A fatherly and motherly tenderness

«What immediately fascinated me was the gentleness, the passion, the tenderness he had towards the poorest children and those without family. His capacity to become father and mother of these children abandoned in the middle of the street». So explains Father Giorgio Nalin, General Superior of the Rogationists, the Congregation founded in Messina by Annibale Maria Di Francia on 16 May 1897

by Pina Baglioni

Father Annibale and some collaborators with the first group at the Antonian Orphanage for boys

«We expected the canonization, of course, but only in two or three years time. What a surprise for us all!» exults Father Giorgio Nalin, General Superior of the Rogationists, the congregation founded in Messina by Annibale Maria Di Francia on 16 May 1897. The very day of the year on which John Paul II will proclaim him saint. «It was the Pope who speeded things up. We have been told that he decided to set the prayer for priestly vocations at the center of Christian attention precisely through Saint Annibale. The speeding-up is also a gesture of affection of the Pope towards Paul VI. It shouldn’t be forgotten, in fact, that it was he who in 1968 instituted the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for vocations, giving recognition at ecclesial level to the charisma of the Rogationists and of the female congregation of the Daughters of Divine Zeal. The merit, then, is also his».
Father Nalin, from Padua, ninth successor to the saintly man from Messina, is, after six years as head of the Rogationists, at the end of his term. He will leave the post next July. Like him, Mother Diodata Guerrera, Superior General of the Daughters of Divine Zeal, is about to hand on her mandate in July. While both were organizing the General Chapters for their respective successions, they were happily overwhelmed by quite other preparations.
A few days before the canonization of the holy founder, we interviewed father Nalin.
The venture of Annibale Maria Di Francia started in 1878 in the Avignone district, the worst slum in Messina at that time, where «no priest or policeman» had ever set foot, as the saint says in his Scritti. After almost a hundred and thirty-three years since the beginning of that extraordinary story, where are his sons and what are they doing today?
GEORGE NALIN: Thanks be to God, it would be easier to say where they aren’t. In the ’fifties four of us left for Brazil, with the prayers written by Saint Annibale in our pockets. Today we are present on all the five continents. From Papua New Guinea to India. And then in the Cameroon, in the Philippines and in Vietnam. We are present in the United States, in Spain, in Poland and, obviously, in Italy. As for vocations, in recent times it is Africa that has been giving the most abundant harvest. As always, the “locomotive” of our experience is to pray to obtain many priests and teach «the things of God» according to the definition so dear to Saint Annibale. That is why we take particular care of our centers of vocational spirituality and of the spread of prayer. The rest hinges on that: the missions, the life of the parishes, the oratorios, the sanctuaries, the schools of every kind and degree, the colleges. And the many works of charity: the management of the institutes for the handicapped, the house-families for minors and orphans, the social centers for the reception and care of the poor and underprivileged. In recent years we have set up nutrition and healthcare centers. In Africa, for example, our Fathers are taking in Aids sufferers. As you see, the horror and poverty of the old Avignone district in Messina, where Saint Annibale began, are to be found everywhere.

A group of poor in the Avignone district who received help

What first fascinated you about Annibale Maria Di Francia?
NALIN: What immediately fascinated me was the gentleness, the passion, the tenderness he had towards the poorest children, and those without family. His capacity to become father and mother of those kids abandoned in the middle of the street. And I came upon those same qualities in the seminary, among the Fathers who trained me. The other aspect that always moves me is the conviction of our saint that every person, man or woman as may be, whatever profession they follow, must not go wasted. We are all born with a calling. If there is an episode that struck me, when I was little more than child, it was Annibale’s encounter with that first blind beggar, Francesco Zancone, from the Avignone district. That meeting changed his life. Our founder was noble, his family descended directly from Charles d’Anjou, he was rich, admired. The more exclusive clubs of Messina contended for him: he was a notable poet. He could have done anything: from diplomat to journalist. From politician to I don’t know what else. He gave it all up and went into the midst of the slums of Messina.
When one hears speak about the Rogationists and the Daughters of Divine Zeal, almost always the same judgment emerges: they are modern and at the same time produce people steadfast in the faith. Is there a particular reason for that judgment?
NALIN: Lack of fear. Which means that we haven’t forgotten the approach to reality of Annibale Maria Di Francia. He lived in a period full of great change: the Church had just lost its temporal power. Secular forces were advancing in Italy that created no few problems, above all for the religious orders. In Sicily the clergy, high and low, had curled up like a hedgehog, even more than they had already done in the preceding decades. And the clergy of his own diocese were the strongest opponents of his enterprises, incapable of understanding his way of doing things, terrorized of losing even more status.
For Annibale, paradoxically, all that becomes further reason for his action. He took no account whatsoever of the problem of declining values, of the growing influence of the freemasons. Of course he was perfectly aware of what was happening. But he had absolutely no fear: it was precisely in that moment that he strove to set up his orphanages, his printing house, his congregations. He made use of the tools of modernity to help the charities: just think of the press, the newspapers he edited. And then he engaged in dialogue with everybody, local administrators, politicians, he asked for money indiscriminately from everybody to support charities that managed, at times, to work like businesses. While remaining in absolute fidelity to the Church, Annibale opened his arms to everybody. He didn’t lose heart even when faced with the tragedy of the earthquake of Messina. Not least because, on that occasion, he met Luigi Orione, a real grace in the life of Annibale.

Father Annibale with the first female Congregation grouped around Melanie Calvat, in a photo of 1897

As I see it, we’re not in a very different situation. We need to open our arms to everybody. And then modernity is a word that means everything and nothing. Today as yesterday, it’s enough to read the Gospel, administer the sacraments, teach the “things of God” and pray to the Lord of the harvest. Providence does the rest. On the subject of modernity, it should be remembered that in the schools of the Rogationists and of the Daughters of Divine Zeal, there were mixed classes practically from the beginning. Something unimaginable for those times.
One of the painful aspects of our times is the decline in priestly vocations. Meaning your “reason for being”. What do you feel about the matter?
NALIN: That we need to look reality in the face, without recrimination. And, above all in the West, that is the reality. Our founder said that the biggest grace that the Lord grants to his Church is an abundance of priests, chosen «according to His heart». The biggest punishment is a lack of them. I don’t believe that one can go ahead with sociological investigations, figures, percentages, graphs, reports on the state of health of vocations. Young people are attracted by those in love with the Lord. If you’re happy, if you’re in love with Jesus Christ, there’s more chance that they’ll come after you.
What can be said of Annibale Maria Di Francia’s friendship and respect for Melanie Calvat, the French shepherdess to whom Our Lady appeared at La Salette?
NALIN: Annibale Maria Di Francia was always concerned with people who had any reputation for sanctity. Think of his friendship with Luigi Orione. He always believed firmly in the apparition of the Virgin Mary to Melanie Calvat and in everything Our Lady had disclosed to the shepherdess about the destiny of the Church. When he heard about her visit to Italy, to Castellammare of Stabia, he wanted to meet her. He even called her in to direct our female Congregation in Messina from 1897 to 1898, in a very difficult moment of his history. The Congregation had been closed at that period. And so Annibale thought that a figure such as she would be able to resurrect it. She, a Frenchwoman, agreed to go to Sicily. And the operation succeeded. The great faith and the strong personality of the woman regenerated the Congregation. At the end of her mission, Calvat even said: «Je suis de votre Congrégation». The friendship between the two continued over the years, so that when Melanie died practically unknown at Altamura, in Puglia, on 14 December 1904, she was buried in the church of the Immaculate Conception of the Daughters of Divine Zeal, in the Montecalvario district. And Father Annibale went to dedicate her tomb/monument on 19 September 1920.