Capodanno Senese 2024

The celebrations of the Sienese New Year, after the blessing of the votive candle to the Santissima Annunziata, continued at the Palazzo Pubblico with the intervention of the psychologist Franco Vaccari, President and Founder of the Rondine Cittadella della Pace Association. The theme of the splendid Lectio Magistralis, that of a model of peace and overcoming conflicts, was very important in these dire times for human society. The welcome of the Contrade, of the Mayor of Siena, of the Magistrate of the Contrade was heartfelt, profound in a silent listening to this model of integration. For over thirty years, at the Cittadella della Pace, in the province of Arezzo, an experiment in coexistence has been carried out between young people, the future political class of the countries of their origin, who have flocked here to have a two-year training experience with a strong impact identity. The first assumption of these young people is that they have enemies, that is, Israeli and Palestinian, Ukrainian and Russian, Africans of rival ethnic groups, Pakistanis and Indians, etc. live together in this place. in order to create an external physical environment and an internal dimension in the hearts of the children, capable of recreating feelings of trust, hope and concreteness. Over the course of two years, explains Vaccari, young people are accompanied in the development of healthy relationships. On the day of the Annunciation, Mary's Yes is celebrated - "history was not made with ifs but with yeses" - The first prerequisite of the journey is their adhesion, which cannot be taken for granted: the hatred instilled in them until their birth, horror, fear, anger greatly curb the desire to mix. In the past Chechen boys demanded a separate laundry from the Russian ones, so as not to mix, so as not to make themselves impure; we are not talking about cohabitation but about coexistence, about intimate sharing. The desire to give up at the first impact is real, which is why psychological work is needed that goes deep into the conscience: sleeping together to trust each other until you turn your back on them. War is not a step of politics, thunders Vaccari, but rather the failure of politics itself. The aim of the Lectio Magistralis was to explain and propose the Rondine model, already experimented in a Sienese high school: a Rondine class, with a training commitment on the part of the teachers, to form a possible coexistence resulting from the healthy management of conflicts. In fact, not all conflicts must be resolved in war; while war is death, conflict is life, it is a word of hope, as in physics it leads to the creation of new energies. The word enemy is a word that carries within itself a toxic element that closes relationships with others, relationships; we must not be afraid of differences but the Rondine model tells how we can be re-educated to transform these initial feelings of pain, anger, resentment into feelings of mutual trust fueled by a new energy. The model was welcomed with great respect by the world of the Contrade represented here by the Magistrate of the Contrade Querci, by Priori, by the Captains etc. After all, the district is the most beautiful example of social solidarity, integration, hospitality - in the common spirit of a sincere attachment to the Sienese traditions - that can be had in a city. A clean model, which resists internal and external attacks, in which the word Contrada "enemy" is purely symbolic: in practical life, during moments of real suffering, acts of support, help, spiritual and economic, display of mutual flags, special honors which is also why many districts are sister. As in Rondine Cittadella della Pace, intelligent charity has never been lacking in the history of a Sienese Contrada and certainly this model, after the splendid Lectio Magistralis of the psychologist Franco Vaccari, will be widely reflected on, explored and applied.

Valentina Niccolai