The Catacombs of San Gennaroa historic place in Naples and in particular in the “difficult” Rione Sanità neighborhood, were closed until 2008. If today we can enter and visit them it is largely thanks to Don Antonio Loffredoparish priest of the Rione Sanità and founder of the social cooperative “The fish” which – among other things – restored and reopened the Catacombs to the public, as well as having contributed to the revival of the Neapolitan neighborhood and the recovery of its spaces for social and cultural projects to return them to the population also thanks to the involvement of many young people.
It is precisely in the evocative setting of the Catacombs of San Gennaro that we spoke with Don Antonio starting from 6 keywords we are also particularly fond of Geopop: unhinge, squad, culture, accessibility, study and excellence. We asked him to tell us his story, his commitment to “La paranza”, the involvement of the children of the Rione Sanità, but also the greatest difficulty he encountered on his journey (spoiler: the bureaucracy) and the ways in which he managed to involve young people in the neighborhood.
Our interview begins with a phrase that unfortunately is heard too often: “It’s always been done this way”. An attitude of inertia that must be countered if we want to create something new and useful for the community. And that’s exactly the concept of communityas a team, a key to Don Antonio’s work in the recovery of a territory, taking advantage of the bonds already woven and channeling existing feelings into something beautiful and important. Another fundamental tool for undermining harmful dynamics is, according to Don Antonio, that of culturewhich “yes through study, but also through experience”, because it is new experiences that open the mind to dreams and possibilities. A crucial theme in the recovery work of “La paranza” is that ofaccessibilityin particular giving new life to abandoned and unused spaces, thus returning them to citizens.
But how is all this done? According to Don Antonio, it study and the passion they are the engine that keeps the machine active that allows you to achieve your goals, despite all the inevitable difficulties. In the case of “La paranza”, the best results are driven by values such as circular economy, respect for places and above all pay attention to peopleespecially the most fragile ones.
