It’s now more than a month since Don Andrea Gallo, the prophetic Genoese priest, died. Don Gallo’s reading of the Gospel, his anarchist beliefs, his pacifist and left-wing militancy, his work with the city’s poor and destitute and his writings and public involvement testify to a priesthood that was both committed and relevant in an increasingly secular environment.

Unlike what most prophets of doom decree, some moral juices are still flowing in our veins

While widely reported in the Italian media, the event was hardly mentioned by the local one. This is highly unfortunate given that Don Gallo’s deeds and thoughts are highly relevant to our island. I refer to three issues in particular.

Don Gallo worked concretely among drug users, without institutionalising the latter or adopting a moralising stance in their regard. (These are two tendencies that characterise a lot of institutions working in the area). Concomitantly, he vigorously campaigned for the decriminalisation of drugs, noting that illegality has two nefarious consequences. Illegality demonises the users and shrouds drugs in mystery and ignorance, thus making them attractive and fascinating.

The second issue concerns prisons and incarceration.

Don Gallo considered a pathology of bourgeois society to regard prison as a solution to its ills.

Some of his thoughts echo those of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. (For a discussion of this aspect of Foucault’s thought I suggest Meinrad Calleja’s Foucault and the Carceral System).

Don Gallo frequently pondered on the inability of prisons to rehabilitate, on the failure they represent and on the relation between the carceral systems and other social-ills (“dejection, poverty and prisons are different sides of the same injustice” Angelicamente Anarchico p79).

This aspect is particularly far-sighted with regard to dominant ideas in our society. While with regard to the decriminalisation of drugs there are voices that suggest the futility of the current set-up, incarceration is still considered by most as the only solution to a number of situations, even by those who claim to harbour liberal ideas (a feature that probably betrays the middle class limits of many of those who entertain these thoughts).

This was none more too evident than in a recent case of a person convicted of animal cruelty. The sensitivity towards non-human animals, which wide strata of society have developed in the past decades, is one of the positive features of contemporary society.

Neo-liberalism and unbridled capitalism may be eroding values like social cooperation, solidarity with fellow human beings and sacrifice. Yet, phenomena like compassion towards non-human animals, concern for the environment and the recognition of long-denied rights of sexual minorities indicate that, unlike what most prophets of doom decree, some moral juices are still flowing in our veins.

Laudably, the misdeed concerning the dog caused an uproar. Yet, most of those who showed indignation also wanted the pound of flesh. Most demanded that the courts be intransigent and that a substantial sentence be meted out.

Few considered the futility of this or the feasibility of imposing a sentence like community work, maybe with an animal welfare organisation. Apart from saving a considerable sum to the Exchequer and sparing the said individual a useless number of months behind bars, such a measure might have ignited the flame of sensitivity towards other members of the animal kingdom. It might have made the culprit a better person. But, apparently, most locals do not contemplate this option.

This leads to the third insight that is relevant to our island.

Many in Italy, including some devout atheists, tend to claim (for reasons that are not always innocent) that Italy is fundamentally a Christian nation. This Christian nature is supposedly defended by the ostentation of this or that symbol. Don Gallo used to vigorously deny such claim not merely because it is factually incorrect but also because it makes a travesty of Christianity and Christ’s ideals.

A similar claim is frequently made regarding our islands. Now, in the Gospel, the litmus test of Jesus’ followers is considering the prisoner, the poor and the foreigner as though they are Christ himself.

Regarding the first category, apart from the incarceration fixation, most locals see red at any sign of clemency, as evidenced in the popular reaction to the recent amnesty.

As to the poor, when Caritas or some other entity notes their existence and the fact that their number is on the increase, many in this supposedly Christian nation either deny these facts or else opt to blame the victims themselves.

Regarding foreigners, particularly those whose skin is dark, the xenophobia and racism to which they are subjected are all too evident.

So, rather than assisting, feeding and welcoming Christ, we demand that the key to his cell be thrown away, accuse him of lacking initiative and call him a burden.

What is more depressing is having local guardians of the sacred living in a world of their own, being preoccupied solely with festi and channelling their energies in pathetic initiatives like the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Eucharistic congress, a commemoration that did not bother even many regular church-goers.

Luckily, there are prophetic voices like Don Gallo.

Michael Grech is a teacher.