The first Servants of Charity arrived in Argentina in 1925 and began a story that continues and bears fruit.
Since then, the Guanellians have worked following the charisma of Don Guanella and are witnesses to it
by Don Gustavo De Bonis, general counselor
"One hundred years of charity! One hundred years of hands that never tire of giving!" This is the refrain of the hymn for the centenary of the Servants of Charity in Argentina, the first nation in Latin America to receive the charism of Saint Luigi Guanella.
Some historical publications have already recounted the first attempt to establish a community in Tandil, a town south of Buenos Aires, by the first three Guanellians who arrived there. They have described the important role played by emigrants from Pianello del Lario, the birthplace of the Don Guanella Mission, as well as, going further back, the information about Argentina that Don Guanella had gathered from his fellow valley dwellers and relatives, and finally Don Bosco's invitation to him to be director of the first Salesian school in that country.
In celebrating this centenary, our first thanksgiving is to the Lord, who supported and guided the Don Guanella Foundation in Latin America. Certainly, what we commemorate with such joy today, to receive the seal proper to every work of God, also had to pass through the evangelical law of "dying to bear much fruit," that is, through much suffering. Moreover, Don Guanella himself said that "to do good, one had to climb Calvary," and the American foundations have not been spared from experiencing this maxim of the Founder.
Indeed, the first foundation in 1925, due to several painful events, did not prosper, and the first brothers were forced to leave the welcoming town of Tandil. Yet, precisely because of the same evangelical promise, from that "failed" foundation others arose, in Argentina (Tránsito de San José in Buenos Aires, the Works of Tapiales and Santa Lucia) and then in other nations of the continent, in Paraguay, Brazil, and Chile, and more recently in Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala.
Furthermore, always starting from that seed of a hundred years ago, in the con-
In South America, the Guanellian mission has developed fully, addressing various categories of the poor. There are homes for minors at risk, for the elderly and the disabled; there are pastoral centers and parishes, schools for different levels of education, fraternal techos which are more streamlined structures born from the desire to "expand the tent of charity".
It should also be remembered that over these hundred years, numerous Italian Guanellians have passed through as "ambassadors" of the charism, which was then passed on to their native brothers. And at this point, it would be interesting to review the Guanellian vocations of Latin American origin. Indeed, the first three Latin American Guanellians came from Argentina, though of Italian origin. Later, children and grandchildren of European emigrants arrived; finally, at a third stage, vocations arose from non-European countries, and even vocations of indigenous origin, as is happening today.
The Guanellian Sisters, Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, arrived in Latin America in the 1960s and were called to run a hospital in the town of Tandil. From there, they later spread to Colombia, Pa-
raguay, Chile, Argentina and Mexico and have supported the Servants of Charity by working in their own homes or in pastoral centers.
We all know the great boost the lay apostolate received from the Second Vatican Council, but even before that, the Opera Don Guanella in Latin America was able to count on the invaluable support of talented lay people. It can be said that in all communities, lay people contributed at various levels, from benefactors to volunteers, from members of the Pious Union of the Transit of Saint Joseph to friends of the Opera. It would be worth remembering more often the many people who welcomed the Opera Don Guanella from the very beginning and who, in various ways, approached the beauty of the Guanellian charism and mission. Today, in Latin America, there is a large group of Guanellian Cooperators who crown their lay vocation with this special commitment to the Church and society.
Considering the "governing bodies," the Guanellian Congregation in Latin America has undergone several changes. Initially, there were the Delegations, which in the 1970s became two provinces, called Santa Cruz and Cruz del Sur. A third was later added, the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which included Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, and Spain.
Today, following the changes that have occurred in the Guanellian presence in South America, all the Latin American nations in which the Servants of Charity are present (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Paraguay) are part of the new Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the largest in terms of number of nations.
At the Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated in Buenos Aires on November 15, Superior General Father Umberto Brugnoni, in addition to thanking God for this first centenary of his life and mission, invited those present to "launch" themselves toward the second centenary, to face the challenges now facing the continent with the same tenacity and evangelical fervor of the pioneers. He thanked the brothers who passed through these Latin American lands, asking the Lord to grant eternal reward to those who have departed this world, and to grant the living the graces they most desire.
The memory of this "adventure," which a hundred years ago seemed like a dream, but was in the plans of divine Providence, springing from the Heart of Jesus to extend the fire of his charity to the American lands, may it be a spur today for the entire Guanellian Congregation, now present on five continents.