DON PAOLO AURICCHIO

Here I am! A priest of the Catholic Church, since 12 years. I am 38 years old, living and working in Naples, the beautiful country where I was born, in the diocese of Pozzuoli. My prevailing engagement is ministery among young people; for that I thank the Lord for this great gift. Currently, in my diocese, I am in charge of the Juvenile Pastoral and this service really gets me passionate living the engagement to announce Jesus to the young people, as the "center of reference" of their own existence. Moreover, since many years I work in Catholic Action with youth. Just one year ago I began working in a big parish (about 5000 families) as parisher.

Another important engagement is the service as Chaplain in the Youth Prison of Nisida (a little isle in Naples' gulf that you can see on the right). As you can imagine, a suffering place. Five years ago, my Bishop, Father Silvio Padoin, asked to me this service: it has been a route of great conversion in a daily reflection to pass the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the young people that, for many conditions, do not expect nuller than good from the life. I have begun, for this, also an experience of voluntary service, "La Cordata" (The Rope), a group of young people that shares with me the joy and the hard work in becoming friends of these young people in difficulty. If you want, you can read something about this experience.