The rare visit of an archbishop to Bagni di Lucca means that something of major ecclesiastical importance will be announced.

Last week, in Villa’s parish hall, Castellani’s simple message to the congegations of Val di Lima was that many local churches will have to be closed down, and parishes merged, within ten years because of a lack of priests. The figures are stark: since archbishop Italo Castellani succeeded to the See of Lucca in 2005 one hundred and fifty priests have died of old age or ill health and just ten new ones have been found to replace them. Currently the seminary of Lucca, where fledgling priests are trained, has been reduced from over two hundred entrants to just five – and the majority of the novices are not of Italian origin.

Of course, those who object to priestcraft and think that the Roman Catholic Church is a cover-up for exploitation of people’s superstitions and are instigators of sexual abuse and corruption will be delighted. But that is not the point. Religion in Italy is a cultural phenomenon which permeates all aspects of life in this country whether one is a believer or not. To give a very simple example: near our village a young man some years ago fell in love with a girl from another part of the Lucchesia. Both wanted to get married and desired a white wedding. This proved to be impossible since the groom had dropped out of his catechism class, had not received the Holy Communion sacrament and was, therefore, ineligible for a church ceremony. Much against his instincts, but realizing that the respective families would have felt done out of a ‘proper’ wedding, the groom, in his twenties, re-attended catechism classes, fortunately this time with a more personable priest, and a white wedding was able to be celebrated.

Of course, social change, anomie and immigration in Italy’s big cities are changing the picture but it still remain true to state that belief in the Holy Family, and particularly the Madonna, is at the heart of the majority of social nuclei in this country.

Furthermore, the largest part of Italian artistic creation, some of the highest order the world has known, has been sponsored by ecclesiastical institutions.  I am not just referring to the great fresco cycles, like Michelangelo’s in Rome’s Sistine chapel, or the wonderful basilicas and sanctuaries that grace our landscape. Even Longoio’s little church has a beautiful seventeenth century altarpiece which would be extolled by the UK’s National Trust but is here just another humble example of religious manifestation.

Who would look after or even be able to think of looking after such a heritage? Up to now it’s been the priests with their acolytes, parishioners and volunteers. What would happen if the last priest vanished from the Controneria countryside? How could one commemorate the annual saint’s day festivals with their colourful processions, their elaborate church displays and their joyful celebrations? Are we really beginning to see something as drastic as that which happened with the dissolution of the British monasteries under Henry VIII – the overnight sweeping away of centuries of history, tradition, artistic creation and literature?

This picture’s paint is even bleaker when one considers that, of the priests left to serve the community, few are below the age of sixty.

Of course, the Church has exploited the naivety of the faith of many locals in the past, burnt heretics, forced women into nunneries, abused the young etc. but it has also helped social cohesion (‘Vox Populi Vox Dei’) and provided education and social care.

The only religion that is growing in these parts is that which has roots outside Europe. The Muslim community is ever clamouring for more spaces in which to practices its faith. (See my post on the Florence mosque at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/01/10/a-mosque-for-florence-una-moschea-per-firenze/ ). If the picture does not change regarding priesthood recruitment are we to expect what is happening to several cities in (e.g.) the UK: the sale of churches to other convictions? In that country, for example, 500 churches have closed down since 1990 and 423 new mosques founded, over half of which use converted ex-Christian churches. The landscape of Birmingham is now increasingly dominated by minarets rather than by spires and, regrettably, British multiculturalism is giving way to Islamic fundamentalism as the phenomenon of ‘foreign fighters’ has demonstrated.

What is the answer to all this? My solution would be the following:

1. The setting up of an effective government, business and church financed body to look after closed or abandoned churches rather in the style of the Redundant Churches Fund in the UK.
2. The encouragement of young people who are believers in the Roman Catholic Church to participate more fully in its liturgy. This is already taking place in the case of a local young Religious Instruction teacher who assists the priest in the Mass and conducts a church choir. Could not these young persons conduct more of the church service like a ‘Diacono’ or Deacon? (A ‘Diacono’ is a layperson who is able to celebrate the Mass without blessing the Host, which must be sanctified by the priest).
3. Could not ‘Diacono’ qualifications be extended? (For example, married men can become ‘Diaconi’ but single men can only be ‘Diaconi’ provided they remain unmarried). Also, in this age of gender equality, why can’t women become ‘Diaconi’?

Regrettably I see, if the Church does not move forwards and grasp the nettle, a scenario where. perhaps by the end of the next century, churches in our valley will either be turned into perpetually locked-up museum pieces or have their campaniles converted into minarets to cater for the increasing Islamic community and the Val di Lima may echo to the call of the muezzin rather than the ring of bells. It happened in 1453 when the cathedral of Santa Sophia in Constantinople was converted into a mosque in its renamed city of Istanbul and it’s happening in many parts of the UK today. So why shouldn’t it happen here in the Val di Lima (or rather, why mustn’t  it happen…)