INTERVIEW WITH FR. DINO RUARO, SCJ,Provincial Superior of the Congo Province Fr. Dino Ruaro, SCJ - Provincial Superior of the Congo Province Father, for many years, you have been a missionary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Today, as Provincial Superior, you direct the missionary work and the religious animation of that Province. Could you give us a picture of the Congo Province at present? The Congo is a…

The History of the SCJ Region in Finland 1904-1905: Russo-Japanese War - One of the results of the war was the proclamation of religious freedom in the entire Russian Empire. It gave some relief, at least for a short time, from the attempts of the Czar to totally russify the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. 1905: The first Finnish catechism was published by a Polish parish priest of St. Henry…

New SCJ Bishop in Finland What is ecumenism? If you look in the dictionary, you'll get a few bland sentences that say something about "cooperation and unity among religious groups." But if you go to Finland, you see something more than a definition. You see ecumenism lived on a daily basis. Fr. Paul Grizzelle-Reid, SCJ, coordinator of Sacred Heart Monastery in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, traveled to Finland in January to…

Italian priest kidnapped Fr Giuseppe Pierantoni, SCJ, 44, was kidnapped Posted: 1:04 AM (Manila Time)October 18, 2001By Hernan P. de la CruzInquirer News Service PAGADIAN CITY. About 10 to 15 heavily armed men in fatigues Wednesday night abducted an Italian priest while he was taking supper in his parish church in the town of Dimataling in Zamboanga del Sur province on the southern Mindanao island, his superiors reported. Zamboanga del…

Fr. Giuseppe (Beppe) Pierantoni is released Rome, April 8, 2002 After 172 days of being kidnapped, we can joyfully announce that Fr. Giuseppe Pierantoni, SCJ, a missionary in the Philippines, was freed today. He is in a good health, though tired from tensions, constant changes in location, and precarious living conditions. He is calm and without any animosity toward those who subjected him to this painful situation. Both for the…

MADAGASCAR25 Years of Dehonian Presence Umberto Chiarello, SCJ On November 14, 1974, the first SCJ missionary, Fr. Nicola Giampietro of the South Italian Province, arrived in Madagascar. On November 14, 1999, this anniversary was celebrated by 47 SCJs - Italians, Portuguese, and native Madagascans. The talents given by the Lord to the SCJs of Madagascar have born fruit and grown. On June 5, 1975, after a six month sojourn in…

Father Aldo Marchesini, SCJ Fr. Aldo Marchesini, SCJ Fr. Aldo Marchesini, SCJ, has become a mission legend. Despite great personal danger he has emptied himself to benefit the neediest and poorest on the African continent and continues to do so to this day. Born in 1941 in Bologna, Italy, he completed the program of study there required by the local Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. In 1962 he entered our…