Friday, November 9, 2012

The Communists in Avellaneda


Remarks made by Don Orione to his Italian religious while at table, concerning the work and activities of the Congregation in Argentina.

16th September 1937, while at table:
The Communists in Avellaneda.

There are many Communists in Avellaneda, near Buenos Aires. There is frequent disorder, and killings and murders take place nearly every day… It was impossible for any priests to set foot in that neighborhood, either by day or by night, but since the development of our charitable work of the Little Cottolengo, things have changed... We have taken in their aged and their orphans, we have entered into their suffering, sharing it with them, and we have opened a free clinic for workers...


So now, if we go in the daytime, they not only allow us to come, but they even raise their hats to us. If we go at night and they recognize us, they will even accompany us to the door. Many become Communists simply because they are driven by hunger. They see the high class leading idle and dissolute lives while they go hungry, and so they rebel.


If you desire to save a society, it is essential to look after the neediest, most wretched and most neglected among its people…


Parola VII, 41

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