The fifteen brewers of the Messina Brewery met Pope Francis, told him about their experience and gave him a bottle of the special version of Birra dello Stretto, reported the Italian blog FratelloCibo on July 14, 2018.
«It’s an immense joy because these things happen only once in a lifetime,» President Mimmo Sorrenti told local newspapers. «We must thank the priest Don Terenzio who brought us here, and all the people who have stayed by our side, most of all, our wives. We are 15 crazy people who have thrown ourselves into this work adventure that brought us here today. »
«Don Terenzio, at the time of a bitter dispute between the brewing masters, was a parish priest in Messina. He was always close to us 15, becoming our spiritual guide,» shared Sorrenti. Explaining the problems the brewers faced, he said they had lost their jobs when they were all about 50 years old.
Speaking about how their idea originated, Mimmo Sorrenti shared: «We were living a difficult situation and in a city that offered nothing. But we went ahead, we made a cooperative, and today we are the Messina Brewery.
«We personally, have had the solidarity of the city of Messina, and many people who believed in us.»
«Whoever has a dream,» the businessman urged, «must continue to dream, because only in this way can it become a reality, as it did for us. We tell young people never to give up, if we can do this at age 60, everyone can do it. «
