Mothers who rebel against the mafia
These are special people who were received by Pope Francis on Monday. People who are scarred by their past and have made courageous decisions with serious consequences. We are talking about women, daughters and sons from mafia families who have turned their backs on them. Pope Francis paid tribute to their step and their courage with these words: "You, ladies, were born and raised in a mafia-infested environment and have decided to leave it. I bless this decision and encourage you not to give up."
Names of those present may not be mentioned. Interviews are also not permitted; even the smallest detail could inadvertently reveal the place where some of these women are staying with their children and cost them their lives. Because you don't get out of the mafia just like that. Even if you are "only" the daughter or wife of a mafioso and have done nothing wrong yourself, you remain in the clutches of the Mafia, Camorra or 'Ndrangheta for life unless you summon up all your courage and break free.
Already a minor in prison
Like Daniela, for example, who tells her story in a video on the Libera website. The name is made up, the voice is distorted and she cannot be seen. The Libera association, which was founded in 1995 by the priest Don Luigi Ciotti, is the epitome of the fight against the mafia. "Liberi di scegliere" is one of the association's many projects aimed at preventing people from falling into the clutches of the mafia in the first place or escaping them. Translated, this means "free to choose". The project supports young people and women who want to turn their backs on the mafia.
"The impetus came from Judge Roberto Di Bella when he was still President of the Juvenile Court in Reggio Calabria," Don Giorgio De Checchi, coordinator of the project, tells ntv.de. "He had seen the fathers in prison, now it was their sons who were already behind bars, not even of legal age. He wanted to offer these young people an alternative. Instead of ending up back in the same environment after their release, he offered them accommodation far away from home, in a different region, where they could get their lives back on track."
Libera then came into play to implement the idea. Over time, this in turn led to women, especially mothers, turning to the association and asking for support because they wanted a different life, mainly for their children. The "Liberi di scegliere" program is funded by the Italian Bishops' Conference.
Daniela says in the video: "I am a woman, but above all I am the mother of my three children." She decided to take a new path when her husband was murdered by the mafia. As he himself was part of the system, "he cannot be described as a victim". It was his murder that opened her eyes, she continues. "Until then, we simply didn't register our surroundings and the brutality. We were blindfolded. We were brought up to see nothing, say nothing and hear nothing. (...) Their[meaning the mafia, editor's note] goal is to have complete control over us, both mentally and physically." For two years, she knocked on the doors of parishes and asked for help, to no avail. It was only when she met Don Ciotti and Libera that she was able to leave with the children.
Daniela and the other women who managed to free themselves and their children are now safe, but this does not necessarily mean that they have a new, self-determined life.
Of no use to the state
Don Ciotti raised the issue during the visit with Pope Francis. He said that some of those present had already had to change their secret place of residence because the family of origin had tracked them down and threatened them. The priest appealed to politicians to finally pass a law that would also grant these women and their children a new identity and thus really make a new life possible for them. This is already the case with mafia witnesses and "pentiti" - mafiosi who have decided to cooperate with the justice system.
"Today we live, or rather we survive," Daniela continues in the video. "We hide and no longer have an identity. My daughters sometimes ask me why they have to live like this, because we haven't done anything wrong ourselves?" It is difficult for children, and especially teenagers, to come to terms with this new life, to understand how much their mothers have struggled and are still struggling not to follow in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers. "At the moment, thanks in part to Libera, I have won," Daniela concludes. "And I hope to be able to proudly maintain that in the future." But now it's also about being able to lead a normal life, because: "We want to live!"
As cynical as it may sound, Don Giorgio explains, as these dropouts are neither witnesses nor pentiti, they are of no use to the state and therefore fall outside the scope of the protection programs. A legal vacuum that sometimes also causes difficulties for the security forces. In the case of particularly vulnerable women and their children, it is the Libera association that provides safe accommodation - including monasteries - and ensures that the children go to school. "We then contact schools via the Ministry of Education, or school administrators who are involved and register the children under a different name." But, as Daniela says in the video, this is survival, living is different.
- Despite the protection offered by organizations like Libera, women and children who leave the Italian Mafia often face threats from their family of origin, making it difficult for them to establish a new identity.
- The Italian Mafia, such as the Camorra or 'Ndrangheta, exerts control over its members and their families, even those who wish to escape, as they see them as assets and potential threats to their power.
- Pope Francis has described mothers who rebel against the mafia as courageous individuals who have made significant sacrifices for their children, often risking their lives to leave the mafia-infested environment.
Source: www.ntv.de
