“A caravan will carry the coffins of Redemptorist priests to the Basilica Menor de Pilar”, these words have been published in several newspapers in the country.
(Pilar, Paraguay) The city of Pilar will pay homage to two Italian Redemptorist priests who supported the growth of the city of Pilar, by moving their coffins from the cemetery to the Minor Basilica “Nuestra Señora Virgen del Pilar”.
They are Father Santino Tesei and Father Federico Schiavon, Italian Redemptorist missionaries of Pilar, the latter being the founder of a total of 13 private Redemptorist subsidised educational institutions. The transfer is scheduled for March 25th at 8:00 a.m., prior to the journey there will be a bugle call by the National Police. In addition, Father Odorino Zamboni and Father Atilio Cordioli will say a few words in remembrance of the Italian Redemptorist Fathers who left their lives in Italy to dedicate themselves fully to the mission in Paraguay. “We will move the coffins from the city cemetery to the crypt of the Basilica Menor. It will be an act of homage to Fathers Shiavon and Tesel, whose bodies were still resting in the cemetery and the transfer is a decision taken by the Redemptorists of Pilar. The procession will pass through the 13 educational institutions founded by Father Shiavon, followed by a liturgical celebration in the basilica,” said Fabián Ojeda, of the committee organising the transfer, in an interview with the newspaper La Nación.
The procession, which will take the form of a caravan, with white handkerchiefs and balloons, will travel through the main streets of the city. The procession will be accompanied by the Santo Tomás and Juan XXIII school band and the National Police Band. At the entrance to the Basílica Menor there will be a Eucharistic celebration presided over by Monsignor Pedro Cuellar, diocesan bishop of Pilar. Afterwards, Father Gianluigi Aroffo, president of the Redemptorist Missionaries Foundation, will give a speech in homage to the Italian fathers.
(agencies)
Nel 1971 il il governo nazionale concesse a P. Schiavon la “cittadinanza onoraria del Paraguay”. Oggi un monumento lo ricorda a tutti i cittadini.
P. Schiavon con i collaboratori redentoristi e laici fondò l’organizzazione FROSEP per dare una risposta con una visione cristiana ai bisogni umani: Cooperativa, Scuola di formazione manuale per giovani donne, Scuole elementari, Istituti umanistici, tecnici e commerciali.
