Word: francesco
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...whole, the battle was going badly. Few & far between were Catholic organizers who reached the Italian people with the zeal, organizing ability and imagination of Don Francesco Miconi, parish priest of Riofreddo, a village of 914 souls, high up in the Apennines. TIME Correspondent William Rospigliosi cabled the following account of how Don Francesco went forth to battle...
...imperious nose resembling a mountain bird's beak, Don Francesco majestically strides along under an immense faded green umbrella; its edges are much frayed by rubbing against the grey stone walls that lean over the narrow, cobbled streets. Shepherds, wrapped in lambskins, and black-shawled women bow low to let the priest's umbrella sweep over them as he sails by. "God be with you, Don Francesco," say the men. "God preserve you and us," say the women...
...priest's answer varies. For those who "are strong in the faith," he has a smile and words of encouragement. "We shall win the elections with God's help-it's Christ against Mammon." But encountering one whose faith he judges to be wavering, Don Francesco, with a flick of a powerful wrist, lowers the umbrella on the miscreant's head. "You didn't come to the theater last night, Nicola," he says, or "Agata, your girl hasn't learned her lines...
These are somewhat unusual admonitions from a priest. The explanation is simple: together with the local schoolmaster, Giorgio Rainaldi, Don Francesco has gone into business as a theatrical producer. Said Rainaldi: "We must defend ourselves from Communism through happiness. . . . 'Servite Domino in laetitia' ('serve the Lord with gladness...
Nails in a Good Cause. The youth of Riofreddo, who had feared that Catholic Action would be rather dull, loved the idea. The reluctant few were convinced by the monitory appearance of Father Francesco's green umbrella before their doors. Arturo Vasselli, the carpenter, volunteered to construct a rough stage in a barn. The play chosen was Le Pistrine (the name of the prisons where early Christian martyrs waited their turn to be thrown to the lions...