Don Giacomo Panizza, anti-mafia priest

Don Giacomo Panizza is a solid and courageous priest. His intense work is that of a man who has chosen to live alongside the most disadvantaged, transforming solidarity into a concrete, daily gesture: for example, helping the disabled, drug addicts, and vulnerable find jobs. This is too much for the 'Ndrangheta clans, who feel the risk of losing a potential recruiting pool and have repeatedly threatened Don Giacomo with death.

Born in the province of Brescia in 1947, Panizza grew up in a working-class family. Before becoming a priest, he worked as a metalworker: an experience that instilled in him the belief that work and dignity are fundamental rights. In the 1970s, as a young priest, he decided to leave for Calabria. Not to "foster a career" in the Church, but to share his life with those who were excluded and invisible.

He arrived in Lamezia Terme during a difficult time. In those years, many people with disabilities were confined to their homes or locked up in institutions and mental hospitals. Don Giacomo was struck by this above all: the lack of a future. So, in 1976, together with a group of young people with disabilities and volunteers, he founded the Comunità Progetto Sud. The idea was revolutionary: not assistance from above, but community life, shared work, autonomy, and participation.

The community began in very poverty. Everyone shared what little they had. Craft workshops, cooperatives, and social activities were created. People with disabilities began to work, study, and emerge from isolation. Over the years, Progetto Sud became a point of reference for the area: it focused on rehabilitation, job placement, migrants, drug addiction, vulnerable minors, and the fight against marginalization.

But in Calabria, in those years, building community also meant clashing with the 'Ndrangheta. Panizza says that at first he didn't even understand what protection money was. When the first demands for money and intimidation arrived, he simply said no. From that moment on, threats, vandalism, and assaults began.

The most delicate moment came in 2002. The community was granted management of a building confiscated from the Torcasio clan, a building many considered "untouchable." Almost no one had the courage to actually use it. Don Giacomo instead decided to transform it into a social and rehabilitation center. That decision broke down the wall of fear. Since then, he has lived under police protection.

Panizza's activities are not limited to a region dominated by criminal clans, but also extend to other areas. In October 2025, he was involved in a very sensitive incident during a humanitarian mission in Ukraine. He was on a train near Lviv when alarms and anti-aircraft guns went off against Russian drones. Panizza described the "great fear" and tension experienced by the passengers.

Panizza has always rejected the label "anti-mafia priest" as a slogan. He often says that it's unnecessary to call yourself anti-mafia: you just need to do your job well, live honestly, build justice and genuine relationships. For him, legality isn't heroism, but daily responsibility.

Over the years he has written books, participated in cultural initiatives, and received important awards, but he has remained connected to the concrete life of the community. One of his best-known books is Here I experienced purgatory, hell and heaven, where he tells the story of Calabria in all its contradictions: violence and beauty, fear and hope.

Cover image source: LaC News24

Don Panizza offers jobs to the disabled and challenges the 'Ndrangheta.

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