My positive experience of integration
Fr. Rodrigue Ogan Akakpo, priest from Togo and director of the Migrantes Office of the Ferrara-Comacchio Diocese, tells spazio + spadoni about his experience
I am Fr Rodrigue Ogan Akakpo, I come from Togo and I am currently parish priest of Codifiume and Director of the Migrantes Office of the Archdiocese of Ferrara-Comacchio.
All those who leave their country to go to another as migrants will always make comparisons and comparisons, which are not always easy to accept, but my main goal from the beginning has been integration.
I devoted myself day and night to learning the Italian language. The great success I achieved in this regard was that I obtained my license in spiritual theology, writing my thesis and discussing it in Italian. Another result of much study was obtaining a driver’s license, so I gained autonomy in travel.
Food was another stumbling block, because I realized that in Italy the table is important for socializing and a lot of time is devoted to it, going beyond the purpose of mere nourishment.
It should be emphasized that there is no integration without teaching and support, both moral and material.
From this point of view, my experience is positive.
I landed in Ferrara through contact with the Mother General of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family Sister Simona Pigozzi. When I was welcomed to the seminary by the then rector Monsignor Mario Dalla Costa, a volunteer, Mrs. Maria Pia Piazzi, took care of my personal clothing and made me practice with the Italian language.
The second rector, Msgr. Emanuele Zappaterra, allowed me to continue my theological studies by enrolling in the Triveneto Faculty in Padua.
Msgr. Marino Vincenzi, with whom I lived in the parish of S. Martino for two years as an acolyte and then as a deacon, gave me the teachings of knowing how to live in general and, above all, gave me so much confidence.
I will always be deeply grateful to all of them who gave me a positive and productive start.
I have also enjoyed the confidence of Bishop Vittorio Serafini who has been of great help in the moments of discouragement that are part of this journey but which, thanks to those close to me, have not been able to take over and have left me confident in my future.
Confidence, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is, therefore, the great force to never give up: we need to have confidence in ourselves, but also to be able to draw hope from the confidence that others around us place in our abilities.
(Fr. Rodrigue Ogan Akakpo)