Vittorio Sgarbi, Italy’s maverick art critic is quite correct when in a recent interview he stated that his country, supposedly with one of the highest youth unemployment figures in Europe, has in fact over 200,000 job vacancies for them. What’s more these vacancies come with board and lodging included, free holidays, ample clothes allowance and a beautiful artistic building not just to live in but to carry out one’s work. All training is free of charge and is accomodated in wonderful ancient buildings with some of the world’s finest libraries.
The job vacancies themselves carry status and respect. They are attractive to non materialists and humanitarians and, what’s most important today, none of them carry zero hour contracts. They are, indeed, jobs for life.
This type of job has such good conditions of service that it is attracting thousands from other countries, especially south asia and africa.
What is this job shunned by the majority of unemployed italian youth?
Why, a career as a priest in the Roman Catholic church! Of course, Sgarbi is being a little tongue in cheek about all this but he does have a point. Italy’s great artistic heritage with its wealth of glorious but unmanned churches needs to be protected and there is an alarming shortfall of priests to do this.
‘Manned’ is the problem. Churches should be womaned too and the profession, or vocation, as it more aptly is called, needs to fight against gender discrimination which was only adopted in the fourth century.
If not priests then catholic deacons can marry so even that little problem can be circumvented.
Don’t let’s us pray for more vocations. Let’s advertise them boldly and stop italian youth going abroad to earn their daily bread. Now am I becoming a little Sgarbian too in my idea?
Ps If you like to travel and love the simple life then why not become a Franciscan friar? For those preferring more solitude then there’s nothing to beat becoming a Carthusian monk.
And if you’re not sure if God exists or not take up Pascal’s wager. He says believe in God. If God exists then you’re fine. If he doesn’t you’re still ok. After all by keeping to the ten comandments and loving your neighbour you’ve still led a worthy life on this planet.
Maybe Pope Francis should enter into this idea of creating a new body of priests and priestesses and why not create a new order such as a married order into 21 century living not unlike the Anglican married priests which works admirably well. I fear that the archaic Catholic Church mentality could well create gloom and doom fo Catholiscism and its Churches not only in Italy but in other parts of the world too. In fact a local lad not so long ago felt he had the vocation but left the seminary in preference to his beloved lady but still does service to the Catholic Church in other ways. Why not view the Anglican model and give it a try!
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