Synod: An Unexpected Guest

Luca Casarini is an Italian layman and Leftist personally chosen by Pope Francis to participate in the synod, as he confirmed on the plane which brought him back from the Mediterranean Meetings in Marseille (France) on September 23:

“I have invited to the synod a person who is dedicated to rescuing migrants at sea, he is the director of Mediterranea Saving Humans, they tell terrible stories.” 

Luca Casarini must have been as surprised as those familiar with the apostolic palaces at the announcement of the invitation from the Sovereign Pontiff. Aged 56, this political activist burst onto the media scene during the G8 summit held in Genoa, Italy, in 2001.Two months before the G8 summit, he held a press conference to launch a kind of declaration of war “on the powerful who cause injustice and misery,” announcing that he and his friends would disobey any measures by the security services responsible for ensuring protection for the heads of state present at the summit.

In an interview with La Stampa, the activist says that he is baptized, and as a child also received First Communion and Confirmation, and he describes himself as “not Catholic, but Christian” for whom “Jesus is the greatest revolutionary of all time.” Luca Casarini has been friends with the most progressive figures of the Italian clergy before getting involved with Mediterranea Saving Humans, an NGO which saves migrants at sea with the help of social networks and media coverage.

The activist is still in trouble with the law and is the subject of legal proceedings by the Ragusa public prosecutor's office, which accused him of aiding and abetting illegal immigration on September 11, 2020.