Coming into the open

His first years as a priest were marked by the search for his special mission in the Church, for the way in which he was to put to good use the gifts God had given him. Don Angelo Lolli was perfectly integrated in an ecclesial context that had been enlivened by Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum, and which was seeking to re-establish a lively, fruitful contact with the social situation. He was an attentive, active priest, aware of the importance of his ministry. It was time to emerge from the sacristy and ensure that the power of prayer and of inner life become an active commitment to others. There is only one weapon that can defeat poverty, uprooting it once and for all: knowledge, education, the opportunity to learn one’s rights and thus to trace the path of one’s existence.
Don Lolli became a cultural analyst and a journalist, understanding that writing for the new Catholic newspapers, which were recovering significance and credibility, was useful. He worked hard for his land and for his diocese. He tried to restore vigour to the Catholic Movement that had been given life in Italy thanks to the tireless efforts of Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo (1845-1918), and, thanks in part to his mandate from Archbishop Pasquale Morganti (1852-1921), became a point of reference for laypersons who were aware of their baptismal vocation.