{"id":26257,"date":"2025-10-25T10:05:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T13:05:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.csem.org.br\/?post_type=csem_em_foco&p=26257"},"modified":"2025-10-27T09:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T12:56:29","slug":"130-anos-de-fundacao-da-congregacao-das-irmas-scalabrinianas-missao-e-humanidade-em-movimento","status":"publish","type":"csem_em_foco","link":"https:\/\/www.csem.org.br\/en\/csem_em_foco\/130-anos-de-fundacao-da-congregacao-das-irmas-scalabrinianas-missao-e-humanidade-em-movimento\/","title":{"rendered":"130 years since the founding of the Congregation of the Scalabrinian Sisters: mission and humanity on the move"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 25, 1895 - 2025.<\/strong> 130 years ago, in Piacenza, Italy, the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo - Scalabrinians (MSCS) was born, moved by the impulse of St. John Baptist Scalabrini to \u201cfollow migrants with heart and feet\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, on every continent, the sisters continue to listen and act. Their voices help us to understand the deep meaning of this itinerancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A life consecrated to the exodus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sister Edi Maria Eidt, a Brazilian who is the director of C\u00e1ritas Diocesana do U\u00edge (Angola), celebrates 60 years of consecrated life<\/strong>. His journey reveals the essence of the Scalabrinian charism: faith that moves with migrants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recalls that her vocation began when she was still a little girl, when she heard a nun talking about a mission in Africa. \u201cIt was like a lightning bolt: this is for me, to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, during her master's studies in Sociology in Paris, she experienced what it means to be a foreigner: the language difficulties, the loneliness, the daily commute in a metropolis. \u201cThey seem like small things,\u201d she reflects, \u201cbut they affect you.\u201d The experience led her to realize \u201cthe importance of foreign communities\u201d and the feeling of \u201cbeing at home\u201d among her own people. For her, even prayer changes meaning depending on the language: praying the Our Father in her mother tongue \u201chas a unique meaning\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Itinerancy and rootedness<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sister Edi has lived for eight years in the province of U\u00edge, in northern Angola, a region marked by a border of more than 1,100 km with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). \u201cDuring the war, many Angolans took refuge in the DRC and, when possible, returned,\u201d she says. Even today, many live without documents, which is why C\u00e1ritas and the Pastoral do Migrante are working on civil regularization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sr. Edi with children participating in Caritas projects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The reality in U\u00edge is also one of poverty and unemployment. \u201cAfter the war, young adults left for other provinces in search of work, and this internal migration brought with it a consequence that the Scalabrinian charism challenges us to take on: the abandonment of parents who are already elderly.\u201d To deal with this, Caritas develops community agricultural projects that aim to keep families in the countryside and create dignified living conditions. These initiatives seek to act on the causes of forced migration, promoting sustainable alternatives that reduce the need for exodus motivated by poverty and lack of opportunities.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another axis of work is access to personal documentation<\/strong>. \u201cThere are countless children, teenagers and even adults without birth certificates. How can someone without documentation prove their nationality?\u201d he asks. In 2024, more than 660 children and adolescents were registered, \u201cgaining the opportunity to attend regular school\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A broad look at the human<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With six decades of consecration, Sr. Edi says she has learned that \u201cbeing faithful to the charism and living Scalabrinian values requires developing a broad outlook, with the ability to perceive the interrelationship of facts and events\u201d. For her, charity is not mere help, but a reflection of the very presence of God: \u201cAny action of love for others is, in some way, a reflection of divine charity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
\u201cThey are returnees from the project you did,\u201d recalls Sr. Edi Maria Eidt to Sr. Marlene Wildner, director of CSEM. The photo shows the group from the first project coordinated by Sr. Edi as director of C\u00e1ritas Diocesana do U\u00edge. Today, these families are getting back on track with the support of a new Caritas project in Guadalajara, towards the formation of a cooperative.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His testimony ends with an invitation: \u201cNever get used to and resign yourself to difficulties, but find alternatives and cast your nets on the right side of the boat,\u201d as in the Gospel of John (21:6). And he concludes: \u201cI invite young people and people of good will to make room in themselves for a big heart, capable of embracing the world in every migrant, in every exile, in every poor person, in every human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A partnership of faith and trust<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The history of the Scalabrinian Sisters is also intertwined with that of those who have walked alongside them. Deacon Klaus-J\u00fcrgen Kau\u00df<\/strong>, The former executive director of the International Center for the Diaconate, has accompanied the congregation since 1989. He recalls that from the Italian mission of Fellbach-Waiblingen, in the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, \u201ca close and trusting collaboration\u201d emerged which has lasted for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diocese supported projects in Angola, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay and Germany, and was present at the ICoMiR conferences<\/strong> promoted by CSEM in South Africa, Mexico and Brazil. \u201cThe Scalabrinian Sisters are always present and act concretely in critical areas,\u201d she says. \u201cThis especially strengthens the credibility of their work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also highlights the role of CSEM - the Scalabrinian Center for Migration Studies, \u201can international scientific center that analyzes the causes of migration and creates impulses for dialogue on a global level.\u201d For Kau\u00df, the work of the sisters \u201chelps in a sustainable way to deal with the issue of refugees and migrants\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A presence that renews itself<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of Scalabrinian communities today follow the spirituality of exodus and the mystique of mobility. The feminine vocation that was born in Piacenza 130 years ago has crossed time and borders without losing its essential: recognizing in the migrant the call to transform the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSEM - Scalabrinian Center for Migration Studies<\/strong> joins in this celebration with gratitude and hope, reaffirming its commitment to study, reflection and action alongside all the Scalabrinian Sisters, whose mission lives on wherever a human being is on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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