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Opus Christi Salvatoris Mundi
Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World
Chosen from among men, the priest continues being one of them
and is called to serve them,
giving his life to God.
(Benedict XVI, video message to the International Retreat for
Priests in Ars
Vatican, September 29, 2009)
December 23, 2011: 50th Anniversary of Fr. Giovanni Salernos
ordination to the priesthood
Christmas 2011
-
Fifty years of gracesFr. Giovanni Salerno, msp. . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
If I could be born again I would still be a missionary
priest:Some questions for Father Giovanni, msp. . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 9
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . 12
From the World. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Walking . . . with the poor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chronicle of the Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . 26
Never tire of praying for priests, especially now when it seems
that all the forces of evil have been loosed upon the world,
attacking particularly the sacred ministers of the Lord. Pray that
they remain faithful, that they be holy, that they be nothing more
(and nothing less) than what they should be: Alter Christus. Please
pray for the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World
priests and deacons!
Fr. Giovanni Salerno, mspFr. lvaro Gmez Fernndez, msp
Fr. Sebastian Dumont, mspFr. Urs Zanoni, msp
Fr. Agustin Delouvroy, mspFr. Vincent Mir Minnelli, mspFr.
Giuseppe Cardamone, msp
Fr. Walter Corsini, mspFr. Jos Carlos Eugenio, msp
Fr. Jerome Gouallier, mspFr. Louis Marie Sall, msp
Fr. Pierlippo Giovanetti, mspFr. Salvatore Piredda, msp
Fr. Christian Herv De Penfentenyo, mspFr. Alos Hollewerth,
mspFr. Zsolt Szab (deacon)
Fr. Ral Gonzles, msp (deacon)
With Ecclesiastical Approbation from theVicar General,
Archdiocese of Cuzco
Partial or total reproduction of the articles contained in this
newsletter is prohibited without prior authorization.
Contents
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chief so as not to catch tuberculosis, the superior of the
institute surprised me by pulling away the handkerchief and saying,
Get rid of this handkerchief because in the future you will be
living with persons much sicker than these. And in Peru I treated
not only those with tuberculosis but also lepers. My years of
studying were not easy, especially the ones spent in the minor
seminary of the Augustinians a glor-ious order of which I was a
member for many years. It was also at this time that I was at risk
of having to leave my studies for the priesthood and the order,
because three eye doctors in the city of Viterbo told me that I
would be blind by the age of twenty. You can imagine how I felt.
But I didnt get discouraged. I never tired of praying before the
tabernacle for the grace of becoming a priest. I wrote to the
monastery of the Augustinian sis-ters in Cascia, asking them to
pray that St. Rita intercede for me and grant me
Dear Friends,
I would like to begin this message with some words from Psalm
89: I will sing of thy mercies, O Lord, forever. God has been
greatly merciful to my poor, weak person, I who had no preparation
whatever. I will never tire of thanking the Lord and the Most Holy
Virgin Mother of the Poor for all the graces they have granted me.
My rst memory is how the Lord made me feel His invitation to be a
missionary in Peru in an almost prophetic way while I was still a
child, an invitation that be-came clearer when I studied geography
in high school and was taught briey of that Andean land. At
fourteen I experienced the pre-mature and painful death of my
father. I then had to care for my three younger siblings. I felt
the scorn and exploita-tion felt by orphans. It was at this time
that I accompanied my brother Enzo to the seminary of the Servants
of the Poor, a community founded by Blessed Giacomo Cusmano, and
read the in-scription written above their entrance: He who helps
the poor gives to God (Prov. 19:17). This phrase imprinted it-self
on my heart like a bolt from heaven and enkindled in me a great
enthusiasm and strength that animated me to help the poor. This
phrase was with me dur-ing all the years of my preparation for the
priesthood. At seventeen I went to give cate-chism classes to
children with tubercu-losis at the Ingrassia sanatorium (which
still exists) near the seminary of the Au-gustinian priests at
Rocca de Palermo in Sicily. One day, while there teaching with my
mouth covered with a handker-
Message from Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp Fifty Years of Graces
3
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the grace of this much desired priest-hood. The abbess of the
monastery, Mother Giuseppina Rosata, quickly sent me a letter which
told me that a young nun in the monastery had offered her-self as a
victim to the Lord for my eyes. Some days later when I al-ready had
my bag packed to return to Sicily, God saved me because He sent me
my brother in reli-gion, Fr. Hector Salimbeni, who had arrived from
Rome. There he knew a famous eye doctor, Professor Mazzantini, who
had treated other young men who had been told they would be
prematurely blind but who had become priests. Professor Mazzantini
took my case and prescribed a long treatment (which wasnt
authorized by the World Health Organization) which I would have to
fol-low until I was forty. Unfortunately, the professors in Viterbo
were unconvinced of the diagnosis of this good doctor and had
resolved to interrupt my studies. As I had intuited that they would
make this fearful decision, I asked Fr. Agustin La Valle,
provincial superior of the Augus-tinians in Sicily, to attend the
exams as part of the tribunal. The voice of Fr. La Valle in the
corridor trying to save my situation still rings in my ears. He got
me passed and so I was able to continue theological studies in the
seminary of Monreale in Palermo. What a great joy it was every
morn-
ing to walk up to the seminary in Mon-reale where I found
professors who were not only well prepared to teach
church doctrine but who were also devout and possessed a great
spirit of charity! Their example is impressed on my heart even
today. Almost all of them were ap-pointed bishops in Sicilian dio-
ceses. I was nally ordained to the priesthood on December 23, 1961
a year before the classmates I left in Viterbo. I have many
memories of that glorious day among which were two prophetic
announcements. The rst was from my mother as she untied the
handker-chief with which my bishop had tied my now consecrated
hands, and kissed them saying, May these hands console many
orphaned children. These words greatly surprised me because the
Au-gustinians had no orphanage in Sicily. The second prophetic
message was from Fr. Agustin La Valle who said to me, May these
hands serve to carry the Gospel to the remotest poor on earth.
These words were like a bomb in my heart because at that time the
Augustin-ians of Italy had no foreign missions. Meanwhile, the
words He who helps the poor gives to God that I had read at the
seminary of the Servants of the Poor resonated even louder in my
heart. To these were added the messages of the Holy Father in Rome,
the testi-
(December 23, 1961) Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp, on the day of his
ordina-tion to the priesthood with his mother and Msgr. Corrado
Mingo, Bishop of Monreale, Sicily
4
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monies that came from Latin America and, above all, the momentum
that the Second Vatican Council had given to us to turn our
attention to the poor. Taking advantage of his canonical visit to
our monastery in Gela, I asked permission of the Father General of
the Augustinians, Fr. Luciano Rubbio, to study medicine, expressing
also my desire to dedicate my life to the poor in
the most remote missions. Fr. Luciano listened to me very kindly
and told me sincerely that it would be a scandal to give me ofcial
permission due to the turbulent situation after the Council, so he
gave me permission to study pri-vately and to practice in some
hospi-tals. I had the opportunity to serve at the old hospital in
Caltanissetta and the pediatric clinic Mayer del Careggi in
Florence. These were all valuable ex-periences for me. I arrived in
Peru in 1968 and there met Dr. Federico Bombieri, founder and
director of the Peruvian pharma-ceutical company Carlo Erba. In him
I encountered a true father who helped me with countless shipments
of medi-cine which I used to found dispensaries in the prelature of
Chuquibambilla. He was also the one who obtained for me from the
Peruvian Ministry of Health the authorization to work as a medi-cal
missionary in the entire region of Apurimac. This permission was
very important to me as in those rst years that I was travelling
the Cordillera of the Andes. Besides treating the sick at the
dispensary in Antabamba, I took
(1974) Fr. Giovanni Salerno treating children in the Andes
(1968) Fr. Giovanni Salerno celebrating Mass in the Andes on an
altar of piled rocks
5
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care of all the lepers in the region of Apurimac and
participated in the rst congress for leprosy in South America,
being the only one invited from the Pe-ruvian Ministry of Health,
which took place at the Hotel Presidente in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. It wasnt easy founding the various dispensaries in that
region and, although life was hard, among these trials I
ex-perienced the help of God Who never abandons those who trust
only in Him. I thank with a sincere heart the dear brothers in
religion, Fr. Giovanni Bel-lotti, who went to heaven two years ago,
and Msgr. Domingo Berni, bishop of the prelature of Chuquibambilla,
who helped me greatly and comforted me. The good bishop, while I
was in his prelature, not only helped me but also humbly, silently,
and ably, supported me in founding the Missionary Ser-vants of the
Poor of the Third World. I must also thank Fr. Giacomo Bonaita who,
together with Msgr. Berni, was responsible for the economic
admin-istration of the dispensaries during my service in Apurimac.
I would also like to express my gratitude to my brother in
religion, Fr.
Giuseppe Turco, who has always ac-companied me with a truly
brotherly heart at each stage of the founding of the Movement. Back
in 1987, he, with the advice of the Augustinian provin-cial in
Sicily, gave me the canonical authorization to found the Movement
of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World, which
from its rst steps has been sorely tried and was sinking before it
was even born. I also wish to thank the Augustin-ian Fr. Gioiele
Schiavella who as As-sistant General and Vicar General gave me help
and comfort. Last, I thank my other religious brother, Msgr.
Giovanni Scannavino who in 1984, as Assistant General of the
Augustinian order, en-forced the foundation of the Movement with a
resonant and authoritative voice during a decisive meeting where
more than one missionary was against the founding of the Movement.
As I said before, the foundation of the Movement wasnt easy, and
carry-ing it forward was even less so. More than once we felt like
we were drown-ing in a stormy sea. There have been calumnies, death
threats (not only from guerillas but also from people you
(Cuzco, 1984) Tambo de Montero Street where the Saint Teresa of
Jesus Orphanage and soup kitchen for poor children began
6
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would never imagine), and threats to bomb the St. Teresa of
Jesus orphan-age in Cuzco. And there was no lack of
misunderstandings among those who should have helped and
understood. In the midst of all this, I remain profound-ly grateful
and moved by everyone, above all by those who help me so that I may
ex-p e r i e n c e in my life what our g l o r i o u s M o t h e r
Saint Tere-sa of Jesus said, Be-lieve me, s e r v i n g the Lord as
you s h o u l d , you will e n c o u n -ter very d e v o u t b r o
t h e r s who the Lord will send and you may count on them more
than on your own relatives. You will meet priests and
brothers among whom you will least expect it. The Good God has
used all these trials to strengthen the Movement of the Missionary
Servants of the Poor of the Third World.Today I am happy to be
surrounded by many sons and daughters from 18 countries: Peru,
Colombia, Venezu-
ela, Chile, M e x i c o , the United S t a t e s , Portugal, S p
a i n , France, It-aly, Swit-z e r l a n d , Belgium, A u s t r i a
, Germany, P o l a n d , Hungary, C r o a t i a and Ser-bia. At the
beginning I sang the
mercies of the Lord. Now with you I would like to proclaim the
Magnicat with an exultant heart:
(December 23, 2010) Fr. Giovanni Salerno with chil-dren in the
current Saint Teresa of Jesus Orphanage
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,my spirit rejoices
in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.From this day
all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his
Name.He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,he has scattered the proud
in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted
up the lowly.He has lled the hungry with good things,and the rich
he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has
remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children
forever.
Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp
7
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WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF PRIESTLY FORMATION
HOLY MARY MOTHER OF THE POOR
There is a place for you here!
The Church cant falter in its mission to carry the light of
Christ, to proclaim
the joyous announce-ment of the Gospel.
Benedict XVI, to the participants of the Ordinary Assembly of
the Superior
Counsel of the OMP(Vatican, May 14, 2011)
House of Priestly FormationHoly Mary Mother
of the PoorCarretera Mazarambroz S/N
45110 Ajofrn (Toledo)Spain
Tel: (00-34) 925 39 00 66Fax: (00-34) 925 39 00 05
[email protected]
www.msptm.com
International Missionary Camp 2012During July of 2012 we will
take in young men from different countries (18-30 years old) in our
seminary in Ajofrin, Toledo
for three weeks of International Camp.Camp 2012 will be a
Christian conference with sightseeing,
sports and Spanish classes.
Contact: Fr. Giuseppe at [email protected] visit msptm.com
for the schedule of events.
8
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If I could be born again I would still be a missionary
priest.Some Questions for Father Giovanni
Father Giovanni, at what age did you realize that you wanted to
be a priest?
I realized it even before I could talk. I was still in my
mothers arms. I saw a priest. He impressed me greatly, dressed in
his soutane. Although I wasnt talk-ing yet, I understood and I
thought to myself: One day I have to be like him. I remember this
well.
How was the seminary where you studied? Was it comfortable?
There were no comforts. When I en-tered the seminary my father
wanted to accompany me. He prepared for me a dress suit to make the
200 km trip from Gela to Palermo. We went 12 hours by steam engine
train. It was after the war and there was no hot water. In the
semi-nary there was a shower for every 20 seminarians. Sometimes
rats appeared between the showers, big rats. Some-times we took
cold showers. The food was good, thank God. One ate well with the
Augustinians and they treated us with much love.
Do you remember any priest during your seminary years who
inspired you by his example to continue?
It was the charity and prayer life of the Augustinian priests
who taught us that inspired me. They have all died except Father
Vincenzo Giovino. I remember especially Father Messina. They made
us fall in love with purity. They gave us as examples Saint
Aloysius Gonzaga, Saint John Berchmans, Saint Stanislaus Kostka,
etc.
And, speaking of purity, Father, why is chastity so important to
the priest-hood?
Chastity is necessary to be able to imi-tate Christ in
everything. The priest must be an alter Christus, another Christ.
It is important to follow Je-sus, loving others as He loved
every-one. There are even married Catholic priests, as in the
Eastern Byzantine Catholic tradition, but they are always limited
in what they can do because they must give their affection to a
wife and children and cant give themselves totally to souls.
When the superior asked for volun-teers to go to Peru, why did
you say you wanted to go?
I had felt a missionary vocation since I was very young. When I
was 12 years old I was very moved attending the farewells of young
missionaries who were going to Madagascar. We accom-panied them to
the port. As the ship set sail, they raised a crucix and blessed
their friends and relatives. I said to my-self, One day I must be
like them.
Could one say that the missionary priest has a double
vocation?
Of course. In this double vocation, the missionary priest gives
himself more to
9
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God because he leaves his country, his friends, his relatives,
even his mother and father.
What advice can you give to young priests who are beginning
their minis-tries today after all the scandals that the Church has
so painfully lived through?Today I tell young priests to be holy.
The Church needs holy priests now more than ever. And holiness is
real-ized by rst living in the presence of God, under the loving
gaze of God. From very young they must be taught to live under the
maxim: God sees me. Then I have to do everything well be-cause God
sees me. Second, work well. Third, know how to offer yourself and
to suffer. Offer everything that the Lord sends at each moment and
know how to suffer every misfortune. There is actu-ally a war
against the cross. Nowadays the cross begins at the maternal
breast: abortion. They dont want to accept one more child. The
cross continues in divorce, where there is no understand-ing
between spouses. It ends in eutha-nasia, the refusal to suffer.
To young priests I recommend, above all, to work well, and live
under the gaze of God, but realize this idea by of-fering
yourselves as victims to the Fa-ther in imitation of Christ. This
victim has to be pure and immaculate. Purity is achieved by living
in the presence of God, avoiding even whatever impure ash which may
blind the heart of the priest. Avoid any friendship or in-timacy
with women. I am not against women, on the contrary, because I have
a mother and sisters, but the priest has to avoid every type of
familiarity with women, giving importance to the life of prayer and
having a deep, lial and balanced devotion to the Mother of Je-sus
and of priests.
Is it possible to live chastely all ones life?Chastity is
possible if one lives under the loving gaze of God, makes prayer
a
priority and avoids whatever may blind the heart. Many holy
diocesan and re-ligious priests and also many holy lay-men who live
in the world are pure and chaste like the lilies of the eld.
Have you ever known anyone who was martyred or beatied?
I had a great friend, Father Francesco Spoto, who was martyred
in the Bel-gian Congo and is now a Blessed. He was a doctor and
priest of the Mission-ary Servants of the Poor which is a
con-gregation founded by Blessed Giacomo Cuzmano in Palermo.
What do you want to tell us of your 50 years of priesthood?
The best years of my life have been the ones Ive dedicated to
serving the poor-est of the poor because they, though materially
poor, have a great hunger and thirst for God. And their faith has
increased my own as a missionary priest. If I could be born again,
I would become a missionary priest.
Lord, it is You we shelter in each poor, sick child we take
in!
10
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OREMUSAct of Love
I love Thee, O my God. My only desire is to love Thee, until the
last breath of my life.
I love Thee, O innitely loveable God, and I prefer to die loving
Thee,
rather than to live for an instant without Thee.
I love Thee, O my God, and I desire only to go to Heaven,
to have the happiness of loving Thee perfectly.
I love Thee, O my God, and my only fear is to go to Hell,
because there one will never have the sweet solace of loving
Thee.
O my God, if my tongue cannot say at all times that I love
Thee,
at least I want my heart to repeat it to Thee! as many times as
I breathe. Ah! Do me the grace
to suffer while loving Thee, to love Thee while suffering,
and, that when I die: I not only will love Thee,
but experience it in my heart.
I beg Thee that the closer I come to my nal end, Thou wilt
increase and perfect my love for Thee. Amen.
Saint John Vianney, Cur of Ars
11
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Margaret Mary, the fth of seven children, was born on July 22,
1647, in Lhautecourt near Verosvres, a small town in Burgundy,
France, and was baptized three days later. When she was only eight,
her father died and her mother took her to live at the convent in
Charolles. Because of an illness, she remained there only two
years, but it was during this illness that she consecrated herself
to the Virgin, promising to become a religious if she was cured. On
recover- ing, she apparently forgot the promise, but at 20, when
her mother intended for her to marry, the divine calling to the
religious life was rekindled in her heart. In 1671 she entered the
Monastery of the Visitation of Saint Mary at Paray-le-Monial.
Though she didnt yet know it, the Lord had very special plans for
her. From December 1673 to June of 1675, she received three great
rev-elations of Jesus. She would receive thirty of these
revelations throughout her life but these rst three were the most
important. The Lord showed her His Sacred Heart, which has so loved
men and receives nothing but ingratitude in return, and asked her
to promote its public cult with the in-stitution of a universal
liturgical feast. Today, devotion to the Sacred Heart which has
brought numberless benets to the Church and to mankind (John XXIII)
and is considered as the best means of practicing Christian-ity
(Pius XII) has been extended to the whole world. This devotion was
already known in the Church, but with the apparitions of Saint
Margaret Mary they spread much more rapidly. Thanks to the fervor
of the saint, the opposition of her community changed little by
little into real enthusiasm and, once established at
Paray-le-Monial, the new devotion was propa-gated in other
monasteries of the Visitation. On October 17, 1690, Saint Margaret
Mary died, exhorting her sisters for the last time, Love Love
Himself, but love Him perfectly. Among the many expressions of this
devotion, the Missionary Ser-vants of the Poor have introduced the
nine rst Fridays of the month, at Fr. Giovannis wishes. This
practice is tied to the twelve promises of the Heart of Jesus. This
devotion is also being established among the children that
participate each Saturday in the Oratory. Closeness to the Heart of
Jesus visibly heals the many wounded hearts of the children we
shelter.
Fr. Pierlippo Giovanetti, msp (Italian)
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque
12
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Money by itself doesnt cause growth
United Nations Report on Human Development
Wealth doesnt mean human development. If growth is measured by
better health, education and well-being and not just money and
production and consumption of goods, then one discovers that the
people of a country can develop themselves without economic
growth.
So says the 2010 Report of the Program for Development of the
United Nations whose title indicates the goal and results of the
in-vestigation: The True Wealth of Nations: Roads to Human
Develop-ment. Analyzing countries, this time, using in addition to
the clas-sic development indices that include hope, access to
education and dignied standards of living as well as three new
indices: inequality, which measures income and access to health and
education; gender inequality, which measures the disparity in
reproductive health, ac-cess to education and employment; and the
multimedial index of poverty, which uses up to ten parameters to
estimate how serious is the lack of health, well-being and
education. The multidimensional index of poverty reveals that in
the 104 countries analyzed, there are 1.7 billion persons who live
in multidimensional poverty and there are more than 1.3 billion
persons in those countries who live on $1.25 a day.
This report conrms that poverty is the absence of empowerment of
persons, communities and peoples. It conrms that the inequality
must be analyzed from both a material and non-material (democ-racy,
role of civil society, access to means of communication, etc.)
standpoint. And, as far as the report lets us understand, its more
and more an economy of global development, not just of the
production and consumption of goods. On the other hand, a
redistribution of income favors greater equality and, consequently,
aids equal devel-opment for all.
From the World
13
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We Invite You to Share our Missionary Work in Peru as . . .
Young laywomen who wish to give all their love to abandoned
children, to stretch out their arms, like Mary, to the Child Jesus
Who is present in these children.
Young laymen who wish to give their hearts to Christ, to give
their talents and skills, whatever they may be, to the service of
the Divine Master, so His work can be realized in all human
cir-cumstances.
Priests and seminarians to take the Body and Blood of the
Redeemer to the most remote and abandoned sites of the Andean
Cordillera, and to announce the message of love and salvation of
Christ Crucied and Resurrected.
Full-time contemplatives gathered to- gether to live an austere
life in a clois-tered community, in order to give glory to God, and
to intercede for all the members of the Church along with Mary, our
mother, and to make repara-tion for the sins of mankind.
Married couples who wish to open their families to the poorest,
as a small domestic church that is transformed into a shelter of
love shared with those who suffer.
Young people who are searching and who, during a year of
experience in the Third World, are inclined to discern with an open
heart, and are willing to listen to what mission the Lord is
calling them.
Name _____________________________________________________
Address ___________________________________________________
City _________________________ State _______ Zip
Code_________
Country __________________________ Email ___________________
Age _______ Level of Education
_______________________________
Telephone __________________ Occupation
_____________________
Full-time Contemplative
Seminarian
Priest
Consecrated Layman
Consecrated Laywoman
Consecrated Married Couple
Oblate
Associate Member or Collaborator
Seminarians, please mailyour request to:
House of Priestly FormationHoly Mary Mother of the PoorCarretera
Mazarambroz S/N
45110 Ajofrn (Toledo)Spain
[email protected]
All others, please send this form to thefollowing address:
Friends of the Missionary Servants of the Poor Foundation
5800 West Monastery RoadHulbert, OK 74441 USA
[email protected]
14
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In Praise of Contemplatives
Would you like to join our Contemplative Servants ofthe Poor of
the Third World, who dedicate most of
their day to prayer and Eucharistic adoration, and whoalso
dedicate some hours to manual labor in order
to help the poor?
Like
Saint Therese
of the Child
Jesus, you too
can offer your
donation to
God to benet
the neediest.
You have chosen, or more exactly, Christ has chosen you, to live
His Easter Mystery with Him in time and space. May all that you
are, everything you do each day, be it the Ofce recited or sung,
the celebration of the Eucharist, the work done in your cell or in
community, respect for the cloister and silence, the voluntary or
imposed mortica-tion of the rule, be taken on, sanctied, and used
by Christ for the worlds redemption.
I, _________________________________,
from the Monastery
of:_________________________________
Address:____________________________
City:_______________________________
Country:____________________________commit myself to live the
obedience and poverty of my surrender to God in my mon-astery for
the Movement of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third
World, so that the Kingdom of God may come to the poorest.
15
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With yourhelp,
one morechild
will be fed inour centers inCuzco, Peru.
Thank You!
16
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By echoing the cry of the poor, by giving copies of this
newsletter toyour friends and relatives and our other publications
(which
you may request for free), as well as by organizing
missionarymeetings in which our missionaries may participate.
***By offering your sacrices and prayers, together with delity
to the Gospel
and the Pope, so that each Missionary Servant of the Poor of
theThird World may be the living presence of Jesus among the
poor.
***By sending us your Mass intentions.
***By coordinating directly with us some concrete projects
orsupporting those projects that we carry on daily such as:
By purchasing our necessary to bake 3,000 loavesdaily for more
than 1,500 persons: Daily expense $67
By purchasing 50 local bricks $67
With a scholarship for one month of study for a missionary
sister $200
With a scholarship for one month of studyfor a seminarian in
Ajofrn, Toledo, Spain $335
With monthly help for the families in Cuzco whowork for us
(teachers, professionals, etc.) $400
With the construction of a square meterof Nazareth Village
$535.00
***By donating jewelry or real estate which will be sold
for the benet of the orphaned children.
***By remembering our Movement of the Missionary Servants
of the Poor of the Third World in your will.
You Can Help Us!
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The Most Important Help for Missionaries
To desire something more than the daily regularity of a steady
job and to long for something truly great
is part of being young.
(Benedict XVI, Message for World Youth Day, 2011)
This Spiritual Offering may be sent to our address in Cuzco,
Peru.There it will be placed at the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary
on the altar of our chapel of Mary Mother of the Poor of the Third
World.
I, ____________________________________________________,during
all of 2012, commit myself to remain united to you in order to
give thanks to God for this new charism of the Church given
tothe Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World.
My participation will be as follows:
Form of Offering
Daily Weekly Bi-weekly Monthly Other
Holy Mass
Eucharistic Adoration
Holy Rosary
Address ________________________________________________
City _______________________ State _______ Zip Code________
Country ________________________ Date ___________________
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Listen to Him as a true Friend with Whom to share the path of
your life.
With Him at your side, you will be able to face with courage and
hope your difculties and problems,
even your disappointments and failures.
Benedict XVI, Message for World Youth Day 2011(Vatican, August
6, 2011)
S.O.S to Young People!
With the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World you
can realize this ideal with a life of deep prayer and generous
giving
of yourself in the service of your many brotherswho suffer every
type of marginalization.
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(1970) Fr. Giovanni Salerno, carrying the Word of God to the
villages of the Andes by foot and on horseback
Walking . . . with the Poor
January 30, 1938 Father Giovanni Salerno Legname is born in
Gela, an ancient Greek colony in Sicily. He re-ceives his First
Holy Communion at age 7 and as he remembers, That day I asked for
three things: to be a priest, to be a doctor and to be a
missionary. And the Lord heard me. Only four years later he entered
the minor semi-nary of the Augustinians in Monreale.
September 22, 1952 Father Giovan-nis father dies.
December 23, 1961 Father Giovanni is ordained a priest and that
same day receives two prophecies, revelations of what God has
reserved for him. His mother, kissing his hands, says, May these
hands save many children! (One must remember that at that time the
Augustinian Order in the Sicilian
province didnt work with orphaned or abandoned children.) Then
the Provin-cial Superior, Father Agustin La Valle, on kissing his
hands, says: May these hands carry the Gospel to the remotest poor!
It is something unexpected, but it is the plan of God.
Two years later, the Apostolic Nun-cio in Peru, answering the
request of Msgr. Alcides Mendoza Castro, Bishop of Abancay,
requests of the Superior General of the Augustinians that he send
missionaries to work in the poor-est zone of his diocese, the
region of Apurimac. The Superior General sends every member of the
Order a letter ask-ing for volunteers. Father Giovanni is among
those who offer themselves.
October 7, 1968 Father Giovanni, who has left Italy in July with
the other
In this chronicle, we present a brief account of the life of
Father Giovanni Salerno in gratitude to God for giving Father to
the Movement, to the Church and to all the poor children that the
Movement has served, serves and will serve.
20
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Augustinian volunteers, arrives in An-tabamba in the region of
Apurimac where he founds the Mother Rosa Gat-torno medical
dispensary, the rst of many. In Apurimac he will work as a priest
and missionary doctor for more
than 15 years. But over time God re-veals His plans to him. Many
women die in childbirth and leave their chil-dren to Father
Giovanni who, taking advantage of this situation and under the
inspiration of the encyclical Popu-lorum Progressio of Pope Paul VI
is encouraged to carry out a project to shelter these small orphans
and aban-doned ones.
May 8, 1982 The Discalced Carmel-ites of Cuzco give Father
Giovanni the use of a small place which he uses to begin what will
later be called the Saint Teresa of Jesus Orphanage. Father
Giovanni recounts that he shuddered to think that the Prefect of
the city was going to participate in the inaugura-tion, because the
orphanage had been opened without any authorization and so could be
closed by his order. But on hearing the situation, the Prefect
said, How can I close this orphanage which
assures us that Jesus has set foot in this poor neighborhood
where there is so much misery? On the contrary, this house will
grow because other mis-sionaries will arrive, other priests, to
console and educate all the poor and abandoned children of this
barrio. These are also prophetic words.
April 17, 1983 The rst mission-ary family begins to work with
Father Giovanni. They will form the nucleus of what will become the
community of married missionaries of the Movement. The following
month the association of Servants of the Poor of the Third World
ofcially begins.
May 30, 1986 Having received news about the Servants of the Poor
of the Third World, Cardinal Marcelo Gon-zalez Martin, Archbishop
of Toledo, Spain, meets with Father Giovanni and tells him, This
movement is the work of God. And as I am not only the Arch-bishop
of Toledo but a Cardinal of the Church, as such I feel it necessary
to help you. He insists that to guarantee the future of the new
order it is neces-sary to found it on priests and permits Fr.
Giovanni to speak to the seminarians in the Metropolitan Seminary
of Toledo. The rst seminarians arrive in Cuzco the following year.
This same Cardinal permits the Movement to open a House of
Formation in his archdiocese allow-ing the seminarians of the
Movement to study at the seminary in Toledo.
November 5, 1986 Father Giovanni concelebrates Mass with Pope
John Paul II who later receives him in a private au-dience speaking
encouraging words to him about his work which he himself calls Opus
Christi Salvatoris Mundi.
August 8, 1987 The Saint Teresa of Jesus Home in Cuzco is opened
with the consecration of the altar by Msgr. Sebastiano Rosso,
Bishop of Piazza Armerina, Sicily, who in Gela the year
(1970) Situation encountered by Fr. Giovanni Salerno in the Alta
Cordil-lera of the Andes
21
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before had declared the birth of the Movement of the Servants of
the Poor of the Third World in the presence of the Archbishop of
Cuzco, Msgr. Al-cides Mendoza Castro. The following year, the San
Tarcisio Center and the Saint Teresa Soup Kitchen are opened in
Cuzco. The Saint Maria Goretti and Francisco and Jacinta Marto Free
Schools will open in 1997.
November 4, 1989 The rst stone of the Priestly House of
Formation in Ajo-frin, Toledo, Spain is blessed. Its church will be
consecrated and inaugurated by Cardinal Marcelo Gonzalez Martin ve
years later on June 18, 1994.
November 22, 1991 Because of vari- ous attacks and defamations
of the Movement and its work, Msgr. Alcides Mendoza Castro
intervenes with a dec-laration that emphasizes the importance of
the work that the Movement carries out in Cuzco. These attacks are
repeated and he again intervenes for the Move-ment with a Decree of
March 20, 1997.
April 16, 1995 Our Lady of Silence Monastery is founded in
Urubamba in the sacred valley of the Incas. Father Giovanni
remembers, It was being a missionary that made me understand the
fundamental importance of the contem-plative life, of prayer and
silence. For this reason I wanted our Movement to include a branch
of contemplative men. When asked why he didnt want a branch of
contemplative women also he says that there are many monasteries of
contem-plative nuns who support us and they are our contemplatlive
branch of women.
January 10, 1999 In Hungary, Bish-op Laszlo Biro blesses the
Center in Budapest where the Movement has been working for a year
with gypsy children. Ofcial activity thus begins in Hungary.
December 27, 2000 Msgr. Alcides Mendoza Castro approves the
statutes of the Movement.
March 16, 2001 Father Giovannis mother dies.
(1986) Fr. Giovanni Salerno being received by His Holiness John
Paul II
22
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March 8, 2003 The Apostolic Nun-cio of Peru, Msgr. Rino
Passigato, sol-emnly inaugurates and blesses the new Saint Teresa
of Jesus Orphanage on the outskirts of Cuzco.
August 25, 2007 The City of Boys in Andahuaylillas (22 miles
from Cuzco) is inaugurated by Msgr. Juan Antonio Ugarte Perez,
Archbishop of Cuzco, concelebrating Mass with Msgr. Mi-chele
Pennisi, Bishop of Piazza Armer-ina, Sicily and Msgr. Rafael
Palermo Ramos, Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain who has supported
the Move-ment since its foundation.
September 8, 2007 Don Antoine Forgeot, Benedictine Abbot of
Font-gombault, who has collaborated with the spreading of the
Movement in France, solemnly crowns the image of Holy Mary, Mother
of the Poor, in the chapel of the City of Boys. Also pres-ent is
Don Fernando Rivas, Benedic-tine Abbot of the monastery of Lujan in
Argentina, who has also collaborated in the spreading of the
Movement in Argentina.
May 19, 2009 The new Apostolic Nuncio of Peru, Msgr. Bruno
Musaro, consecrates the altar of the new mon-astery of Our Lady of
Silence contem-plative community in Querowasi, a few miles from the
City of Boys.
March 26, 2011 Msgr. Michele Pen-nisi, Bishop of the diocese of
Piazza Armerina, blesses the Nazareth Village in Andahuaylillas, an
international and missionary Nomadela built to house the community
of married missionar-ies of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of
the Third World. These fami-lies come from Colombia, the United
States, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela, practicing
various profes-sions such as architects, engineers, builders,
teachers, banker, workers. They have come with their children,
leaving behind their countries, work and comforts to place
themselves at the service of the evangelization of the most
poor.
September 2011 They are working hard on the construction of the
Minor Seminary in the City of Boys which
(2011) Fr. Giovanni Salerno in the City of Boys in
Andahuaylillas with the children of the Saint Tarcisio Home, the
minor seminarians, the brothers and the priests
23
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promises to be lled soon with boys ready to give their lives to
the Lord in the work that He has wanted done here in Peru through
Father Giovanni.
December 23, 2011 Father Giovanni celebrates 50 years of
priesthood. The Movement has 15 priests, 2 deacons, 11 major
seminarians, and 17 minor semi-narians; the Mother House of priests
in Andahuaylillas; a hundred sisters at various levels of formation
that live in the Mother House in Cuzco or in the houses in Lima,
Cusibamba, Punacancha and Urubamba; the con- templative commu- nity
in Querowasi with 2 priests and 2 brothers; the com-munity of
married missionaries with 12 families that live in Nazareth
Village; the center that takes in gyp-sies in Budapest; the
seminary in
Ajofrin, Toledo, Spain; the missionary center in Sordio in the
prov-ince of Lodi, Italy; the associations and sup-port groups that
work in different countries and live the charism of the Movement;
and the numerous monasteries that support the Move-ment with their
prayers and daily offering.
All this, which we have painted with broad strokes, but above
all by the fact that the Movement of-
fers all of us a sure path to holiness, we have only to raise a
grateful glance to Heaven, asking God that by means of His Mother
who is always invoked by us by the name of Holy Mary, Mother of the
Poor of the Third World, grant us the gift of faithful perseverance
in His work for so many poor and so many souls who await His Word,
His Body and His Blood.
Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World families at
the Nazareth Village
Fr. Giovanni Salerno with the Missionary Sister Servants of the
Poor of the Third World
24
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Our Missionary Sister Servantsof the Poor of the Third World
The traditional veilworn by our sisters is
a sign of their totalconsecration to
Christ, and of reparationfor the sins of
the world.
(For more information on thesisters, please send in the
form on page 14.)
25
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Seminary in Ajofrin, Spain
August 1-24: A good number of young men participated in our
third year of International Camp at our House of Priestly and
Missionary Formation in Ajofrin, Toledo, Spain. They came from
Germany, Austria, Canada, Spain, the United States, France,
Hungary, England and Italy. Formation took place during World Youth
Day (August 16-21). We were able to participate in the various
meetings with Benedict XVI in addi-tion to attending the other
activities, such as concerts and expositions. The priests and
brothers attended to the people who came to our missionary booth at
the Vocational Fair that took place in the Retiro Park in Madrid.
Some of our priests also spent part of their time hearing
confessions. We are very grateful to those who par-ticipated this
year in the International Camp for their joy and generous
dedication to the different activities. We are already planning our
Inter-
national Camp for next year, during which we would like to
travel at least a part of the famous road to Santiago de
Compostela. This year we offered the young men three weeks of
fraternal life, prayer, sightseeing, sports and lan-guage study.
For many of them it was a good chance to discover religious and
missionary life and to motivate a possible commitment to the
service of the poor.
October 12: Each year on the solem-nity of the Virgin of the
Pillar, all our communities renew their vows. This year Brothers
Mathias Brand (Ger-man) and Paolo Giandinoto (Italian) made their
perpetual vows in our seminary in Ajofrin.
Cuzco, Peru
Each year the number of Mission-ary Sister Servants of the Poor
of the Third World increases, allowing us to strengthen our
permanent missions in the High Cordillera. We have 98
Chronicle of the Movement
Young men from different countries who were prepared in our
House of Formation in Ajofrin, Toledo, Spain to experience World
Youth Day in Madrid this past August
26
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sisters who silently care for hundreds of children who are
crippled or suf-fer from incurable illness. Some of them endure a
long agony because there are yet no remedies to alleviate their s u
f f e r i n g . Others get better, thanks to medications we are
able to give them. This year the sisters re- ceived, among others,
four new children who were less than six months old when they came
to us. Two of them were found in the street. Francisco Xavier has a
cleft lip and palate and was abandoned in a plastic bag. Lucia de
Fatima is hydrocephalic and was abandoned in a public plaza in the
district of Calca. Juan Gabriel came to us when he was only 26 days
old and weighed six pounds. He didnt have the exterior portion of
his ears and during the time he was with us hed been di-agnosed
with other disabilities. His diagnosis was to be made clearer in
August with the help of a team of specialists from North America
but God took him to Heaven on August 3, maternally attended to by
our sisters. When the priest said, Deliver your soul to God Who has
created you. . . Juan Gabriel soon delivered it up, returning to
the house of the Father with little suffering. The fourth child,
Jos Adolfo, arrived at ve months
old with third stage malnutrition, his skin glued to his bones
and his stom-ach very swollen. We took him to the hospital where,
after two weeks of
hydra t ion , he was able to return to the Home. He is now a
year old and is be- ginning to walk and de-velop like the other
healthy children. The mis-sions of our sisters are growing
andstrengthening. Since June,
the sisters in Rumichacha, Urubamba hold a day of Oratory for
the children of the area where they play, learn the catechism and
pray and prepare to re-ceive the sacraments of Baptism and First
Communion. The community of sisters in Punacancha, in addition to
teaching and managing the Soup Kitchen for the children there, also
take care of the people in the neigh-boring pueblo once a week. In
total, the villages assisted by our mission-ary sisters once a week
are Pacca, Carhuis, Ccasacunca, Totora, Wayl-lay and Kirkas. Every
Saturday in our Laura Vi-cua Oratory in Cuzco near the Saint Teresa
Home, we prepare more than a hundred girls to receive First
Com-munion and Conrmation. They also have workshops for theater,
singing and crafts. Our Lady of Peace soup kitchen
Missionary Sister Servants of the Poor of the Third World on the
road to evangelizing the pueblo of Totora in the Andes
Mountains
27
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in Cuzcoha completed its rst anni-versary and the young people
there have learned ways of approaching God through prayer,
especially the holy rosary, frequent reception of the sacrament of
Confession and the Eucharist, and the value of a truly Christian
life. Twice a week they have workshops for pastry making and
baking. God has blessed our community of missionary sisters with
many Pe-ruvian vocations but also with two candidates from other
countries, Ser-bia and England. This year, by the grace of God, we
have received ve new postulants and twenty new aspi-rants who we
hope may be faithful and bear fruits of great holiness.
December 12: Ordination to the Diaconate of our Peruvian
Brother
On this date, Msgr. Juan Antonio Ugarte, Archbishop of Cuzco,
hon-
ored us with his presence by presid-ing at the Ordination Mass
of our Brother Ral Gonzles to the diacon-ate. God has granted us
the blessing of this rst Peruvian vocation of men. His parents and
relatives came from Lima for the ordination as well as many boys
from our school and or-phanage. May God increase the num-ber of
vocations for the good of the Church and of the poor who wait for
the Eucharist in their villages in the High Cordillera! Five young
men from various countries are experiencing a year of missionary
spirituality in our City of Boys. May God grant them the gift of a
missionary vocation!
December 23: 50th Anniversary of Priesthood
On this date, Father Giovanni Saler-no celebrates the 50th
anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood sur-rounded by the
priests, brothers, sis-ters, families, contemplatives and ob-lates,
all of whom have been attracted by his example of delity and
sur-render to the service of God and the poor and who are
continually helped by the multitude of benefactors and dear friends
who make possible our living out our missionary voca-tion within
this charism. Thank you, Father Giovanni, for obeying the voice of
the Holy Spirit and thus making it possible for us to receive
Him!
Father Ral Gonzles (Peruvian), Missionary Deacon Servant of the
Poor of the Third World
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Please mail your request to:
House of Priestly FormationHoly Mary
Mother of the PoorCarretera Mazarambroz S/N
45110 Ajofrn (Toledo)Spain
Important Announcements
Available from our House of Forma-tion in Ajofrin, the pocket
book edition in Spanish and Italian of:
The Imitation of Christ
Specially prepared by the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the
Third World. These editions are now available in Spanish, Italian
and French.
We invite you to visit the ofcial website of the Missionary
Servants of the Poor of the Third World:
www.msptm.com
The 2nd English edition of the book On Mission with God in the
Andes, gather-ing 36 years of the missionary experi-ence of Fr.
Giovanni Salerno, is in prep-aration. This 2nd edition will include
new Memories and Reections.The 1st edition has had great success
and has been translated into Spanish, French, English, German,
Hungarian,Polish and Portuguese.
29
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If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please send
us the form below, using the return envelope in the center of this
newsletter. We can also mail you extra copies of the newsletter for
you to distribute to your family members, local parish, or youth
group, and thus you can help us spread this message for the good of
those who suffer in the Third World.
To New Readers
PLEASE PRINT
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Please mail me # _______ copies of the Newsletter.
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Do you know others who would be interested?
30
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31
The Benedictine monks of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey in
Hulbert, Oklahoma have graciously volunteered to assist with the
work of the Movement of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the
Third World. Thanks to their wonderful generosity, the
administration for the Movement in the United States is moving from
our Cannonsburg, Michigan location to the Abbey in Hulbert,
Oklahoma. We are very grateful for this new blessing for the
Movement and for the assistance of the monks.
Special Announcement
Please note that future donations should be sent to: Missionary
Servants of the Poor 5800 West Monastery Road Hulbert, OK 74441
Father Abbot Philip Anderson of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey
and Father Giovanni Salerno
This newsletter and all the material we publish are completely
free of charge and always available to all who ask, thanks to the
generosity of a benefactor who believes in our charism and in this
way collaborates in the spreading of the Kingdom of God. Please
dont hesitate to request the sending of our publications so other
persons may get to know the charism of the Missionary Servants of
the Poor of the Third World.
-
Opus Christi Salvatoris Mundi
Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World
United States:Friends of the Missionary Servants
of the Poor Foundation5800 West Monastery RoadHulbert, OK 74441
USA
[email protected]
Per:Misioneros Siervos de los Pobres
del Tercer MundoPO Box 907Cuzco Peru
Tel/Fax 51-84-307-093email: [email protected]
www.mstpm.com
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datio
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nnun
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ion
M
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of C
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04 W
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oad
Hul
bert
, OK
744
41
For Unto Us a Child Is Born;
For Unto Us a Son Is Given.
Merry Christmas!