(ANS – Cuenca) – This year, the Ecuador province has undertaken a renewed effort to make known the figure of the Servant of God, Fr Charles Crespi (1891-1982).  This is in keeping with the guidelines for preparation for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Don Bosco, and specifically the one to make known models of Salesian sanctity.

Several initiatives have been planned to keep alive the memory of Fr Crespi and to promote his cause for beatification. The following are deserving of particular mention:

• A historical biography written by Dr Juan Cordero Iñiguez;
• A critical study of his letters edited by Fr Alberto Henriques, SDB;
• A video on his life.

The Salesian Province of Ecuador asked the historian, Dr Cordero Iñiguez, to write a biography of the Servant of God, using scientific criteria and paying special attention to witnesses. This will serve to make his life and work known. Fr Henriques has written a human and spiritual profile of Fr Crespi, using correspondence found in the
Central Historical Archives of the Congregation.
 
The “Audiovisuales Don Bosco” Centre has produced a very professional documentary, which tells in a very attractive way the many-sided and multi-faceted figure of this Salesian missionary.

All these works reveal a Salesian committed to a life of holiness, the life of a man of God who sought to live fully the apostolic project of Don Bosco in the service of the poor.

The complex and varied personality of Fr Crespi emerges. He was a man of science and culture, a missionary, educator, apostle of the poor and a priest dedicated to the Eucharist and the confessional. The greatness of Fr Crespi should not be reduced to his scientific achievements, but is to be found especially in his apostolic work, as seen in the moral and social development of the people he served. Certainly he was conditioned by the historical context and the theological, ecclesial and social ideas of his time, but his apostolic zeal and fidelity to his vocation were exceptional.

The first showing of the video on his life took place n 30 May, in the Mary Help of Christians Park in the parish where Fr Crespi lived and worked. This was an important event for the city of Cuenca. Many of the city authorities were present, as well as religious and members of the Salesian Family. A hot chocolate was given to all present, as Fr Crespi used to do with his guests, an action that typified his way of living his vocation.

These and other initiatives were intended to keep alive the memory of Fr Crespi as we hope for his beatification.
 
Published 04/06/2013