Turin’s New Mayor Thanks the Salesians for their Imprint on His Life
Photo: Stefano Lo Russo’s Facebook Profile
(ANS – Turin –
October 20, 2021) - “I dedicate this victory to a person who for me was a
teacher, a father, a guide: Fr. Aldo Rabino. I wish he were here, but I’m sure
he’s watching us from up there.” These were the first words of the new mayor of
Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, 46, elected to lead the Piedmontese capital after the
elections to local bodies on Sunday and Monday. Turin’s First Citizen, a geologist,
wanted to claim and present to the citizenry his Salesian formation, which
played a decisive role in his life and his political career.
Mayor Lo Russo,
hitherto a fulltime professor at the Polytechnic of Turin, and who has been the
member of the city council since 2006, ascended in the academic world starting
with technical school education. His family had modest resources and chose that
path for him so that he could circumvent the costly regular academic school
system and begin qualifying toward a job.
It was precisely
then, when young Stefano was about to take his diploma at the Salesian
technical school, that the intervention of Salesian Fr. Rabino introduced him
to the world of volunteering. He involved him in Operation Mato Grosso in Latin
America.
Then, a few years
later, Fr. Rabino asked him, “Why don’t you get involved in politics?” Not
surprisingly, in the blog in which he introduces himself, Lo Russo states, “The
passion for politics and commitment to my community was undoubtedly born in
those years.”
The bond with Fr.
Rabino, who passed away in 2015 and whom Lo Russo defined as his spiritual
guide, was also sealed thanks to the national sport, soccer, as both were
ardent lovers of the sport. It certainly went beyond “faith in a sports team”
as well. The new mayor is as much a Juventus fan as was his Salesian
formator, who in fact was the chaplain of that soccer team for over 40 years
and had been also passionate about Torino Calcio.
Thus, in the city
of Don Bosco, the First Citizen is indeed a fruit of Salesian education.
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