Poverty is also constantly increasing in Sardinia. On the island it currently stands at 15.9%. There are 118,000 poor families, with an increase of 9,000 units compared to last year, while a third of the population is at risk of becoming poor. This is what emerges from the "Diocesan Report on Poverty and Social Exclusion 2024" contained in the fourteenth dossier of the diocesan Caritas of Cagliari, this year entitled "A Jubilee of Hope and Charity. Beyond Poverty, Justice and Peace".
The data were illustrated this morning in the Transatlantic Room of the Regional Council by the director of the Study Centre-Observatory on Poverty and Resources of the Cagliari Caritas Francesco Manca, in the presence of the president of the Regional Council Piero Comandini, the archbishop Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi, the director of the diocesan Caritas of Cagliari Don Marco Lai and the Caritas communications representative Maria Chiara Cugusi.
Dramatic numbers, especially considering that the poor have started to increase again after a short period of decline. The report took into consideration a period of time that goes from September 2023 to October of this year. In one year, 20,000 more people have turned to Caritas Cagliari; the soup kitchen on Viale Fra Ignazio alone has provided 121,000 meals, to which must be added the soup kitchens of Settimo San Pietro, Sinnai and Maracalagonis which have distributed 34,700.
The Diocesan Assistance Center delivered over 13,000 packages, while there were 1,511 medical visits at the outpatient clinic on Viale Ciusa. The survey also shows that in Sardinia the number of women in poverty has been constantly increasing for two years: they are over half (56%) of those who use Caritas services. The vast majority of users are Italian (71%), of whom the elderly represent 14% of those assisted, this figure is also increasing.
"What emerges from the survey tells us that poverty is unfortunately becoming a structural element of our society," said Francesco Manca, illustrating the data. "Although GDP has increased over the years, albeit slightly, absolute poverty has not decreased at all." Monsignor Baturi instead emphasized how the poor are also afflicted by the difficulty of paying bills and getting medical care. "However, there is a sign of hope, mercy: what happens to others concerns us all." Don Marco Lai spoke of subsidiarity: "The person must always be put at the center, each person has potential that the Church tries to bring out." Comandini for his part said that it is not enough to allocate economic resources, human resources are also needed. "We must be supportive and welcoming, these are concepts that have no political color."