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9/11/2010

Honorary Degree in Institutions and Policies of Human Rights and Peace of the University of Padua bestowed on Monsignor Luigi Mazzucato, First director of the NGO "Medici con l’Africa Cuamm"

Thursday, 11 November 2010 at 9.30, at Aula Magna “G. Galilei” in the Palazzo del Bo, University of Padua, there will be the conferring ceremony of Honorary Degree in Institutions and policies of Human Rights and Peace to Monsignor Luigi Mazzucato, first Director of the Paduan "NGO Medici con l’Africa CUAMM" (Physicians with Africa CUAMM).

The ceremony will be opened by “Storia e futuro” (History and future), a highly institutional moment but also a celebration for the 60 years of Medici con l’Africa CUAMM, with the participation of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, that will be in Padua to celebrate this special birthday.

On this occasion, Medici con l’Africa CUAMM will promote different initiatives to look back from its own past activities and look toward the future: a campaign for free access to safe birth and care for newborn will be launched; furthermore there will be the opening of the historical exposition “NeraMadre” (BlackMother). In preparation with the celebrations, the NGO has prepared editorial and multimedia tools: “L’avventura continua” (The adventure goes on) is a brief history of the NGO; “Euntes curate infirmos” (Go heal ill people) is a video reporting by Rai (Italian public broadcasting) social secretariat; “Sessant’anni con l’Africa” (Sixty years with Africa) is a six documentaries series by film-director Nicola Berti about the present and past of Medici con l’Africa CUAMM. Finally, Paolo Rumiz’s book, based on sources taken from CUAMM's rich archives, is awaited for springtime 2011.

 

Don Luigi Mazzucato, an outline:

 The Honorary Degree in Institutions and Policies of Human Rights and Peace of University of Padua is bestowed on him because of “a lifelong spent with Africa”

Don Luigi Mazzucato was born 8 January 1927 in Saccolongo (near Padua). He became priest in 1950. During 1955 he achieved Theology degree at Università Gregoriana in Rome. He has been CUAMM director from 1955 to 2008, after him, father Dante Carraro became the new director .

When, in September 1955, he was designed director of the Collegio Universitario degli Aspiranti Medici Missionari CUAMM (Boarding school for aspiring missionary doctors) he was just 28, and the school was just five, it was established in December 1950.

He has rapidly endorsed the evangelical motto “Euntes curate infirmos” (Luke 10, 3-9) which has been chosen by the founders of the boarding school to point out the objective and inspiration of Medici con l’Africa (CUAMM), the sense of its existence, the aim of its working.

For more than fifty years don Luigi Mazzucato life was bound with Medici con l’Africa CUAMM history. A challenge taken on with devotion and involvement, with extraordinary capacity on gathering reality and prophecy. Beside the vocation on searching for the everyone's good part instead of the bad one, he has a great amount of courage and enthusiasm.

Under his guidance Medici con l’Africa CUAMM hosted 270 students coming from 32 countries from the third world and many hundreds of Italian students (at present, there are 54 of them). At the same time, during these years, more than 1200 doctors and 250 among nurses and technicians left from Padua with Medici con l’Africa, for an average period of 3-4 years, some of them even for 8-10 years or lifelong.

The engagement for the development involved courage and risks in many challenges. “After all, at the beginning CUAMM itself was a challenge, a huge challenge” says don Luigi.

With more than 150 missionary travels in the African continent, don Luigi Mazzucato still sees, with his silent presence, the work of Medici con l’Africa CUAMM, animated by that “Euntes curate infirmos” endorsed since more than fifty years.

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9/11/2010