize and welcome the demands for justice, for hope, and to seek ways together, a concrete course of liberation.”

Accompany: “To offer first reception services: a refectory, a place to sleep, legal aid. Accompany persons in their search for work and social insertion. Propose cultural activities, contribute to the growth of a culture of welcome, a culture of coming together and of solidarity, beginning with the protection of human rights.

Hospitality alone isn’t enough.”

Defend: “To serve, to accompany, means also to defend: it means to be on the side of the weakest. To live with more courage and generosity the welcome in the communities, in homes, in empty convents. We are in need of solidaristic communities that live love concretely.”

The City of Rome:

ROME | Tue Sep 10, 2013 3:51pm EDT [Reuters]

Pope says empty convents and monasteries should house refugees “Pope Francis said to serve means ‘welcoming the person who arrives, with care’ and ‘bending over’ those in need by ‘offering a hand’ without ‘calculation’ or fear, but with tenderness and

“Rome should be the city that enables you to rediscover the human dimension, to begin to smile again.”

‘Dirty Hands’:

Refugees should be housed in empty

“Do I stoop toward someone in difficulty or am I afraid to get my hands dirty? Am I closed inside myself, in my things, or am I aware of who needs my help?”

convents, monasteries, says Pope Saturday, September 14 2013 [Ecumenical News]

pro

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1st Preliminary Thoughts on The Commemoration Strategy & Design 1. NO to the martyr-hero’s, MAYBE to the modest hero’s, YES to the act itself It is the ‘act of helping endangered individuals’ which is worth commemorating and not the exceptional martyrdom of dying for these acts.

2. A-POLITICAL, TRANSRELIGIOUS, HIDDEN & MODEST character The character of the acts was a-political and transreligious (the priets and nuns helped the endangered individuals like Jews, deserters and partisans disregarding their political and religious background). The acts were also very hidden and actually very modest: there were no spectacular fights or actions, but simple deeds like providing shelter and food.

3. An ACT should be commemorated through another ACT An act should be commemorated through its repetition, especially according to the moral laws of the church. Therefore we aim at repetition of the ‘act of helping the endangered & vulnerable individuals’, disregarding their etnic, political and religious background.

4. CONVENTS as the place where IT really happened The best place for the act-commemoration of ‘helping endangered individuals‘ is the place where the act actually happened, that is in the convents and monasteries and not at places of torture or massacre.

> IMMIGRANTS from Lampedusa in ROMAN CONVENTS

2.

Memories Hiding & Unfolding Behind The Walls of The Convents

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Nun-Places/ Our Research on The Convents As convents were the places where the resistance of priests and nuns actually happend, we started research on the archaeology of convents and monasteries. Our research followed three lines: the research on the typology of a convent in general, the historio-archaeological research, and the research of one specific convent: ‘our convent’ where we investigated its archaeology, its architectural configuration and its (hi)stories.

Typology of A Convent/ Co-enobitic Reciprocity & Fortified Walls and Inner Gardens The organized version of Christian coenobitic monasticism is commonly thought to have started in Egypt in the 4th century AD. Cenobite comes from Ancient Greek and means common life. Christian monks of previous centuries were usually hermits, especially in the Middle East.

This form of solitary living, however, did not suit everyone. Some monks found the eremitic style to be too lonely and difficult; and if one was not spiritually prepared, the life could lead to mental breakdowns. For this reason, organized monastic communities started to be created, so that monks could have more support in their spiritual struggle. While eremitic monks did have an element of socializing, since they would meet once a week to pray together, coenobitic monks came together for common prayer on a more regular basis. The coenobitic monks also practiced more socializing because the monasteries where they lived were often located in or near inhabited villages. For example the monks of the monastery of Tabenna built a church for the villagers of the nearby town of the same name even “before they constructed one for themselves.” This means that coenobitic monks did find themselves in contact with other people, whereas the eremitic monks tried their best to keep to themselves, only meeting for prayer occasionally. So from the start, the choice to live in a segregated community to fortify their ascetic lifestyle, a direct relation with the surrounding communities was necessary. Segregation paradoxically implied creating reciprocal external relations.

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Right after its emergence as a typology in Egypt, the monastery became a safe haven, providing shelter. At first these communities were groupings of cells centered on a communal church and facilities, but enclosed walls and watchtowers developed over time and in response to raids from desert nomads. Thus the segregation of the coenobitic life was fortified in its physical protection. A notion of a religious right of asylum arose in conjunction with the physical safety of the enclosed monastery. Many ancient peoples recognized a religious “right of asylum”, protecting criminals (or those accused of crime) from legal action and from exile to some extent. This principle was adopted by the early Christian church, and various rules developed for what the person had to do to qualify for protection and just how much protection it was. It would appear that all sacred places were supposed to protect an individual to a certain extent, even if their right to do so was not recognized by the laws of the state, in which they were situated.

So from the start, the enclosure of the monastery had a dual aspect – physical as well as mental – to provide sanctuary to those in need. The physical boundaries of the sanctuary were set in markers, in the surrounding streets or on the door of the convent itself, defining the specific area of the safe haven. The asylum a monastery could provide for those in need was not just a notion, but a strictly demarcated zone, reinforced by a physical barrier. Both the mental and the physical barriers made it possible for its inhabitants to hide refugees in convents in Rome during the occupation. Still, it was not without personal danger, as the integrity of the convent was not definite and its transgression a real threat.

Sources: - http://www.sacred-texts.com/gno/fff/fff09.htm

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Historical & Archaeological Research; The Hiding Paradox As we were looking for convents where the acts of providing help to the endangered and vulnerable people during WWII have actually found place, we very soon found out why the convents were such good hiding places: they were very unaccessible. Even though we had a list of convents in which people were hidden during WWII (see next pages), the commendable stories of what happened in these places did not reach past the impenetrable walls that shielded these convents from the outer world.

Entry for non-inhabitants was not an option, so the actual place where the historical fact could be felt could not tell its story. The very walls that secured the secludedness where sanctuary could be found, impeded the encounter of the public and the material culture of the convents in Rome. Apparently the stories were known by the present inhabitants, but they were very reluctant to reveal any real information, while conversing through iron lattices. We realized that it can be of course unwise to advertise a hiding place...

In one of the places we have been extremely lucky. A sister of the convent of Santa Chiara, who also spoke very good English, told us that there was a ‘Room of the Seven‘, where the Jews during WWII used to hide and that after the war they have been sending postcards from all over the world thanking for the help during WWII. This was also rapported in the 30GIORNI journal in 2010. The sister handed even the journal through the wooden turnaround, so that we could take a quick look at the article.

Wow, the postcards would be such fantastic archaeological material! But, of course, we could not access the archives of the convent. We had to ask for an official permit.

Sources: - ‘Iron lattices interview’ with a sister at the convent of Santa Chiara.

- Baglioni, Pina; “Gli ebrei nascosti in via di Santa Chiara“ in 30Giorni 2010 nr 10, p. 57-58.

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The Alpabetical List of The Convents in Rome who helped Jews and Others

The Map and The List of the Convents in Rome, Where Priests & Nuns Helped Jews & Others

The CSR Coordination Historical Religious focused in the search for documents and testimony relating to the religious houses of men and women who hid Jews. during WWII in Rome. A given dispute is about numbers of refugees in each house, because various people took turns, did not declare their identity, stopped by for a short time, were housed in different institutions, etc., therefore the figure looks set to remain inaccurate. The proposed list is based on that of the religious houses of Rome with the number of Jewish refugees, published in 1961 by Renzo De Felice, in ‘ History of the Jews under the Italian fascismo’. Either he made use of a list received from Robert Leiber, (who was drafted in 1945 by Beat Ambord ) or the list of De Felice was republished, with some variations, by M. Marchioneand from A. Gaspari. Beyond these indications referring to the 100 houses female, 45 male and 10 parishes and dozens of other religious houses were identified between 2002 and 2008 by scholars of the Coordination Historical Religious, thus arriving to specify the address of 138 female religious houses, belonging 102 religious congregations, and 69 houses for men, 54 congregations, including some parishes entrusted to the men and some cloistered monasteries.

Currently you have ascertained hospitality offered by 207 religious houses, on about 740 in Rome in 1943 - ‘44.

00. Name of the convent around 1943/ Amount of saved Jews/ Address

01.[Da definire]/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/ Via dei Serpenti 02. Adoratrici Canadesi del Prezioso Sangue/ Ebrei rifugiati: 80/ Via F. D. Guerrazzi 03. Adoratrici del SS. Sacramento/ Ebrei rifugiati: 11/ Via A. Torlonia, 6 04. Ancelle del Sacro Cuore/ Ebrei rifugiati: 1/ Via dei Monti Parioli, 13 05. Ancelle della Carità di Brescia/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/Viale Prospero Colonna, 46 06. Benedettini Olivetani (S. Francesca Romana)/ Ebrei rifugiati: 1/ P.zza S. Francesca Romana, 4 07. Canonichesse di S. Agostino Suore francesi alla Camilluccia/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/ Villa Pacis (Via Cassia 1/a) 08. Carmelitani Scalzi/ Ebrei rifugiati: [Da definire] 09. Clarisse di S. Bernardino/ Ebrei rifugiati: 6/ Via Vitellia, 97 10. Clarisse di San Lorenzo/ Ebrei rifugiati: 2/ Via in Selci, 82-A 11. Clarisse Riformate [Terziarie Fr. Della b. Angelina]/ Ebrei rifugiati: 1/ Via Bolognetti, 4 12. Collegio di Santa Maria/ Ebrei rifugiati: 6/ Viale Manzoni, 5 13. Collegio Internazionale S. Antonio/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/ Via del Serafico, 1 14. Collegio Maria Adelaide/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/ Via Milano 15. Collegio Nazareno [Scolopi]/ Ebrei rifugiati: 9/ Via del Bufalo (o via del Nazareno 1-A?) 16. Collegio San Gabriele/ Ebrei rifugiati: 4/ Viale Parioli, 26 17. Congregazione delle Suore Betlemite Figlie del S. Cuore di Gesù/ Ebrei rifugiati: 18/ Piazza Sabazio, 1 18. Congregazione di S. Giovanni Battista (Suore Battistine)/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/Via Casale S. Pio V & Via di Santa Chiara 19. Convento del Sacro Cuore del Bambino Gesù [Istituto Bambino Gesù]/ Ebrei rifugiati: 6/ Viale T. Livio, 4 20. Convento delle Zitine (Suore Oblate dello Spirito Santo - Istituto di S. Zita)/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/ Via Boccea (attualmente Via Silvestro II, 22-24) 21. Convento di San Bonaventura al Palatino/ Ebrei rifugiati: 10/ Via S. Bonaventura, 21 22. Convento di suore sarde/ Ebrei rifugiati: Non definito/ Via di Ponte Sisto

Source: www.storicireligiosi.it/maps.asp

23. Curia generalizia Agostiniani/ Ebrei rifugiati: 22/ Via del Sant’Uffizio, 25 (attualmente Via Paolo VI) 24. Domenicane Annunziatine/ Ebrei rifugiati: 5/ Via Giovanni Lanza, 142 25. Fatebenefratelli/ Ebrei rifugiati: 46/ Ospedale Isola Tiberina Etc.

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Four Days & Three Nights In Our Convent Soon we realized that approching the convents ‘just like that‘, coming from the street would not lead us any further. Therefore we tried a different strategy. We approached centro Astalli, asking them if there were any convents that had expressed the desire of fulfilling the pope’s wish for harbouring immigrants. It appeared that there was a list of interested convents. In order to find the right place we had to match this list with the list of the convents that helped people during WWII (see previous page). Through this way we have found the convent on Via dei Genovesi in the neighbourhood of Trastevere which was occupied by only three sisters from the order Franciscan Missionaires of Egypt.

After a couple of weeks of e-mail traffic between centro Astalli (Chiara Peri), the order of Franciscan Missionaires of Egypt (sr. Paola Fortunio) and us, we finally got permission to visit and research the convent from the inside, where we were welcomed by sr. Catarina (who was our guide and host during our stay there) and two other sisters.

We have spent four days and three nights in the convent and we have been investigating the building and talking with the sisters about the history of the building, about the work they have been doing recently (providing shelter for underprivileged teenagers and pilgrims) and about the idea of providing shelter for immigrants.

During our visit the hiding paradox got confirmed again and again. The sisters were reluctant in revealing information, giving out drawings and did not want to be photographed in any case. Nothing gets out of the convent, everything stays inside.

Sources: Interviews with Sr. Catarina (one of the inhabitants of the convent at this moment) on 16th, 17th and 18th of December 2013.

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pic. 1

2.

Our Convent; The Building The convent building is a conglomeration of buildings from different periods. Its first foundations date from the end of the 9th century AD and are built together with the basilica of St. Cecilia. The beautiful tower of Santa Cecilia Basilica is spacially omnipresent in the convent (1). And the convent and the basilica are at parts interwoven. Especially in the west wing. There the chapels and supporting rooms of the basilica are coming from beneath the convent building. The convent has a secret access to the upper side chapels of the basilica (2). This is the place where the nuns used to sit and attend the mass, when the building was occupied by a strictly closed order. Nearby the tower there is a secret and heavily fortified access from the convent to the courtyard in front of the basilica of St. Cecilia (3).

Street NORTH WING All floors empty Courtyard 1

Courtyard 2

WEST WING First floor: Basilic Rooms

EAST WING

Upper Floors: empty .

First two floors: empty

occasionally pilgrims

Tower

Second floor: nuns rooms

Basilica Courtyard Basilica

From the street the convent looks completely fortified with its massive walls and heavily secured gates (4). Inside the convent a world of its own opens up. There are two courtyards with potentially beautiful gardens which lately have become heavily deteriorated, messy and unstructured (5&6). There are roughly three wings in the complex of the convent. The west wing is partly basilica and partly sleeping rooms, which are now empty most of the time. Occassionally pilgrims sleep there. The north wing used to be ‘casa famiglia‘, a place where the underprivileged children lived. There are sleeping rooms, living rooms, study rooms and outside terraces running to the second courtyard. The east wing is empty on the lower- and upper floors. The rooms of the nuns are on the upper floor.

There are many archaeological traces from previous times; the typical iron lattices through which the nuns used to communicate and the small turning basket are just one of the many fascinating remnants from different times remembering different stories (7). There are also art works like paintings depicting the stories of Santa Cecilia and the story of the founder of this particular order of Franciscan Missionairies of Egypt, who abandoned her secluded nun-profile and went on mission to Egypt where she took care of the children of prostitutes (8a+b).

3

4.

5.

6.

7.

8a.

8b

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The (Hi)stories in Our Convent; WWII-Acts Are Just One Small Episode In The Sea of Stories The monastery of St. Cecilia was built on a Roman house- and sacral remains. The monastery was built in the same time as the basilica, early ninth century A.D. and named after the Roman martyr Cecilia (193211) born in a Christian noble family under Emperor Septimius Severus.

She is widely known and portrayed as the patron of music and musicians. In the 15th and 16th century wool was made in this convent by the Umilitas Monks. After that the convent was taken over by Benedictine sisters, who took care of orphaned children. In 1935 the convent was taken over by Franciscan Missionaires of Egypt who also took care of children. During Second World War Jewish children were taken in. At a certain moment sr. Catarina said to us “But I don’t see why you are asking about these Jewish children so much. The Jewish children in need were helped like all other children in need...“ Until one year ago help has been given out to underprivileged teenagers. Now that the need for these houses has diminished, the sisters give free shelter to the Santiago di Compostela pilgrims. “It is nice to have these pilgrims who stay here for one or two days, but it would be better if people would stay for a little longer and share their lives with us and bring their friends like it used to be with the teenagers who used to live with us. And yes, immigrants would be great. Preferably mothers with children.” Our discovery here was that helping the Jewish children was just a small episode in the sea of even more fascinating stories which were hidden behind the convent walls...

Sources: - Interview with Sr. Catarina (one of the inhabitants of the convent at this moment) on 16th, 17th and 18th of December 2013.

- http://www.benedettinesantacecilia.it/ [accessed on 7th of January 2014] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cecilia_in_Trastevere [accessed on 7th of January 2014] - http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-santa-cecilia [accessed on 7th of January 2014] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Cecilia [accessed on 7th of January 2014] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefano_Maderno [accessed on 7th of January 2014]

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2nd Preliminary Thoughts on The Commemoration Strategy & Design 1. The complex reciprocity-concept of convents with the outer world The convents traditionally have a very complex and paradox relationship with the outside world; they are there because they want to be separated from the outside and in the same time they have a certain interdependence with it.

2. Heavy protecting walls & paradise-like inner garden There is a striking contrast between the exterior of heavy thick walls, and the inner soft, green and peacefull inner world which is enclosed by the walls.

3. The hiding paradox

How to commemorate a hiding place which, maybe even for strategic reasons, does not seem to want to be commemorated as a hiding place?

4. The silent WWII-resistance as one of the many stories a convent has to tell During the research we discovered that the story of the silent resistance is not the most important of the convent’s history. The sisters themselves do not see the use of its commemoration: there is somuch more to remember.

> The idea of WALLS TELLING a sea of STORIES and ‘hiding’ the story of the hiding Jews and the silent resistance within the sea of stories. > The idea of doing something with the oasis-character of the inner world of the convent

3.

In Search of Reciprocity Matchmaking of The Needs and Networks of Sisters, Neighbourhood and Immigrants

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Who are The Immigrants, What Do They Need and What Can They Do? Who actually are ‘the immigrants’? The immigrants come from all over the world. On average 10 380 immigrants a year come in over sea through Malta and Italy, 3390 from Somalia, 2240 from Tunisia and 1890 from Eritrea. [Data from 2012] There are also people from Pakistan coming in, Syrians in lesser numbers, but with the difference that amongst Syrians there are families amongst the asylum seekers. In general we see very few female immigrants nor (whole) families. The immigrants are mostly unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 35, usually poorly educated.

In 2011 the number of immigrants largely increased around the Arab Spring to a figure of 60 000, today these numbers are dropping again. We found a figure of around 30 000 for 2013. The main reason for coming to Italy (and neighbouring countries) is of social-economic nature, possible conflicts in the homeland could be considered as the final motivator or final straw to leave for a better life. At the moment there are 18 600 illegal immigrants living in Italy.

What do the immigrants need? There are different stages in their needs.

First of all they need protection: a place to sleep, medical care, legal advise and food. On the long term they need work and integration within Italian society. After Lampedusa, if they are lucky, they get into the protective stage of care for max. 12 months. They get legal advise, medical care, food and are housed in shelters. Their shelters, which we have visited, are single sex (women and men separated) and consist out of conglometartions of rooms where approx. 8 men sleep on bunk beds. If the immigrants are unlucky and/or after the first period that they do not find work and still are without a social safety net, these people fill the streets of Rome, sleeping on the doorsteps of churches, instead of inside of them.

According to Chiara Peri from Centro Astalli, the two wishes of all the immigrants is to work and to integrate with the society. When we spoke to the immigrants themselves, they reaffirmed this time and time again.

“Most of the people in Italy and Europe have the image of the immigrant who only wants to profit from the wealth in Europe. Only few people realize that immigrant soften have knowledge, talents and skills with which they can contribute to society. There are immigrants that are journalists, judges, musicians, 5-star chefs and top soccer players, who dream to teach soccer at primary and secondary schools.“ In order to create opportunities for immigrants to expose their talents centro Astalli is organizing concerts (like the Christmas concert we have been to on the 17th of December 20013) or artists networks and ateliers (like scART, which is located in EUR), but this is not enough. “We need to create more opportunities for reciprocal meetings between the immigrants and the locals.“ What non-immigrants also often forget is that integration of immigrants requires work from the side of the ‘locals’, who are often ignorant and therefore scared. Therefore the

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center organizes information sessions about immigrants at schools and brings out bulletins and calendars about the different world religions.

Chiara Peri dreams of places which would not only provide protection, basic needs and an address, but which would bridge the gap between the ‘first help‘ and ‘full integration‘; places for living, working and reciprocal meetings with the Italian society. Also scientific studies reaffirm over and over again the need for creating a feeling of ‘belonging‘. “Great attention is to be paid to the manner in which bonds, bridges and links establish forms of reciprocity and trust in social relations. ‘Syrians in Europe feel the great responsibility not to be a weight; we want to feel an active part of a new society”’ So it is crucial to create strong social ties between the neighborhood and the refugee center, where the refugee is not just dependent, but adds value to the community, where resources and information are shared in a way that is mutually beneficial.

Sources: - Interview with Chiara Peri on the 17th of December 2013 - Joint Christmas Concert of the Immigrants & Locals together on the 17th of December in Oratorio del Caravita.

- Visit to and interviews in centro Astalli (San Sabba - the first refuge house in Rome) on the 19th of December 2013 - Street interviews with diverse immigrants - Interview with one of the members of scART (the immigrants artists network): www.refugeescart.org - Strang A. & Ager A. (2010), ‘Refugee Integration: Emerging Trends and Remaining Agendas’, Journal of Refugee Studies, 23:4, Oxford University Press - Baglioni, P., (2010), ‘Le lettere di Giovanni Battista Montini, dal 1935 al 1963, a suor Maria Ignazia dei Santi Innocenti, monaca agostiniana del monastero dei Santi Quattro Coronati di Roma’, 3OGIORNI, n. 10 - Compagnone, S. et al, (2011), ‘Incontri- percorso a schede sul dialogo interreligioso- ascoltare/comunicare/confrontarsi/ valorizzare la propria identità’, Fondazione Centro Astalli - Costa, G. et al., (2012), ‘Nobel all’EU, anatomia di un premio’ et al., aggiormamenti sociali, 63:11 - Guarino, B. et al., (2013), ‘Nei panni dei rifugiati- percorso a schede sul diritto d’asilo’, Fondazione Centro Astalli - La Manna, P.G., (2013), ‘Rapporto Annuale 2013- attività e servizi del Centro Astalli’, Fondazione Centro Astalli, n.3-4/2013 - La Manna, P.G., (2013), ‘Il Natale dell’accoglienza’, Servir, Poste Italiane SpA, 19:12 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24521614 - https://www.imap-migration.org/ - http://www.frontex.europa.eu/trends-and-routes/migratory-routes-map - http://www.frontex.europa.eu/news/update-on-central-mediterranean-route-5wQPyW - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/12/italian-village-migrants-sea -http://www.imap-migration.org/ushahidi/index.php/reports/index/?c=0&sw=12.038528,33.561839&ne=16.1247307,3 7.599994&s=1314835200&e=1385855999

What Does The Neighbourhood Need?

The small organic and highly diversified urban fabric of the Trastevere neighbourhood is bustling with life: there are dwellings, shops, schools, (ethnic) restaurants, little ateliers, interesting shops and governmental institutions specializing in restoration of monuments and currently in need of people wanting to learn the traditional crafts needed for old-school restorations. Trastevere is a very ‘stoney‘ neighbourhood, there is very little (public) green where one can go and relax.

proaf

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3rd Preliminary Thoughts on The Commemoration Strategy & Design 1. In Search of Reciprocity Integration is a two-way process; with a good network and a friendly approach from the immigrants as well as the neighbourhood, a safety net could be constructed that helps people get on their feet and explore their talents. So that both the immigrants and the neighbourhood benefit.

2. What do the immigrants need?

On average 10 380 immigrants a year come in over sea through Malta and Italy, 3390 from Somalia, 2240 from Tunisia and 1890 from Eritrea. Most are men in their twenties and early thirties.

At the moment there are 18 600 illegal immigrants living in Italy.

And all these men desperately want to work.

3. What does the neighbourhood need?

Trastevere is full of life, full of buildings and people. But we are missing the green here, the tranquility that is needed to escape from the busy streets at times.

> MATCHMAKING of THE NEEDS and NETWORKS of SISTERS, NEIGHBOURHOOD and IMMIGRANTS > Adding GREEN SPACES to TRASTEVERE

The Silent Resistance of Priests & Nuns A Commemoration Strategy in Three Acts

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Posters for the exhibition.

SISTER ACTualization During WWII partisan members, deserters and over 4000 Jews found refuge in Catholic convents and monasteries through the help of dozens of priests and nuns. These priests and nuns embraced endangered and vulnerable people disregarding their political views or religion. The majority of those priests and nuns remained in the shadows of history, with the exception of martyr-priests such as Don Pietro Pappagallo, who were captured and killed because of their acts of resistance. The focus on martyrdom, which the victims did not choose, emphasizes dramatic punishment instead of the act of successfully helping other people. But how to commemorate such a hidden and silent act?

For the first monks, daily routines towards asceticism executed by their founders, were monuments which had to be maintained through ongoing repetition [Philo Judea’s “On Contemplative Life”, 40AD]. Also the act of embracing the endangered and vulnerable people by priests and nuns during WWII can best be commemorated through repetition, through helping the Lampedusa immigrants, the endangered and vulnerable of today, disregarding their political and religious background. The immi-

grants need protection, work and reciprocal contact with Italian citizens; relationships in which they do not just ‘ask and get’, but also give and share their culture, knowledge, food and talents.

The implementation of this historio-analogical idea for the program on the concrete spot of the convent on Via dei Genovesi in Trastevere, leads to three interconnected acts of urban and architectonic intervention.

First is the unfolding of the convent’s wall, which facilitates public experience of the place where the commemorated acts happened. The second act is the meeting between the neighbourhood, the immigrants and the world in a ‘Syrian’ tea garden called “Santuario”, one of the gardens of the convent which becomes public due to the unfolding of the wall. The third act is the telling of the rich, and still unfinished, (hi)story of the convent on Via dei Genovesi on a mural on the inside of the wall, in which the silent resistance of priests and nuns is commemorated as the initial point of unfolding, but at the same time as just one drop in the sea of (hi)stories which the inner walls of the convent have to tell.

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Act 1: Unfolding of The Convent’s Wall The walls that were erected to provide safety and seclusion, now make the actual places of commemoration inaccessible to the public. And on top the convents do not seem to invite meetings and integration with the neighbourhood or the society at large. As this seclusion prevents the stories of silent resistance to be told and the immigrants to integrate, the wall has to be opened-up even if the opening of the walls goes against the nature of the walled-in convent life. With this we hack the very essence of the convent’s typology, it’s seclusion. Therefore the opening gesture underlines the awkwardness of the situation. The fold, reminiscent to the articulate shape of a nun’s hat, disregards the wall’s massiveness and is torn as if it were a piece of fabric. (The gesture combines the play with the massiveness of the wall and the symbolism of a catholic uniform.) Through this operation, the warmth and generosity of the inner convent world can become a part of the neighbourhood.

People entering through the fold can experience the sanctuary within and the convent’s history there where it really happened.

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Act 2. Meeting in a ‘Syrian‘ Tea Garden Convents can provide a home, as Pope Francis expressed when he asked convents to give shelter to immigrants, during his speech in September 2013. Embracing the immigrants as new housemates within the convent continues the monumental act of helping people in need. Through transforming one of the previously fenced-off convent gardens into a tea garden where refugees share their culture, foods and talents, the paradise-like inner courtyard becomes a public oasis. Nolli’s vision on Rome’s public spaces comes true as the green carpet of the convent’s garden unrolls underneath the unfolded wall and connects the convent and the neighbourhood. The low-key encounters between the nuns, the immigrants, the neighbourhood and the foreign visitors spread the message of the need for memorialization of good acts through their constant actualization. The (hi)story-mural depicting the acts which have taken place in the convent encloses the garden and forms the background against which the garden can get filled with living old and new stories and acts of the nuns, the immigrants and the people from the ‘hood’. The convent itself, the neighbourhood and the network of the convent provide work opportunities for the immigrants. First there is the regular work which is required to uphold a convent-household like the maintenance of the building and its gardens, cooking etc. as the self-supporting convent is no longer because of the diminishing and aging clerical population. Then there is also taking care of the occasional pilgrims and the three elderly sisters, who are going to continue to live in the convent together with the immigrants. There are also jobs which are connected to the neighbourhood: the Syrian restaurant in the convent and the arts- and crafts atelier and possibly other jobs in the area. Besides this there are also opportunities within the convent’s network: other convents, schools, nurseries, courts, municipalities and a lot of individuals of all kinds.

The immigrants themselves bring in their own connections: Centro Astalli, other immigrants and family and friends from all over the world.

“At the glassmaker just past the ceramics workshop, an Afghan woman who fled the Taliban is concentrating on a glass mosaic, while across the street at the embroidery shop, Nigerian Tayo Amoo, 34, is learning the tricks of the trade from a Riace woman who originally learned her skills from local nuns.” http://www.theguardian. com/world/2013/oct/12/italian-village-migrants-sea

Riace - Good Example Like many towns across southern Italy, Riace has been deserted over the past decades by inhabitants who have emigrated to more prosperous regions.

Today more than 200 refugees from a dozen countries work and live successfully in Riace side by side with locals. The Italian state provides around 20 euros per day for each refugee to cover their accommodation, food, medical expenses, training and children’s education. Mayor Lucano argues that in these cash-strapped times, the government is getting a bargain. He calculates that per person per day his scheme is nearly four times cheaper than keeping asylum seekers in a detention center. The arrival of refugees has helped to give Riace an economic stimulus. “We’ve managed to re-open the school, put in place a micro-finance system and local workshops where people from the village work together with the foreigners,” said Lucano, who has been in charge here since 2004. “But mainly we’ve sent a message of humanity to the world,” he said. Lucano criticized Italy’s policy of holding refugees in camps, calling them “detention centers and concentration camps”. “Many people here have been given the opportunity of working again,” said Cosimina Ierino, who teaches parents to read in the morning and helps children with their homework in the afternoon. “The workshops have allowed the revival of ancient skills like pottery and weaving. They have a therapeutic role for the refugees who get busy, socialize with others and learn a skill.”

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The 1st Garden (Public) - The ‘Syrian Tea‘ Garden

Above: Santes Creus (12th century), an example of an traditional enclosed garden with a fountain in the middle.

The 2nd Garden (Private) - Fruit Trees & Vegetables

© J.C. Woudanus, Clusius Garden (1594), 1610 an example of a vegetable garden, which inspires the design of the private garden.

Underneath: Sketches for the implementation and the transformation of the traditional enclosed garden in the public garden in ‘our‘ convent.

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Act 3. Story Telling Continues Inside The first job-project for the immigrants is the refurbishment of the buildings for their housing, the refurbishment of the gardens (one tea garden and one garden with fruit trees and vegetables) and, thriving on the fine Roman tradition of painting- and sculpture craft, the co-design and execution of the mural on the inner side of the wall. The exact design, colour scheme, composition and sculpturallity are yet to be defined by the artists consortium. Depending on the technique (sculpturing, laser, painting, manual ‘printing’ or combination of techniques), the art work can be something like the Sistine Chapel of Michelangelo, a sculptural mural, the photographs manually ‘printed’ on murals by Sten&Lex, The History of Mexico by Diego Rivera, the work of the Chinese artist Yu Hong (who composes contemporary scenes according to the composition rules of renaissance and classical Italian fresco’s) or the art forms from one of the lands of the origin of the immigrants.

The only ‘fixed’ idea for the content of the mural is that it should tell

the rich, yet unfinished (hi)story of the convent on Via dei Genovesi: the story of St. Cecilia (193-211), the patron of the basilica and the convent, the Umilitas Monks who made wool there up till the 16th century, the Benedictine sisters, the Franciscan Missionaries of Egypt who helped underprivileged teenagers and also Jewish children during WWII, etc. The mural does not just focus on the dramatic acts of resistance during WWII, but places these acts in the sea of (hi)stories of this convent. The WWII act is depictured in a way which is characteristic to the topic - slightly hidden between the story of nuns helping underprivileged children. On the outside the wall is revealing only abstract figures, perforation of the parts of the figures from the mural, until you decide to walk through this intriguing opening to see what is inside. The story on the wall also tells the most recent tales of the immigrants, but stays open ended so that ‘new acts’ can be added. As the massive wall unfolds, it literally turns inside out and upside down the one act on the wall which initiated it all: the silent resistance of priests and nuns.

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Place of the opening fold = the story on the mural depicting WWII and the nuns helping Jewish children to hide.

(Hi)story of the convent (collage partly using original material form the place itself )

Wall Design Example 1

Wall Design Example 2

Traditional wall sculpture, possibly in combination with a ‘printed‘ photograph.

Laser-cut wall print.

References:

The background images are engraved.

The figures in the foreground seem to come out of the wall, but their details such as clothing and faces are engraved.

Deeper grooves.

Points of perforation (to be seen from the outside).

Reference:

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Michelangelo’s work.

The photograph manually ‘printed’ on murals by Sten&Lex in the former monastery , now hotel “Conventino” in Mentana (Rome).

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The History of Mexico by Diego Rivera

Fragment of the ceiling painting “Atrium “ (2009) of the Chinese artist Yu Hong, inspired by Triomfo di Ercole in palazzo Pepoli Campo Grande, Bologna in Italy.

Collage Referenties

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Pictures of The Object & The Models

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Special Thanks We want to thank everybody who helped us on our way during the research- and design process.

In particular we would like to first mention Margarita, the student who helped us with the first steps on our research, while we were in Rome for the first time in the week from the 8th till the 14th of September.

Every project has its guardian angel, who does miracles, seemingly effortlessly and with a big smile. The name of our guardian angel is Chiara Peri from Centro Astalli. She opened doors to (informal) meetings with the immigrants, visits to the buildings and brought us in contact with the sisters Francescanes Missionaires of Egypt in ‘our’ convent on Via dei Genovesi. Amazing.

On the side of the convent we would like to thank sr. Paola Fortunio and sr. Catarina, who have hosted us in their convent for four days and three nights and who have shared with us their stories and kindness.

Finally, we want to thank our tutors Viviana Gravano, Giulia Grechi, Irene Brown, Gennaro Postiglione and Wolfgang Weileder for the organisation, guidance, constructive critique, joy and care which we encountered from their side during the workshop week in Rome and which helped us on our way.

TheSilentResistanceofPriests& Nuns > A Commemoration Strategy in Three Acts During WWII partisan members, deserters and over 4000 Jews found refuge in Catholic convents and monasteries through the help of dozens of priests and nuns. These priests and nuns embraced endangered and vulnerable people disregarding their political views or religion. The majority of those priests and nuns remained in the shadows of history, with the exception of martyr-priests such as Don Pietro Pappagallo, who were captured and killed because of their acts of resistance. The focus on martyrdom, which the victims did not choose, emphasizes dramatic punishment instead of the act of successfully helping other people. But how to commemorate such a hidden and silent act?

For the first monks, daily routines towards asceticism executed by their founders, were monuments which had to be maintained through ongoing repetition [Philo Judea’s “On Contemplative Life”, 40AD]. Also the act of embracing the endangered and vulnerable people by priests and nuns during WWII can best be commemorated through repetition, through helping the Lampedusa immigrants, the endangered and vulnerable of today, disregarding their political and religious background.

The immigrants need protection, work and reciprocal contact with Italian citizens; relationships in which they do not just ‘ask and get’, but also give of their culture, knowledge, food and talents.

The implementation of this ‘historio-analogical’ idea for the program on the concrete spot of the convent on Via dei Genovesi in Trastevere, leads to three interconnected acts of urban and architectonic intervention. First is the unfolding of the convent’s wall, which facilitates public experience of the place where the commemorated acts happened. The second act is the meeting between the neighbourhood, the immigrants and the world in a ‘Syrian’ tea garden called “Santuario”, one of the gardens of the convent which becomes public due to the unfolding of the wall. The third act is the telling of the rich, and still unfinished, (hi)story of the convent on Via dei Genovesi on a mural on the inside of the wall, in which the silent resistance of priests and nuns is commemorated as the initial point of unfolding, but at the same time as just one drop in the sea of (hi)stories which the inner walls of the convent have to tell.