Mercy

“May the message of mercy reach everyone, and may no one be indifferent to the call to experience mercy” wrote Pope Francis in the Bull of indiction of the extraordinary jubilee of mercy. On this issue I tried to represent the condition of the poor and homeless in Verona, the city where I live. Verona is a city of 260,000 inhabitants (roughly 1 million for the whole Province) in the north-eastern part of Italy (Veneto Region), fourth tourist city of Italy, known to the world for the Roman amphitheater called "Arena" - in which every summer an important opera season is celebrated - and for the Shakespeare’s history of “Romeo and Juliet”. Despite its positive numbers (second Italian city for economic well-being, first in the Veneto and eighth in Italy for businesses with more than 250 employees, first university in the national ranking, etc.) the city suffers from a hidden presence of poor people who have grown up in recent years following the economic crisis and immigration of refugee populations from North African countries. Welfare organizations, such as Food Bank, canteens of the poor carried out by religious institutions and volunteer associations, distribute everyday meals to the poor and homeless (more then 250.000 meals a year). A parallel world, often hidden, moves and lives in the same city. The images in the exhibition were taken in the convent of "Barana", governed by the Fraternity of Bethany that runs a canteen of the poor, and along the streets of the city where the crew of "La Ronda charity" administers the daily meals to the homeless. Last images were taken during the day. This is my little sign to remind the observer the complexity of today's life.