13 July 2015 – Relevance of the co-founder of the Scalabrinians. Mother Assunta Marchetti, co-founder of the Scalabrinian Sisters, was a “woman of the nineteenth century, but we define her a model for the woman of today, who lives in a world in constant motion. Her experience as a missionary is an example of how to be creative in charitable action”: says Sister Neusa de Fátima Mariano, superior general of the Scalabrinians.
Born in 1871 in the province of Lucca (Italy), she left for Brazil as a missionary at the age of 24, dedicating herself with tenderness to the care of the smallest among the orphans, the poor, the sick and the migrants, she experienced the phenomenon of migration as a factor of human development to be supported by Christian charity. She died on 1 July 1948 in Sao Paulo. On Saturday, October 25, 2014, Mother Assunta Marchetti was registered among the Blessed during the Mass in the Cathedral of Sao Paulo, presided by Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Archbishop of San Paolo.
According to information sent to Agenzia Fides, since that day a number of initiatives have been held in the world where there are Scalabrinian communities, focusing on the figure of “Blessed of the migrants” and the extraordinary relevance of her missionary work. On July 1, the day of her feast, in the same St. Paul’s Cathedral, Cardinal Scherer presided the solemn Mass; in Switzerland, in Lucerne, there was an event that saw the participation of Italian immigrants. (SL) (Agenzia Fides 13/07/2015)
