17. Scalabrini to Pius X¹⁷

         São Paulo, Brazil, July 22, 1904

Most Holy Father,

I beg you to excuse, in your immense kindness, my daring to address this letter to you and in using this paper, the best that can be found in this house of the Congregation of my Missionaries. It brings to your attention a great work of love they have accomplished. I strongly feel the need to thank you on my knees at the feet of your august Person, for the blessing with which you deign to accompany me in my long voyages and whose most beneficial effects I have experienced.

            Thank God I did not suffer at all during the 27 days I spent aboard ship, although the sea was not always friendly. I celebrated Mass every day. I heard confessions, distributed communion, preached and taught catechism, so that a Brazilian gentleman said upon landing: “We have spent three weeks in a monastery!”

            Here I was magnificently welcomed by the Bishop, a man worthy of his position, by the Chapter of the Cathedral, the clergy and by an immense crowd of Italians, which gave a great deal of discomfort to the International Socialist Party, which is quite strong and numerous here.

            I preached the Spiritual Exercises to the Missionaries and to the Sisters and I have begun to visit the Italian colonies grouped in the so-called fazendas. Their encounter with me is something beyond description. When they see me from afar they cry “Evviva!”, but when I arrive in their midst they all weep. However, the most solemn moment comes when I speak to them about your Holiness and when I impart to them your Apostolic Blessing. Theirs is the very sweet weeping of intense joy. Yesterday I visited a colony made up almost entirely of people from the province of Treviso. What a joy to hear them speak of their Holy Father. What innocent pride they feel in having seen you, having spoken to you, having confessed to their Pope when he was a parish priest, a Canon, a Vicar, etc. The owner of the fazenda, who was also present, wept too like all the others and told me that this was one of the best days of his life.

            I shall continue these encounters for another week. Then, I shall leave for the States of Espirito Santo, Paraná, St. Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, visiting the houses of our Congregation and as many as I can of the colonies of our immigrants.

            I am leaving São Paulo with the great satisfaction of having made an agreement with this good Prelate about certain things which will greatly benefit the souls of our poor immigrants who are now, more than when in Italy, thirsty for the word of God and the sacraments. In this Diocese there are over 2,000 fazendas which the Missionaries of St. Charles visit tirelessly, like true apostles, as frequently as possible, but certainly not more than once a year, even though they are twelve. It is necessary to increase this number even to better manage the important institutions of charity they have created during the past ten years. The Italian orphans used to end up in an indescribable manner. The first Missionaries who were sent here realized immediately the need for an Italian orphanage. They courageously began to work and God helped them. Now there are 802 boys sheltered, educated and trained in a trade. There are also 242 boys lodged in two great workhouses outside the city who study, pray, learn a trade and are preparing themselves to be good Christians. They live by the contributions obtained by the Missionaries in their continuous apostolic travels. What surprises me most is that these Missionaries have no debts of any sort. It is God Who sees to their need and provides for them.

            I dare now present to you, Holy Father, an idea of mine. Your Holiness has planned the sublime and faithful program: Instaurare omnia in Christo (restore all things in Christ). Why could not the Church, which through the admirable institution of Propaganda Fide spends so much money and commits so many priests for the spreading of our faith among the infidels, do something similar for the preservation of the faith among the migrants? I am speaking of the migrants of all nations and of all Catholic lands: Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, Canadians, etc. A special Congregation dedicated to this task, which is the greatest problem of our century, would do honor to the Holy Apostolic See. It would bring near to her, as to a loving mother, the people of the world, and would bring about an immense good. Up North, in the United States of America, millions of people are lost to Catholicism, a loss that is certainly greater than the conversions of the infidels obtained by our Missions during three centuries. This loss still continues notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary. Protestantism works here and up there as well, in perverting souls. Now a Congregation which would contact the bishops of the dioceses where Catholic migrants come from and the dioceses they go to (and if this is not enough, even by contacting the respective governments); a Congregation which would study every angle of the difficult and complex migration problem, using for this purpose old and

new studies and which in the name of the Holy Father would adopt the proper remedies, such a Congregation would be a blessing for the world and would suffice to render your Pontificate glorious.

            I implore you, Holy Father, to pardon the audacity of a devoted and grateful son who would give his blood and his life for you and your cause. May you condescend to continue imparting to me your blessing which I receive daily on my knees with deep emotion, so that I may accomplish, with God’s help, the tasks for which I have come here, and then may be back, by the feast of All Saints, among my dear people.

            I kiss your feet, Holy Father, and with a sense of the strongest, old and deeply felt veneration, I glory in reaffirming myself, Your Holiness,

            Your most humble, most devoted and

most affectionate son,

+ G.B.V.