(ANS - Rome) - "The Argentine Nation cannot be explained with intellectual honesty, especially in Patagonia, unless it goes hand in hand with the presence of the Sons and Daughters of Don Bosco, the great Italian from Piedmont that the State of Argentina and the Church recognize as the patron of Patagonia". With these words, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, Rector Major, concluded the event held yesterday, 18 November in the Aldo Moro Room of the Italian Parliament.  Several speakers highlighted the mission of the pioneer Italian Salesians in Patagonia and Tierra del  Fuego.

by Andrés Felipe Loaiza, SDB

"Italians at the end of the world. Salesian missionaries in Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego" is the name of the event, organized as part of the International Historical Congress on the occasion of the Bicentenary of the Birth of Don Bosco.  The event was coordinated by Professor Fr Francesco Motto SDB, and attended by, among others, the Salesian Cardinal Raffaele Farina, Librarian Emeritus of the Vatican Library; and the honorable Paola Binetti and Gian Luigi Gigli, deputies, who spoke about their connections with the Salesian mission.

The first intervention was by Professor Maria Andrea Nicoletti (Universidad Nacional Río Negro, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina), who gave a historical summary of the presence of the Salesians and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians in those lands, and retraced the stories of some who worked with great success in places like Río Negro, Neuquén, Chubut, Tierra del Fuego, Santa Cruz and the Malvinas Islands.

Professor Nicola Bottiglieri (University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Italy), took a more literary approach. He highlighted the great significance of the missionary activity: "We can say immediately that the horizon is the best place for revelation. It is the place where the sky is revealed." He stressed the important role of Fr Alberto Maria De Agostini, who through his writings and photographs contributed greatly to subsequent research. "If today we have the photographs of the Indians who have now disappeared, it is due to his work.  If today we know how much the ice has retreated at the end of the American continent it is due to the comparison between present-day satellite photographs and the work he did at the beginning of the last century."

Professor Gabriella Dionisi (University of Tuscia, Italy) then spoke about Fr Juan Bernabe who was responsible for five schools and twenty-five  churches in Patagonia, many of which have been declared national monuments by the Argentine government. Importantly Father Bernabe was able to adapt his architectural knowledge to the context and the materials available on site.

Another defining moment was the reading of the second missionary dream of Don Bosco, which occurred in 1883. It describes in detail the situation of Patagonia. The dream was read by Alessandro Vantini, the actor who starred in the movie South of the South.  It details, from a secular perspective, a small part of the mission developed by the Salesians in Chile and Argentina.

Finally, referring to the visit of the relics of Don Bosco to Argentina, the Rector Major said: "134 years after the first expedition of missionaries to Argentina in 1875, Don Bosco himself “visited” Argentina. I put the word “visited” in quotes because it was his relics that reached the south of Argentina on 18 July 2009, coming from the neighbouring Republic of Chile, through Cape San Sebastián to Tierra del Fuego, to arrive on the 19th in Rio Grande, in the la Candelaria mission, which is now a beautiful agricultural school."

Today, in the Bicentenary Year of the Birth of Don Bosco,"we are able to tell a story that was heroic; a story that, within the parameters of the time, sought only the good of the people; a story that has made possible the birth and development of a valuable part of the population of Argentina, namely Patagonia ".

Published 19/11/2014