The most important town has to decide the dedication of one of the most important town's places. The symbol of Ambrosian liberal Catholicism opposed to the press freedom's icon.
Two examples for the humanity are to challenge one against the other for one of the most important Milan places' nomination. 12/8, in Milan is going to be opened Corso Como District: a new high fashion and hi-tech district situated between Corso Como street and Garibaldi railway station.
The District, which has been projected by the same Petronas Tower's project manager, the Hines group, is composed by several building. The highest skyscraper pertains to Unicredit Bank, whereas the other palaces are going to become offices, fast foods and restaurants near Milan's most important fashion boutiques' shopping mall.
According to Milan's Transport Assessor, Pierfrancesco Maran, Corso Como district is the town's welcome door. The District is situated near the better connected railway station in the world with several railway lines and two metro stations.
Despite of the importance of the district, Milan's city council did not still decide how to name the place in front of Unicredit skyscraper: a humid square with a footbridge among fountains.
The two main nomination's candidature are Former Milan's Archbishop Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, and Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Personally, I won't be in my town major's shoes during the decision taking's moment.
As a Christian Catholic, who born and lives in Milan, I'm happy that Milan's welcome door takes the name of the most important Archbishop my town had never had during last years. Cardinal Martini, who dead in August 2012, is the main exponent of a Church's liberal vision which characterizes Milanese's Ambrosian Church.
Cardinal Martini, who because of his health conditions refused to become a Pope after Jean Paul the Second, endorsed the idea of a Clergy really opened to the society. He admitted the use of preservative and supported the admission of divorcees to the Holy Sacrament.
Cardinal Martini is also one of the best personalities all the catholic Church - the Roman one, and not only the Ambrosian - had never had during its multi secular history. All the Milanese's people, even those who do not believe, have a good opinion about former Archbishop.
On the other hand, Anna Politkovskaya is the symbol of one of the themes I fight for in my life: press freedom. Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta liberal wing newspaper's correspondent, was killed in 2006 because of her reportages about the violences committed by the Russian army in Chechnya.
Anna Politkovskaya followed the processes Russian authorities opened in order to clarify the situation, and strongly criticized Vladimir Putin's regime in Russia.
Since 2008 to 2010 I've been the first President of AnnaViva: a association founded to conserve Anna Politkovskaya's memory and fight for press freedom in former Soviet world.
In 2009 AnnaViva obtained the dedication to Anna Politkovskaya of a tree in Milan's Yad Vashem. In 2012, Milan's city council backed a motion to name a town's square in Anna Politkovskaya memory.
A decision between two important values - Ambrosian liberal Catholicism and press freedom - is hard to do, in particular for a person who fight, and always has fought, for both those values. Nevertheless, a decision between the two values maybe is not necessary.
A solution could be found by naming Corso Como District's main square to one between Cardinal Martini and Anna Politkovskaya, and the little garden near the square to the other candidate.
By its welcome door's nomination to Cardinal Martini Milan presents itself to the rest of the world as the capital of a religion which ears normal people and understands the society. Cardinal Martini's square is the best monument Milan could build for its Archbishop.
On the other hand, a garden named to Anna Politkovskaya allows the people to chat, read a book or just meeting each other in a place dedicated to press freedom. Who will be in Anna Politkovskaya's garden will reflect about an important question and a terrible history more than Italian politicians and medias in general do.
The Corso Como District places' nomination is also an exam of wisdom for Milan. The most important Italian town's administration will demonstrate wisdom just choosing one of the two personalities without exclude anyone of the two deserving candidatures.
Matteo Cazzulani
This article has been published in Matteo Cazzulani's Blog on Welfare Network info portal http://www.welfarenetwork.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=155:il-blog-di-m-cazzulani The article's reproduction is allowed by quoting the author and the source.
