Caritas/School of Life di don Gianni Carparelli

Intervista Toronto Diocesi

1. Caritas school of life-scuola di vita)

40 anni dalla Fondazione. A Toronto con don Gianni e famiglie preoccupate davanti a un problema che non conoscevano, le dipendenze e poi problemi di salute mentale collegati ad esse. Tra incontri settimanali con famiglie,interviste radio e TV, incontri nelle parrocchie (Inglesi, Italiane e portoghese), pubblicazioni di libri (Il primo, in Italiano, Il Vitello grasso, poi Back Home, High on Life… ed ora Dancing the Walk, che sarà presentato al pubblico il 15 Marzo a Toronto, presente don Gianni e anche una rappresentanza dal CeIS-VT dove diversi giovani si sono formati agli inizi… Conferenze a Hamilton. Montreal, Vancouver… Organizzazione di Telethon, Incontri annuali allargati con ospiti che potessero condividere un messaggio di speranza (anche don Alberto del CeIS è stato invitato…)…  residenze per uomini e donne con problemi… migliaia sono state le persone toccate in qualche modo da questo progetto.

2. Iniziato da un a telefonata durante un programma radio… una mamma disperata. Iniziammo con un gruppo di genitori preoccupati… e da l’ è poi nato il cammino… Il figlio della prima mamma dopo alcuni anni entrò in un programma in Italia ed è restato in Italia dove lavora insegnando inglese.
3. Il programma terapeutico Caritas/School of Life, si fonda sui principi delle comunità terapeutiche e il loro approccio: “bio-psico-emotionale-sociale-spirituale” come sottolineato in una recente tesi di laurea del Dr. Michael Tibollo per l’Università della California (2024). I problemi delle persone non sono solo disagi del corpo ma di tutta la persona. Come leggiamo nel Vangelo di Luca (2:52)… Gesù “cresceva in sapienza, età e grazia davanti a Dio e agli uomini”… tutto deve poter crescere armoniosamente altrimenti tutto soffre. Un programma non può essere solo medico, ma umano in tutte le sue dimensioni. E come per ogni crescita… ci vuole tempo e molto tempo.
4. Questo ultimo libro: “Dancing the Life” con decine di testimonianza di persone che hanno lottato e a volte continuano a lottare con i loro problemi di vita… vorrebbe aiutare a capire che la vita non basta viverla a casaccio trascinando i piedi… ma va vissuta con gioia e seminando gioia e attenzione attorno, per tutto e per tutti. Vivere non è solo sopravvivere, ma diventare creativi e costruttori di civiltà… e umanità.
5. L’incontro a Toronto è stato pensato come Incontro educativo… condurre le persone (saranno quasi 400) a sentire che vivere è convivere ed essere attenti ai cammini di chi fa fatica. Il libro sarà regalato per una offerta libera. I proventi andranno a sostenere un progetto a Viterbo, sponsorizzato dall’ Associazione “Amici del Beato Domenico della Madre di Dio” (APS)

Forty years ago, Fr. Gianni Carparelli started the Caritas School of Life, to help those battling addiction through a therapeutic community approach. Below, he reflects on the organization’s impact in light of releasing a new book on his work, Dancing the Walk, which will be launched at an education-raising event at Montecassino Event Venue in Vaughan on March 15.

1. Dancing the Walkwas written to celebrate life and to honour the 4o years since the Caritas School of Life was founded. Can you tell us how the organization has helped those in the Archdiocese of Toronto and beyond over the past four decades?

Since its founding, 18,000 have been treated and 36,000 family members have been helped – adding up to 50,000 lives impacted. Treatments include: a men’s bed-based program, a men’s detox centre, addiction services for women, men and women’s withdrawal management and family services – including meetings that are open to parents, siblings, friends, and spouses of people with addictions of any kind, mental health issues or concurrent disorders.

2. As you mark four decades of Caritas, can you share a few sentences on its origins?

It started with a phone call from a distraught mother when I was serving at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church in Etobicoke, Ont. Her son was struggling with substance abuse. Desperate as she did not know what to do, I made a few phone calls and from that point onwards, I decided to get involved to help those battling addiction. To raise awareness, I started talking on the radio, doing newspaper interviews, speaking at parishes – reaching the Italian community, the Portuguese community and then eventually the English-speaking community.

I began by organizing a parent’s support group, researching programs in other countries, and learned that much of Europe had adopted a Therapeutic Community approach which had existed in the U.S. for 20 years. I began nurturing relationships with therapeutic communities throughout different regions of Italy and , after personally investigating each community, I started referring Canadians in need to enroll in these programs in Italy.

3. What does Dancing the Walkmean?

The anonymous support groups say: talking the talk, talking the walk, walking the talk: I add Dancing the Walk, because life ought to be lived with joy, even when difficult to walk. The title and the cover designed by Mercedes Tibollo, a young medical student and poet (MC for the event) shows a life that wants to dance even when we are tired in life, even when we happen to fall and, with a humble attitude, we accept to walk/dance again. Many will be able to do it, with help and time, but not everybody. We in the program are like a mechanic shop: cars arrive to us broken, many can be restored and fixed, but not all of them. The approach is called “biopsychosocial-spiritual care,” designed to treat the whole person and their various facets.

4. At the upcoming book launch in Vaughan on March 15, all proceeds from donations made towards the sale of the book will go towards a project in Italy – a house for ex-inmates returning to a free life. Can you tell us about the importance of this project?

Donations will go towards a residence for ex-inmates I support with help of friends in Viterbo, Italy. Many ex-inmates are sent to “free” life: free from the chains of a jail but to be truly “free,” there is a need of a house/home that often they do not have, guidance and the time to adapt to a “free” life. They can stay with us the time needed: being introduced to school or to work (which is very difficult for them to find as people do not trust them). It is not a fundraising event – but a moment to raise awareness in a society where often we are more concerned about money than in awareness and education with the risk of having structures meant to help but with a poor vision and a poor touch of humanity.

5. For those who aren’t familiar with Caritas, can you explain the community element and its unique approach to treatment?

It is not enough to be “clean” from substances for a while. There is a need, in many cases, to reconstruct the integrity of a human being: physical fitness, phyco-emotional balance and a spiritual understanding of the value of life – the responsibility with the world and people, respect, honesty and a vision that does not exclude the OTHER. I remember what the Gospel of Luke (2:52) said about the raising of Jesus: “He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”