Sunday, February 9, 2020

Don Camillo Redux



February 9, 2020


I love the Don Camillo books by Giovanni Guareschi. The books tell amusing stories about Don Camillo, a parish priest in Italy just after WWII. His arch-enemy is Peppone, a Communist, who in principle opposes the Catholic Church and, by extension, Don Camillo. Their political views could not be any more dissimilar.

It suddenly hit me: Although the books are funny, the situation they describe is very similar to the political posts and articles I see online these days. The accusations and the refusal to believe that either side might have a valid point sound exactly the same.


But here’s the thing:

Don Camillo and Peppone fight and scheme and make life uncomfortable for each other; but when either of them is in trouble, the other one helps out. Really, they’re both decent people who have the best interests of their town and their people at heart, and they respect that about each other.


I hope that, when the chips are down, we can all act the same way.




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