In the pasta factory saved by Pope Francis the hope of rehabilitation

'There is a taste for nourishing hope'. This is the slogan of Pastificio Futuro, in the north-west suburbs of Rome. The pasta factory to which Pope Francis donated 230,000 euro from his personal account with the desire to transform hope into the future. With the hardness of wheat and the tenacity of dreams. High-quality semolina, slow drying, bronze-drawing to give a second chance to the boys detained in the juvenile prison of Casal del Marmo.

A factory to produce artisanal dry pasta, a project realised by the social cooperative Gustolibero Onlus, financed by the eight per thousand, by Caritas and by a loan contracted with the Ministry of Economic Development, which employs young inmates of the Roman juvenile prison. The project was born in 2013 from the commitment of the chaplain of the juvenile prison, Father Gaetano Greco, in response to the exhortation of Pope Francis on a visit to the prison who had invited the youngsters to "not be afraid to become artisans of dreams and hope". Ten years to renovate and inhabit as a workshop a disused building of the penal institute, which today has an external entrance on the boundary wall and is closed towards the prison.

"The 230,000 euro bequest from Pope Francis has given us the opportunity to pay our mortgage instalments. We are not able to pay it off, but to make it less onerous for us,' explains Alberto Mochi Onori, president of the Gustolibero Onlus social cooperative. "From my past I did not have great opportunities, but this pasta factory is a super opportunity to grow, to advance, to gain experience. It can be very useful in the future. The message is that you can grow, learn from mistakes and make up for them,' says Devid, one of the very young employees of Pastificio Futuro.

As well as offering young people the chance to learn a trade, the workshop supports the path of re-education of the boys with a view to social and professional reintegration. In this first year and a half of activity, ten boys have passed through the pasta factory. At the moment, four boys from the prison are employed under contract. The idea is to increase production and sales, to be able to lower the price of pasta to make it more affordable (it is currently 2.5 euro per half kilo). "For the boys, this pasta factory represents a chance to recreate themselves. To give them dignity, as Pope Francis said. Because once you have fallen,' explains Alberto Mochi Onori, 'you have to know how to get back up, with dignity, with a job, with the possibility of having a salary and reducing recidivism. Because the big problem for these guys is that once they get out of prison, many times they fall again'.