Living the Gospel in the town council

I’ve always had a strong attraction towards social and political involvement. And so, even though it has meant some sacrifices, I have been mayor of my town for the past ten years. The first difficulty that I encountered concerned the relationships with the councillors of the opposition. Barriers had been created on the one hand by a biased opposition, while for our part we used obstructionist tactics to make life difficult for the opposition councillors by withholding information from them and hindering their participation in the decision-making processes. All this came to a head when I was denounced to the magistrate’s tribunal for a supposed violation of the laws relating to the employment of workers. This was because the town council advertised jobs for businesses operating in our area. A little bit fearful, I attended the tribunal, and after having explained exactly what the situation was, the judge not only let me off, but actually praised me for my wanting to help the local people.
On my way home, I thought of taking revenge by publishing a leaflet to be distributed to all the houses and perhaps by writing an article in the local newspapers to get my own back on the opposition.
At about that time, I received an invitation to take part in an international convention of the Focolare Movement in Rome. I had already had contact with the Movement but I kept my distance. The theme on the convention was: "A Culture of Peace for the Unity of Peoples". I decided to go.
There were more than two thousand participants from all over the world. I was particularly struck by the fundamental theme which emerged from all the talks and the various experiences: in order to build unity among people and peoples, there has to be a culture of peace in our hearts, built on sacrifice and through renouncing every claim to self importance and affirmation of one’s ideas at the expense of others.
I returned home wanting to contribute to bring about unity in my town council and I resolved to do something to start the ball rolling. The leaflet, which was already at the printers, was torn up and thrown away. Instead I began trying to build different kinds of relationships with the councillors of the opposition. Ill will and arguments were replaced by supplying them with accurate information, by offering them genuine possibilities for carrying out their administrative mandate as well as possible, by trying to see the positive aspects of their submissions, by involving them in important decisions.
I found great help in doing this through sharing my difficulties with others involved in local government administration who also adhered to the spirituality of unity of the Focolare Movement.
The atmosphere in our council meetings underwent a profound change. There were no more blood battles; these were replaced with an open dialogue and peaceful consultation. Sincere personal relationships were built and we even reached the point of almost always having unanimous votes in our council meetings, although the freedom and autonomy of each one was fully respected. And so it became much simpler to govern the town and to respond adequately, and without delay, to the needs of our people.
Administering the budget of a town council is always very difficult - the funds are limited and choices have to be made concerning priorities. At one stage we had the idea of proposing projects which went against the current of the general mentality and to spread a ‘culture of giving’. How could we do this?
Legislation had recently been passed allowing town councils to set aside part of their income to finance development projects in third world countries. We realised this was one way open to us. Through this we could help the citizens understand that it was right to take a part, even though a small part, of the communal resources and assign them to developing countries. And so we proposed, and then partially financed, a project to build a social welfare centre in the Amazon. Then the following year, we did the same for a civic centre for a tribe of Indios. Now the town council has unanimously decided to link up with a sister city – a little town in the mountains of Bosnia – and contribute funds for its reconstruction. The ‘culture of giving’ is going ahead.
Another important moment was the verification of projects in favour of the family. We realised that often we say a lot of wonderful things, but very little is actually put into practice, so to start with we looked at the problem of housing. In just a few years, thanks to our rebuilding plan and other projects, we have built dozens of houses for the marginalised. We realised, too, that there is still a lot to do for families supporting disabled members: these are often difficult and complex situations which are not easy to solve. We have injected funds into some educational services, such as school books, canteens, transport, and into some specialised rehabilitation centres.
There are not many families in this situation but we believe that by offering them community support – financial and otherwise – we are spreading an important message to the wider local community.
We also introduced a ‘school voucher’. What this means, in effect, is that families in the lower income bracket, with a number of children attending school (from kindergarten through to university), receive a contribution to help pay for books, fees, transport, school lunches and so on. This is a very practical way of giving support to families. These may be small steps in a small town, but they represent a tangible proof that the spirit of the Gospel always wins out and it is capable of offering practical solutions to every problem and in every situation. Love bears fruit even in politics.

Luigi L. (Italy)