Contemplation in action

“We welcome people in our centre, not poor people. In each of the men who knock at the entrance of the Casa Serena, at any time of the day or night, we contemplate the face of Jesus Christ. Only by finding this attitude of openness and respect — because human dignity does not lessen when one is poor — can they feel at home with us”. It is with a bright gaze and a voice filled with energy that Father Sebastian Vazhakala, who recently celebrated his 50th anniversary of priesthood, spoke to our newspaper, about the way in which the men, all over 50, who are housed in the centre he created in 1978 with the Generalate of the Missionaries of Charity — Contemplative Brothers, are perceived. An oasis of silence right in the middle of the sports grounds that are located at the crossroads between Via Prenestina and Via di Portinaccio, east of ...