He sends all the accusations back to the sender, with the will to continue on his path and fight against what he calls "an injustice". This is the reply with which Don Corrado Melis, bishop of Ozieri, exposes himself after being sent to trial - together with eight others - for the affair of 8 per thousand funds that, according to the prosecution, were moved from the diocese of Ozieri - of which Melis is bishop - to the social cooperative Spes, whose legal representative is Tonino Becciu, brother of Cardinal Angelo. "As a citizen and a man of faith", writes Melis, "I cannot keep quiet about the pain for the injustice, made even stronger by the perception that in the world of courts, investigations and trials (environments completely unknown to me) there is someone who has the power to make life impossible".
The accusation is of embezzlement and money laundering . "First of all," Melis clarifies, " I want to confirm the extraneousness of the accusations and with force the commitment of the diocese in favor of the poor and against every form of poverty, injustice and material and spiritual hardship . Many of our choices can be questioned, but on this priority we are not willing to give an inch. And right now I feel reassured by the faces of so many people met and served with love in these years, as well as by my history of faith and by the affectionate closeness of so many friends of the people of God. Only in this way do I know I can face further hardships that are becoming increasingly humiliating."
Melis, who in his speech defines himself as "the beaten shepherd who speaks to his flock" (quoting the Gospel) and addresses "priests, deacons, nuns, seminarians, brothers and sisters in Christ", points out that for the church of Ozieri it is "one of the most painful and delicate pages". But he replies: "These few and poor lines are not intended to be a defense of my person. But I feel a pressing priority: that of taking to heart the people who have been entrusted to me and for whom I must answer to the Supreme Pastor . I am interested in safeguarding the history of faith of each of you who read, as well as that of those who feel the legitimate weight of doubt, contradictions and scandal".
And in closing, he makes a request: " I ask you with humility, let us not be discouraged . Let us not waste anything of the good pasture that the Lord gives to this precious and brilliant portion of the Church and let us not waste even a crumb of this moment of toil and of each of our wounds."
(Unioneonline/r.sp.)