“I took you as my own” – an exhibition that awakens the heart of the school
During the end-of-year celebration of the schools run by the Social Cooperative “La Carovana” of Modena, a special moment touched the hearts of pupils, teachers and parents: the mounting of the exhibition “I took you as my own“, dedicated to the figure of the Servant of God Enzo Piccinini. The exhibition, traveling and promoted by the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples, found a particularly meaningful place in our school.
A group of parents and teachers strongly wanted to bring this exhibition to school, almost driven by a shared urgency: to rediscover the living roots of the educational work of which La Carovana is the fruit. In fact, the school was born in 1979 on the very inspiration of Enzo Piccinini: a passionate man, medical surgeon, family man and protagonist of a totalizing Christian experience.
It was not just an exhibition, but a living encounter. Through pictures, testimonies and words, the exhibition told the story of the life of a man for whom the encounter with Christ was not a private matter, but an energy capable of generating works, friendships, a contagious passion for the destiny of others. And this is precisely how our school was born: from a love for man that was so radical that it wanted to offer an education that embraced the whole person.
A meeting that continues to generate
Many – teachers, professors, pupils and parents – visited the exhibition. And many found themselves amazed, moved, questioned. For some it was their first encounter with the figure of Enzo Piccinini; for others, an opportunity to deepen their witness. But for all it was an awakening: a rediscovery of the roots of our school, not as a memory of the past, but as a present calling.
So many were touched by the visit, struck by the rediscovery of their own humanity, of that deep desire for happiness that moves every gesture, as Enzo himself said:
“We live our whole lives to be happy”.
The exhibition raised real questions: “What moves me every day?”, “Why do I teach?”, “What do I wish for my child?”, “How do I deal with my work, the place where I live?”
Questions that can only arise when you perceive that life is much bigger than it seems.
The beauties of a Christian encounter
This event reminded us that Christianity is first and foremost an encounter: something that happens, that grabs you and changes you, as one panel in the exhibition states:
“The only thing that wakes up is an encounter. What people need, what my children need, what your children need when you have them, or if you have them, what do you need? That there be a presence, people looking at whom you realize that what the heart desires is there. Even if they betray it a thousand times, it is there. There is a need for such a thing“.
And when that happens, it generates new company, new humanity, new work.
That is why the experience of the exhibition does not end with its closing. It remains as a seed in the hearts of those who experienced it, a desire to go deeper, to look at oneself with new eyes, to build with a renewed passion.
The passage of the exhibition at La Carovana reaffirmed the desire for a school that is not just a place of education, but a generative environment, where the beauty of life, friendship, and discovery is continually nurtured. A school in which educating means sharing a destiny, as Enzo lived with everyone he met.
The testimony of this living encounter can also be found in the thoughts left by children and adults in a notebook placed at the end of the exhibition route. Pages written with simplicity and depth, in which each wanted to fix what touched their hearts, a sign that that encounter – real, present – continues to generate.
“Enzo, a dearest friend” – The meeting that made the memory alive
In the groove opened by the exhibition, the public meeting entitled “Enzo, a dearest friend” was held, with the participation of two special guests: Don Erio Castellucci, Archbishop of Modena and Bishop of Carpi, and Anna Rita Piccinini, Enzo’s fourth daughter, now a surgeon at Sant’Orsola in Bologna and mother of four children.
Don Erio: “A living man”
With disarming clarity, Don Erio emphasized what is most striking about the figure of Enzo: his topicality. “For the Church, death is a bridge, not a wall. Enzo is a living man“, he said, “because holiness is a presence that continues to generate“. The bishop also gave this reason for the decision to open the cause for beatification in 2020: “We are not celebrating a hero of the past, but we are recognizing a man whose life continues to touch people’s hearts“.
Asked what unites faith, family and work, Fr. Erio offered a reflection centered on interiority: “Unity is born when Christ becomes the center of our gaze. It is he who prevents the fragmentation of our life“. A continuous tension toward the good, “strongly antidepressant“, he called it, because it keeps hope burning and pushes us to forgive, to love, to build.
Anna Rita: “Gratitude that becomes responsibility”
Anna Rita Piccinini spoke with authenticity and depth about her bond with her father and the imprint his figure left on her life. The sudden loss of Enzo in 1999, just as she was beginning her medical studies in Bologna, was a drama for her, but also – mysteriously – an opportunity for salvation: “Someone took me by the hand. I knew, within that pain, the good that saved my father. And it saved me, too“.
This gratitude, he explained, turned into a concrete desire to give back. Despite a thousand commitments, he chose to contribute to the construction of the Il Pellicano school in Bologna, which was born with the same spirit as the Caravan: “I am interested in learning to live like Jesus Christ. And this also passes through education“.
A living legacy, then, which is not made up of words, but a new position: “Life is united only within a relationship of sonship, when you respond to someone, and true fullness is found in the gift of self“.
Custodire e rilanciare
Chiudendo l’incontro, Don Erio ha immaginato cosa direbbe oggi Enzo osservando ciò che è diventata la scuola: “Direbbe: ‘Che bello!’ Non per ammirare, ma per la bellezza di una vita che si dona”. E ha invitato tutti a non accontentarsi, ma a vivere ogni proposta educativa come risposta a una chiamata più grande.
Anna Rita, infine, ha rivolto un messaggio ai genitori: “Questa scuola porta un ideale grande. È una strada, un’amicizia, un cammino che non ti lascia mai solo“.
Preserving and relaunching
Closing the meeting, Don Erio imagined what Enzo would say today as he observed what the school has become: “He would say: ‘How beautiful!’ Not to admire, but for the beauty of a life that gives itself“. And he invited everyone not to be content, but to live every educational proposal as a response to a greater call.
Finally, Anna Rita addressed a message to parents, “This school carries a great ideal. It is a road, a friendship, a path that never leaves you alone“.
A gratitude that generates
As one panel in the exhibition states:
“It is a gratitude that characterizes my life, and I am not afraid to give it all“.
This is the red thread that ran through the entire school festival: from the exhibition, to the meeting, to the faces of the teachers and parents. A gratitude that becomes responsibility, companionship, construction. And that continues, every day, to make La Carovana come alive as a living work.
