Italy: Pope blesses violin made from shipwrecks washed up in Lampedusa

The

project is aptly named.

Located between Malta and Tunisia, the small Italian island of Lampedusa, with an area of ​​only twenty square meters, sees hundreds of migrants landing on its beaches every year.

Coming from North Africa, they cross thousands of kilometers in wooden boats, the remains of some shipwrecks of which have been reused by prisoners to build a violin.

An initiative welcomed by Pope Francis at the Vatican.

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This project aims to

poet and philanthropist Arnoldo Mondadori explained to

, one of the co-founders of the Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti foundation, at the initiative of the project.

An initiative which also makes it possible to

of the prison of the Opera, located on the outskirts of Milan.

But he didn't really know what to expect.

, assures the president of the foundation, which has been working since 2012 to support prisoners, migrants and marginalized people in their professional integration, while offering them a spiritual and religious path.

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: trompe l'oeil of a shipwreck on the banks of the Seine

In illustration, the workshop of lutherie in the prison of the opera, located in the suburbs of Milan, in Italy.

Fondazione Casa dello Spirito e delle Arti

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Nicknamed the

, the object received, on February 4, the blessing of Pope Francis at the Vatican.

The pontiff praised once again the Christian value of the craft activities of the prisoners, since in addition to the musical instrument, the prisoners work regularly in the manufacture of wine and bread for the Eucharist.

, ”he continued.

After these few words, Carlo Maria Parazzoli, the first violinist of the National Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, played the

(

) by Nicola Piovani, using the newly created violin.

Then a young orchestra took over by performing an air of music to Pope Francis.

Read alsoMore than 1,400 migrants arrive on the Italian island of Lampedusa

Wishing to be part of an educational project, the foundation wishes to make this instrument a meeting point between the different European countries.

A decision that manifested itself two decades ago, when the co-founder of the foundation saw the island with his own eyes.

,” he said.

Read alsoItaly: a humanitarian ship forcibly docks in Lampedusa

Eight years later, the first work of art was made there, by one of his colleagues, the Italian painter and sculptor Mimmo Paladino.

Baptized

the five-meter-high yellow arch represents for the artist a space of welcome and hope for migrants, recalling the castaways who disappeared from the Mediterranean.

In 2013, the Argentine pontiff also visited the island to salute the creation of the famous

, by the carpenter Francesco Tuccio, made from the wood of shipwrecked migrant boats the same year.

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After the prison environment, this initiative is intended to spread to other sectors.

,” explains Arnoldo Mondadori.

He continues to work with inmates in making new violins, cellos and viols, and hopes to put together a string quartet by December.

According to the foundation, this will make it possible to transmit through music

”, in order to tell the world

.