Spin Time: Defending the hope of the most vulnerable

The director of Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative calls for the preservation of Rome’s Spin Time community, describing its Church-supported housing and solidarity projects as a model of Gospel nonviolence threatened by displacement following a fire. Read all  

By Nicolás Paz* Last October, I had the opportunity to participate in the 5th World Meeting of Popular Movements at the Spin Time center in Rome. Cardinal Michael Czerny accompanied us; we celebrated the first Jubilee Pilgrimage of Popular Movements by crossing the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, and we met Pope Leo XIV in an audience, where we heard his heartfelt “I am with you!” Spin Time was born in Rome in October 2013, when the movement for the right to housing occupied an abandoned public building that had been the headquarters of the former INPDAP, the public body responsible for managing social security, pensions, and assistance for workers and public-sector officials in Italy.

Over time, the space became much more than an occupation aimed at addressing a housing emergency: it became a social and cultural laboratory for coexistence and an effective, nonviolent response for many families facing the violence of a system that left them excluded and on the streets. Since its beginnings in 2013, the Church has provided pastoral support to Spin Time thanks to Sister Adriana Domenici and the auxiliary bishops. The priest Mattia Ferrari, with whom some members of Spin Time had shared experiences of working with marginalized communities, has also been a key figure in this process. In May 2019, Cardinal