Report Annuale Adjuvantes 2023
From ONLUS to ETS: a new way forward
In Italy following the reform of the third sector promoted in 2016 and coming into effect in 2022, a Single National Registry for Third Sector Entities (Non-profit Organizations, Voluntary Organizations, Social Promotion Organizations, Non-governmental Organizations, Civilly recognized Religious bodies) called RUNTS was introduced. This registry is a fundamental knowledge tool that will allow all citizens to know the basic characteristics of Third Sector Entities (Enti del Terzo Settore, ETS) and for registered organizations to enjoy the benefits provided by the Third Sector Code.
On November 25, 2022 Adjuvantes was duly registered in this new register, thus changing its designation from that of an “ONLUS” (Organizzazione Non-Lucrativa di Utilità Sociale) to an ETS.
This choice will imply a strong emphasis on accountability and on the administrative controls applicable to our type of institution, but will also give us the benefit of a good reputation, and the acknowledgement of our activities from third parties (financiers, banks, public administration).
Now let us hear, as usual, from some of our students. Some are from our STRONG programme, for migrants and refugees, while others are from our CREATE programme, aimed at helping scholars from Central and Eastern Europe to increase their skills in the field of Catholic social thought.
A multi-ethnic reality
I am Ines Amer, born and raised in Tunisia. I have lived in Italy since 2014, first in Rome for almost 8 years, then one year in Molfetta, Padua, and now Lampedusa.
I remember reading the “call for applications” for the STRONG programme. It was shared by one of the psychologists I used to collaborate with in our work group, along with the note “If it could help someone you know”. I was the one who wanted that kind of help! After having worked in three different places, I had left my studies because of university fees. So, the STRONG programme was an opportunity. Initially, I hesitated, but then I remember my first impression of the study plan. I thought “This is really varied”. It was a nice mix of statistics, sociology, political sciences, ethics, economics… everything I wanted to know about.
I have a different religious background; I had never imagined being in such a multireligious and multiethnic university.
Every meeting with my colleagues and professors is a chance to know more about a different place in this world, a different culture & language, etc.
I am really grateful for everything they have shared with me and they taught me or said to me.
I had the chance to follow some courses online and I find it fantastic as I live in the most southern point of Italy. I had the chance to be a part of a social research project on the concept of “Decent work” for migrants living in Rome.
I really want to learn more & more, and then to use and apply my knowledge in my daily life and work. I look forward to meeting new people in the Angelicum, exchanging opinions, continuing to study and to do research for and with the university, and – why not? – help new students feel welcomed and at ease in this safe space.
Finally, I would like to complete my main goal, which is to graduate despite all the challenges encountered along the way.
Ines Amer
CREATE – we always have to keep going, help and create a better society
Words are often not enough to describe our inner experiences, emotions, friendships and knowledge that we acquire through life. Often because of the dynamics of our everyday life, we do not have time to pull ourselves together and think in our hearts everything that has marked us. That’s exactly my experience with the CREATE scholarship program. How did it all start? Just at the moment when I was working with my colleagues and Professor Zoran Turza, at the Catholic University of Croatia on the completion of our two-year project CRO Laudato Si’, I received the text of the competition for a scholarship for a CREATE postdoctoral position at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. With the encouragement and support of my colleagues, I prepared a proposal. The project, drawing on the encyclical Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis, focused on young people and new lifestyles and their interactions with vulnerable social groups/people in need.
My great desire was to apply creative qualitative methods and arts-based research. Young people are a very important social group for me, and really crucial in creating sustainable lifestyles. I also wanted to include people in need and vulnerable social groups in my project because I come from a Franciscan parish, where caring for these groups has always been a priority. I am grateful to the friars from St. Anthony of Padua’s Parish in Zagreb for
exceptional support in this project.
When I found out that I had been accepted, I was overjoyed and thought that the concept of the scholarship was just perfect for me, as a wife and mother of two boys. Occasional journeys to the Angelicum, along with continuous contact with classes, professors and CREATE group members were, for me, the best possible option! Also, I was happy to go to the University whose most famous alumnus is St. John Paul II, patron saint of our Department of Sociology
at the Catholic University of Croatia. Just like him, I come from a country of Central and Eastern Europe, and this scholarship is very valuable because, not being in the EU, when I was a student, we did not have the possibility of mobility or intensive networking, nor access to large libraries and databases.
Every visit to the Angelicum gave me new inspiration and strength. The courses “Catholic Social Teaching” and “History of Christan Social Thought” gave me valuable insight into the social doctrine of the Church and the historical development of Christian social thought. I am grateful to my supervisor Cristiano Colombi for his help and advice, as well as to all the professors who have accepted to come to listen to our presentations and give us feedback. Dottoressa Marina Russo and Valerio Pierleoni were also very supportive. They have made a great effort to make us feel welcome at the Angelicum and to support our work. Also, our professors encouraged us to get closer as a group and to collaborate, which has given added value to our projects, but also sustainability to the CREATE program. They supported us at all stages of the project and opened up new opportunities. To our shared joy and pride, we have achieved concrete results and in the future we will cooperate and be connected by strong friendly ties. I am especially happy that I also collaborated with the students of the STRONG group and implemented the course “Qualitative Interview and Arts-Based Research” for them. This course helped them acquire methodological knowledge and conduct research in their (migrant) communities. This course will be implemented at the Catholic University of Croatia from this academic year. I believe it is a valuable output of my scholarship. I will need more time to collect in my heart all the gifts I received in the CREATE program, but from these brief reflections I believe that I have managed to show what is important. In the end, I would like to mention the three strongest messages I have learned: we always have to keep going, we should always ask how we can help and it is always possible to change society for the better!
Miriam Brgles
Training is important!
My name is Denise Kongo and I took part in the Master in Management of Third Sector Organisations with a scholarship from the STRONG 2022-2023 program.
I am a 28 year-old Italian-Congolese girl. I studied linguistic and cultural mediation, as I have always been interested in issues such as social cohesion, conflict resolution and especially the protection of human rights from an open, plural and multicultural perspective. My career path is varied and often, dealing with anti-discrimination, I found myself working within non-profit, or third sector, organizations, so I realized that that is the environment in which I want to continue to move in order to express myself and achieve my many goals.
I participated in the program with the desire to increase my level of professionalism in the field of project management. Having worked as a junior project manager I needed training that would make me feel more qualified and ready to handle possible problems, relating to all those subjects that I did not have the opportunity to study at university, given the path I had chosen.
In these months I have been able to challenge my view of for-profit and nonprofit by broadening it. The lessons have been very useful for me to understanding more clearly how to move on a practical level during the process of conceiving, developing and managing various types of project. This course also gave me the opportunity to understand in detail many aspects of the “life” of a third sector organization. I can now say that I also understand more clearly the current state of the third sector in Italy, and the possibilities it offers.
I liked the lecturers’ method because they approached the various topics in a technical, scientific way but without neglecting the human and relational side that is typical of a sector that reaches out to people from a perspective of understanding, support and help. The training was comprehensive, with much attention to the needs of the students, and the lecturers were always very helpful in clarifying doubts and providing insights.
The study environment was always very peaceful and open to discussion, and the various experiences of the teachers and students made the lessons more interesting and stimulating. I would recommend this course to anyone who has a desire to improve themselves professionally, taking advantage of aspects that they know only partially, but also to anyone who has a desire to learn something new in order to open themselves up to new experiences from a working point of view.
Denise Kongo
Thankful for the opportunity to grow.
My name is Bruno Petrušić, I am 37 years old, and am married with five children. I come from Split in Croatia, where, in 2021, I obtained a doctorate in Catholic dogmatic theology. I am originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina and, as a child in the early ’90s, experienced the horrors of war, forcing my family to flee to Dalmatia in Croatia. Therefore, throughout my life, I have been particularly sensitive to social problems that mostly, and unfortunately still do, affect the smallest, the poorest, and the excluded. Because of this, even as a young man during high school, I dedicated myself to socially beneficial work for the common good. Although I studied and eventually earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology, I was deeply interested in Catholic social teaching (CST) during my studies. Parallel to my studies, I volunteered in various youth associations to contribute to the society of which I am a part. That part of volunteering and attempting to change society with young people is still close to my heart.
When I learned about the CREATE post-doc program, I knew it was exactly what I needed, and what was missing in my life. I decided to apply, even though I believed I didn’t meet all the criteria (primarily because my previous academic work did not demonstrate a significant commitment to the CST, as I had earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology). Now, after the program has concluded, I am extremely glad I took the risk, and I appreciate that the people at the Angelicum – who lead the CREATE program – took the risk with me. Currently, I share with my colleagues all the positive aspects of my experience and encourage them to apply, as this experience significantly changed my life and my perspective on the world, society, and the Church.
As part of my post-doc research, which I applied for, I had three tasks: 1. Check how much the citizens and believers in Croatia are familiar with the social doctrine of the Church; 2. Design and create a formative educational program for young people on CST; and 3. Reaffirm some thoughts of the late Fr. Špiro Marasović, a moral theologian who dealt with the social doctrine of the Church, and the late Željko Mardešić, a lawyer who academically studied the sociology of religion. Thanks to the support of all members of the CREATE program and the finances we received as scholarship recipients, I managed to complete all three tasks.
In Split, I organized two one-day international scientific conferences on Human Rights Day (held on December 10th 2021 and 2022). The themes of these conferences were human dignity and CST in Croatia. I presented some thoughts and ideas of the two aforementioned authors (Mardešić and Marasović) on human dignity and the role of the Church in promoting and protecting human dignity after the Second Vatican Council. I also presented the results of two surveys I conducted online with a sample of 800 respondents, which significantly related to the perception and knowledge of CST in Croatia. The text on the results of the research was published in Croatian on the website https://adekvatnateologija.com/, and soon I will translate that text so that it will be available in English on the same website. As for the formative program, already the third generation of students is being educated about CST from around Croatia (that is, around 50 young have already followed in the program). It is currently being implemented in Croatia, but there are plans to translate the working materials into English so that the program can be implemented elsewhere.
A special result of my research will be a book (a collection of papers) that emerged after organizing and conducting two international scientific symposia, held in April 2022 and 2023 at the University of Split. The themes of the symposia were the economic and political perspectives of the common good. International scientific experts from eight countries, a total of 21 academics, participated in the symposia. The book will be published by Angelicum University Press, coming out in the spring 2024. The book will be in English.
Finally, I would like to emphasize the people who make up the CREATE program. They were very helpful in every way – from leadership in some questions I didn’t know the answer to, to the constant support I received and felt, all the way to the brotherly, I would say, relationships during my stay in Rome. Therefore, I am extremely grateful that this program exists and that I could be a part of it. In that spirit, I am completely at the disposal of those running the programme if I can contribute to ìt in any way.
Bruno Petrušić
Beyond books
My name is Vanesa and I am originally from Argentina. I would like to share my academic journey at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum, an honour made possible through the generosity of Adjuvantes Onlus through the “Strong” scholarship. This opportunity has not only illuminated my academic journey, but has also shaped my being in ways that go far beyond the university classroom.
The Angelicum community is more than a place of learning; it is a global family of dedicated thinkers. I have had the opportunity to dialogue with extraordinary professors and peers from all over the world. This diversity of thought has enriched my body of knowledge, opening new horizons in my understanding of politics and society. The lively discussions and diversity of experiences and backgrounds challenged me to see the world from multiple angles, making my course of study a true collective adventure.
The skills I acquired in college were not limited to academic concepts, but became tangible tools in my active participation in humanitarian service as an intercultural mediator and as a volunteer with the Italian Red Cross. The social doctrine of the Church, with its tripartite approach of seeing, judging and acting, has been a moral compass in my daily work. I learned that knowledge gained in the classroom can be transformed into concrete action, bringing relief and hope to those who need it most.
In addition, I had the opportunity to enrich my experience through participation in two research projects directly related to migration, where I was able to apply notions learned in the classroom to real-world contexts, thus contributing to the production of knowledge in my field of study.
I am grateful for this extraordinary opportunity that inspired me to be a more aware and engaged citizen in my municipality. I have learned that change begins with individual understanding and action. Lessons learned in the classroom have been translated into local initiatives, promoting participation and awareness among my fellow citizens.
Carolina Vanesa Rodriguez Feltan
A new experience
My name is Yuliia, I’m 28 years old. I came to Italy as a refugee due to the Russian aggression in Ukraine a year and a half ago.
The decision to enrol in the “Third Sector Management” program was quite spontaneous because, at that time, my Italian language proficiency was very low, and I dreamt of returning to my hometown of Zaporizhzhia. Surprisingly, I managed to secure a scholarship for the course. For me, this opportunity became crucial in starting my integration into Italian society.
Firstly, the lectures had an understanding approach. The professors were very accommodating to non-native speakers in the group, creating a safe space that significantly benefited the learning process.
Secondly, the teaching approach differed from what I experienced in Ukraine. While education there is of a high standard, during my studies (five years ago), the communication between students and teachers was more directive. In this course, I felt comfortable due to the ease of communication and simplified interaction. I felt solely responsible for the quality of knowledge I would take away.
Thirdly, knowledge and skills were paramount. In Ukraine, I obtained a master’s degree in political science, worked in the field for some time, and contributed to civil society development. This course provided me with new empirical experience that I will undoubtedly share in my country. I gained insights into the legal aspects of third-sector activities, the current strengths and weaknesses in civil society development in Ukraine, and identified professional qualities I aim to develop further.
Studying at the university also became an essential moral support for me in light of losing my home. I’m immensely grateful to the program for the opportunity it has provided for my professional growth and the new experience that has made me feel more integrated into Italian society.
Yuliia Yurhina
Financial Summary at 30/06/2023
INCOME | Euro | % |
| EXPENSES | Euro | % |
Donations | 221,903.41 | 86,82 |
| Bursaries and other help | 171,317.91 | 57,74 |
Courses and | 13,916.18 | 5,44 |
| Course expenses | 23,583.68 | 7,95 |
Reimbursements, | 19,772.20 | 7,74 |
| Programme Management | 28,455.87 | 9,59 |
TOTAL INCOME | 255,591.79 | 100% |
| Taxes and social | 15,807.06 | 5,33 |
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| General administrative | 34,519.69 | 11,63 |
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| Extraordinary expenses | 23,025.16 | 7,76 |
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| TOTAL EXPENSES | 296,709.37 | 100 |
Looking ahead . . .
As we expected at this time last year, we were able to contribute more bursaries and scholarships to students than in the previous year. Other costs are similar to those of the previous financial year. Our income was also a bit higher than last year; we are able to cover the difference between income and expenses from our reserves.
In the upcoming academic year, we expect to offer 2-3 more post-doc scholarships to students from Central and Eastern Europe, as part of the CREATE programme. We will also be redesigning the CREATE programme next year in order to re-launch a new version of it, hopefully in 2025.
We could do none of this work without the support of our donors, so we thank you very much, as always, for your support.