Missionary servants

of the Poor

of the third world

oPus Christi salvatoris Mundi

ChristMas 2010

Jesus is the only true treasure

to give to humanity that we possess.
Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI, Lourdes Grotto, Vatican Gardens,
Monday, 31 May 2010

Contents
Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth
Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3
Testimony by
Brother Vincenzo Pierri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
To love is to give everything you have, including yourself
Sister Benedicta Kauffmann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Saint John Bosco
Fr. Pierfillippo Giovanetti.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
From Our Houses : Chronicles of the Movement . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 24
From the World: The FAO Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

With Ecclesiastical Approbation from the

Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cuzco
It is forbidden to reproduce in part or in whole the content of the
articles in this issue without prior authorisation.
Important notice:
Do not ever tire of praying for priests, especially at this time when it seems that all the
powers of evil have come down on the world, attacking in particular the sacred ministers of
the Lord. Pray that they stay faithful, that they be holy, that they, ultimately,
be nothing more (and nothing less) than what they are called to be: Alter Christus.
Accompany with your prayers the Priests and Deacons, Missionary Servants of the Poor of
the Third World!

Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp

Fr. lvaro Gmez Fernndez, msp
Fr. Sebastin Dumont, msp
Fr. Urs Zanoni, msp
Fr. Agustn Delouvroy, msp
Fr. Vincent Mir Minnelli, msp
Fr. Giuseppe Cardamone, msp
Fr. Walter Corsini, msp
Fr. Jos Carlos Eugenio, msp
Fr. Jerome Gouallier, msp
Fr. Louis Marie Sall, msp
Rev. Pierfilippo Giovanetti, msp (Deacon)
Rev. Salvatore Piredda, msp (Deacon)
Rev. Zsolt Szab, msp (Deacon)
Rev. Christian Herv De Penfentenyo, msp (Deacon)
Rev. Alois Hollwerth, msp (Deacon)

Glory to God
in the highest, and peace
to His people on earth!
Fr. Giovanni Salerno, msp
My Dear Friends:
These words, proclaimed by
the angels to the shepherds in
Bethlehem, filled them with joy. They
immediately set out to adore the King
of kings, offering Him their poor gifts.
For us, as missionaries,
Christmas is a time of great rejoicing
every year not only because we can
adore Jesus in the manger but also
because we can see him in the faces of
so many children that are born in their
cold shacks, without adequate clothing,
without clean drinking water, and
without electric lights. They simply lie
on damp and unhygienic llama and
sheep skins thrown on the floor.
Jesus continues to be born poor.
There is no room for Him in the inns or
in decent homes. Worse yet, he is
rejected and threatened with death
because his mere presence disturbs and
bothers the powerful who fear that He
can really resolve the problems of the
poor, because this could put the
national and international economy in
crisis.
Jesus is the one who is continually
persecuted in the high Andes and in
many other countries of the Third
World. Often, He is even killed, while
looking for the land that was taken

from him.
Those in power in the Andes of
Peru, did not offer people better, safer
land even though they saw that the
recent floods destroyed many villages
built on swamp land. Doing so may
have prevented them from taking their
yearly holiday trips to Europe or the
United States.
For us missionaries, it is a great joy
to be with Him every day and alleviate
His suffering. It has been a blessing to
be able to serve the poor during the
floods last January.
Because of the downpour, many of
the poor have been left without not
only a shack to live in but without the
bare necessities to survive.
It has brought me great joy to serve
them in everything, and to actively
engage each one of the members of the
Movement to the best of their abilities
in this labour.
3

Children from the high Andes mountain range in Peru

most poor) had been accepted by all of

the youth that God in his goodness does
not tire of calling . . . the suffering of so
many brothers of the Third World
would have been less.
This experience teaches me that
God generously offers this gift to many
young people, but many of them do not
.to accept the cross. Later in their life,
however, they come across crosses they
never expected to find, ones that are
much heavier. I am a witness of the sad
end many of these young people come
to.
Others have closed themselves up
by building a closed spiritual routine:
two hours of volunteer work in
retirement homes, pilgrimages to
Medjugorje, etc. They engage in
commendable initiatives, but in their
case they are simply putting obstacles
to our Lords presence in their lives, a
presence that would make them true
4

messengers of the Gospel among the

most poor and the ones thirsty for the
Word of God.
Saying yes to the Lord means
giving Him not only your heart but also
your lips, your hands, and your feet, so
that He can act in us in His, as I would
say, mysterious and great power.
It has been so beautiful to
witness how our young missionaries
have brought the Gospel message to
some villages where there was only
hate for the Catholic Church fed by the
sects, and where now the Good News
has been accepted and it has also
improved the quality of their societies!
It is my sincere wish that these
(and other) young people who have
heard Gods call understand that the
greatest sin they could commit would
be to refuse to serve the poor.

The future of the poor of the

Andes and the Third World does not
depend on those in authority who, as
we know, are often far from God. The
future of the poor depends on the
decisions young people who believe
that Jesus continues to be born and
suffers with the poorest make.
To the youth and to all of those
who love the poor I would like to repeat
Pope Benedict XVIs words at World
Youth Day in Cologne: I would like to
tell everyone unceasingly: Open your
heart to God! Let yourself be surprised
by Christ. Give Him the right to talk to
you during these days. Open the doors
of your freedom to His merciful love . .
. (. . .). Make no mistake: Christ doesnt
take anything away that is beautiful
and great in us, rather he takes
everything to perfection for the glory of
God, the happiness of man and the

salvation of the world.

He continued, The world awaits,
today as yesterday, the Easter
announcement of hope, the joy of
knowing that death has been
conquered forever, and that a man
freely offered and has paid for the
resurrection of us all. God today waits
for our yes so that the impact of this
announcement reaches everyone, poor
and rich alike, teachers and illiterates,
good and bad.
From the bottom of my heart, to
you my friends and benefactors, all of
our children and our missionaries wish
you a very merry Christmas and a
happy New Year!

Missionary Sister Servants of the Poor of the Third World, on mission

in one of the poor villages in the high Andes mountain range.

WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF

PRIESTLY FORMATION
HOLY MARY MOTHER OF THE POOR

There is a place
for you here!

The House of
Priestly
Formation
Holy Mary
Mother of the
Poor is a
home for
young men
who desire to
be
Missionary
Servants of the
Poor of the
Third World.

Campus 2011 and

World Youth Day in Madrid with Benedict XVI:
From 1 - 23rd of August 2011: We welcome young men of different
nationalities (aged between 18 and 30) to our seminary in Ajofrin, Toledo, for
three weeks of International Camp, with tourist visits, sports, languages
courses, and more.
This summer camp will prepare participants for workshops with missionaries
from around the world during World Youth Day.
If you are interested, please contact
Father Giuseppe (pgiuseppecardamone@gmail.com) as soon as possible.
You will find the programme at: www.msptm.com (JMJ-Campus 2011)
Please write to:
House of Priestly Formation
Holy Mary Mother of the Poor
Carretera Mazarambroz S/N
45110 Ajofrn (Toledo)
Spain
Tel: (00-34) 925 39 00 66
Fax: (00-34) 925 39 00 05
seminario.msp@gmail.com

Brother Vincenzo Pierris Testimony

I was born in Novara, Piamonte, (in Italy)
and I have always lived in a town near
this city called Cameri. I was brought up
in the faith thanks to my family, my
parish, my chapel, prayer and reading the
lives of the Saints.
I believe that in my heart I was
always attracted to the missionary life,
but I grew especially inclined to it in my
late adolescence. A friend of mine and I
agreed that real life awaited in the
southern part of the world. We did not
even know what we meant by real life
but we were certain that it was something
great, beautiful and entirely different
from the other great and beautiful things
we were used to. I remember that when I
saw some pictures in a missionary
magazine or a documentary on TV about

countries in the Third World, I felt a

strong desire to be there too, working
hand-in-hand with those poor people.
Maybe it was only a desire for adventure
or a wish to have new experiences rather
than real fraternal charity, but even so, I
thank the Lord for putting that sensitivity
in my heart. It is a sensitivity that needed
(and still needs to be) purified. I had no
idea that one day these dreams would
come true.
The Lord, in His mercy, came to meet
me in a spectacular yet simple and
discreet way a way known only to
Himself.
In the year 2000, the Year of the
Great Jubilee, I challenged myself to take
a trip (which I paid for) to a mission in
7

Brother Vincenzo Pierri (first on the right), with the other

seminarians, giving catechism classes in Ajofrin (Toledo, Spain).
the priest in charge for this mission
very well and a benefactor of the
mission. My parents and I had had the
opportunity to meet them during the
missionary priests brief stay in Italy. I
still ask myself if those days in that far
away, forgotten country beaten by the
wind and dust, were only a dream or if,
on the contrary, they were something I
actually experienced. I would go so far
as to say that those days were days of
Paradise to me.

When I came back, I lived time in

ecstatic joy for some, but when the
moment to come back down to earth
and try to do something concrete
arrived, I acted like a child who does
not want to go home when they are
playing and I followed my whims. I let
time pass trying to convince myself that
something would happen, and I
decided not to do anything. Mission
was my great desire, but it was also
something that inspired great fear in

me. I also thought there were other

thoughts and desires in my mind and
heart. In other words, I was lazy and
selfish. I was like the servant in the
parable of the talents. The quiet calling
never went out entirely, however, and I
was in great misery.
In 2007, I was able to live another
beautiful missionary experience in
Nigeria. The experience took place after
I had attended a lovely preparation
course designed for this visit. As
unhappy as I was when I eventually
finished my time there, I still was not
ready to leave everything behind for the
missionary life.
The perfect opportunity came when
I found out about the possibility of
spending an entire year in a mission in
Peru with the Missionaries of the
Servants of the Poor of the Third
World. This way I could also try it and
see if this was truly the type of life for

I had heard about this Movement

through the same lady who had invited
me to visit the Patagonia mission (it is
true that God does not leave anything
up to chance!) and she always
encouraged me to be the best I could be
and to be brave. In fact, one day she put
a
pamphlet
called
Married
Missionaries in my hand. I found this
same pamphlet a few days later in a
store of religious objects next to a shrine
I went to visit with my mother and my
sister. I had never heard about this
Movement and suddenly, within a
couple days, I had already stumbled
across it twice.
I read the booklet, visited the
Movements website, and I called their
head office in Italy, which is not very far
from my hometown, to arrange a
meeting with one of their priests. I
decided to spend on this mission and
remain open to every possibility. When
I met Father Walter, I received my coup
de grace. While I spoke to him, I started
to see myself in a plane, ready to start
this adventure with God.

In the Movements home in Cusco,

I saw how priests and brothers carried
out their work with children and young
boys. I was also inserted into the normal
activities little by little. It is always
instructive to be with children who, as
Mother Teresa said, are our best
teachers: they are natural, simple, and
always have the desire to do something,
to be happy. I found this to be true
despite the painful background many of
these children came from.
Obviously, it is not always easy. You
have to struggle against impulses such
as laziness, rivalries, etc. In short, you
have to know how to teach them and
you need to do it with kindness and
patience. In this way, they have been my
teachers, making me understand how
much I still need to improve in these
two virtues. The missionary life is
rooted in prayer, especially in Holy
Mass, and it is from this life of prayer
that you find the energy and motivation
to keep going.

Seminarians praying in the seminary of the Missionaries of the

Servants of the Poor of the Third World in Ajofrin
(in Toledo province, Spain).
9

I also had the opportunity to spend

a week in a mission in one of the
numerous small towns lost in the Andes
mountains. I have seen how poor
people live a hard and miserable life.
They are, in general, reserved people
whose trust you need to earn.
Nevertheless, they are very hospitable. I
have seen that they have a great respect
for priests. They expect his blessing for
them, their houses, and their animals.
For the children it was a great

celebration and they were overjoyed by

being able to play football with a ball
that was not flat. It was here especially
that I strongly desired to be an
instrument of God for them.
This is why I am here today, in
the House of Priestly Formation in
Ajofrin (in the province of Toledo,
Spain). I ask you to pray that I will carry
out the will of God, which is always the
best of all. And for every one of you I
desire . . . all of the best!

Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World priests Brother Vincenzo
Pierri in mission together with Father Vincent Mir.
10

OREMUS
Prayer to saint JosePh
To thee, O blessed Joseph,
do we come in our tribulation,
and having implored the help of thy most holy Spouse,
we confidently invoke thy patronage also.
Through that charity which bound thee
to the immaculate Virgin Mother of God
and through the paternal love with which thou embraced
the Child Jesus,
we humbly beg thee to graciously regard
the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased
by His Blood,
and with thy power and strength to aid us in our necessities.
O most watchful Guardian of the Holy Family,
defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ;
O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion
of error and corrupting influence;
O our most mighty protector, be propitious to us
and from heaven assist us
in our struggle with the power of darkness;
and, as once thou rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril,
so now protect God's Holy Church
from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity;
shield, too, each one of us by thy constant protection,
so that, supported by thy example and thy aid,
we may be able to live piously, to die holy,
and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven.
Amen.
(Pope leo Xiii)

11

to love is to give everything you have,

including yourself
Sister Benedicta Mara Kauffmann, M.S.P. (French)
My dear friends, I have the
opportunity to be able to share with you
the immense joy that overwhelms me.
This year the Lord gave me the great
grace to make my Perpetual Solemn
Vows. It is my complete and eternal
surrender to the Lord who, in His
infinite goodness, saved me from the
land of Egypt, land of slavery: a slave
to myself, a slave to my plans, a slave to
material and physical well-being. He
took me to the Promised Land, that is,
my vocation as a Missionary Sister
Servant of the Poor of the Third World.
There I found the three pillars of my
vocation: the Cross, the Eucharist, and
the Virgin Mary. Based upon these
12

things I live my daily life with the joy of

a child of God.
When I was discerning my vocation
to the religious life, a priest said to me,
A womans vocation to the religious life
is an assent to motherhood. When I
heard the call of the Lord to be His
spouse for the first time, though, it
saddened me to know that I would not
have children born from my womb.
But the female religious life has this
maternal spiritual dimension: yes, we
have to renounce human love that could
be fruitful with children, but we
renounce this so that we can give
ourselves to the divine love that brings

forth a much larger number of spiritual

children.
I personally was not aware of my
vocation to the religious life when I was
little. I planned to get married and
sanctify myself with my husband and
children, but this was not the will of
God. However, the Lord gave me a
hundredfold for this dream of
maternity and fertility and I am very
thankful! Instead of giving me a family
with 5 or 10 children, He gave me one
with hundreds of children made up of
His poor and helpless. We feel the
happiness and grace that comes from
being able to hold baby Jesus in our
arms daily the in the abandoned and
orphaned babies and invalid children
we take in at the St Teresa of Jesus
home.

It is a marvelous road which we have

to walk to arrive to this great day of our
wedding with Christ (the Perpetual
Vows): the day of our complete devotion
to our Husband in the service to the
poorest. This the essence of our
vocation as Missionary Sister Servants
of the Poor of the Third World.
For me this walk began the 6th of
January 2005 with my entrance into the
community, after listening to the
insistent call of the Lord inviting me to
serve the poor. The date of my entrance
was very significant for me: the
Epiphany, day of the arrival of the Lord.
That day the Lord arrived in me.
The first phase of this life of special
consecration was the taking of the
Postulants Cross in February of that

Sister Benedicta Kauffmann, msp, with a sick girl from the Saint Theresa of Jesus
home, of the Missionaries of the Servants of the Poor of the Third World

13

same year. As a postulant I was so

happy to be serving the children of the
Home, of going to the mission villages
and tending to the people, both at a
spiritual level and at a the physical level,
soothing their pain and healing their
wounds.
The Novitiate was the next step and
with it the acceptance of the habit. Many
people are surprised that some human
beings can renounce the union between
man and woman in matrimony, those of
us in religious orders live a spiritual
engagement that fulfills us completely.
We have a Groom who never gets angry,
who is never in a bad mood, who always
waits for you and loves you, even when
you have distanced yourself a little from
Him . . . this is what we discover during
our Novitiate.
The day of making my First Vows
arrived. I do not think that I had ever

14

had such a great and emotional day

before the 12th of October 2006. I
thought I was dreaming because it
seemed unreal that God, our Creator,
could lower Himself to marry one of His
creatures. My voice trembled. I did not
know whether I would be able to read
through the text with my obligations.
Thanks to God I had seven Sisters
making their first vows with me as well,
and we were able to get to the end. That
day
we
received
the
Crucifix
characteristic of the members of the
Movement, the expression of our union
with Christ Crucified and also with our
charism. On the Crucifix is written:
Whatever you do for the least of My
brothers and sisters, you do for Me.
Last October 12th was an even more
fantastic day, the day of my Perpetual
Vows. It is the wedding I had been
preparing for from the first day I entered
the community of the Sisters. With the

Sister Benedicta, msp, with orphan children from the Saint Theresa of Jesus home.

simple vows we have the grace to

enjoythis Novitiate with Christ, but this
is confirmed and comes to its fulfillment
(the marriage) with the Perpetual Vows.
During these years I have been given
responsibility over the Novitiate: I can
prepare Novices to make their simple
vows and see God work in their souls.
This responsibility is a great grace from
God for me, and it has allowed me to
keep the enthusiasm of my first vows
alive and reach my Perpetual Vows with
this same enthusiasm augmented and
refreshed.

I entrust myself to your prayers so

that I will always be faithful to Christ my
Husband and live out the vows that I
have pronounced once and for all from
the evangelistic counsel. I put everything
in the hand of the Holy Virgin Mary,
mother of the poor, your Mother and
mine, last October 12th on the feast of
Our Lady of the Pillar. I pray for all the
people who support us spiritually and
materially, and ask that the Lord returns
to them a hundredfold what they do
for us and for our poor. Renounce all
things, and thou shalt find all things.
(The Imitation of Christ, Book 3,
Chapter 32)

Sister Benedicta, msp, in mission together with the candidates and novices.

15

Young people,
will you help us?
My dear friends Do not yield to the
rationale of selfish interests. Cultivate
love of neighbour and try to put
yourselves and your human talents and
professional abilities at the service of
the common good and of truth, always
prepared to make your defence to
anyone who demands from you an
accounting for the hope that is in you
(1 Pet 3:15).
(Message of the Holy Father Benedict
XVI to the Young People of the World on
the Occasion of the Twenty-fourth
World Youth Day 2009)

In the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World, you can
accomplish this ideal with a profound life of prayer and generous
offering in the service of so many brothers who suffer
all kinds of discrimination.
Looking forward to

World Youth Day 2011 (16-21 August)

If you are male and aged between 15 and 25 and would like to take
part in World Youth Day with us, please contact us.
There is also the opportunity of taking part in two residential stays
(Christmas, 2010 and/or Easter 2011) at our House of Formation
in Ajofrin (Toledo, Spain) as a way of preparing for the Holy Fathers visit
(please see page 6).

16

If you would like to find out more, contact:

Fr. Giuseppe Cardamone, msp
Casa de Formacin Santa Mara Madre de los pobres
Ctra. Mazarambroz s/n 45110 Ajofrin (Toledo) Espaa
Fax: 0034 925 390005 E-mail: pgiuseppecardamone@gmail.com

Vocational Retreat
for Youths

Dates: 1 (Check-in) - 3 April 2011

Venue: Abbotswick House of Prayer,
Navestock Side, Brentwood CM14 5SH
Registration Fee: Voluntary Offering

Discovering your vocation,

discovering Gods love...
Young men and women from 16 - 32 years of age are warmly
invited to share a spiritual retreat with the
Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World
Schedule
Friday 1 April

Saturday 2 April

Sunday 3 April

16:00-17:30 arrival
18:30 Holy Rosary:
the silence starts.
19:00 Supper
(in silence)
20:00 First talk
21:30 Night prayer

08:20 Morning Prayer

09:30 Second talk
11:00 Holy Mass
12:00 Third Talk
13:00 Lunch (in silence)
15:30 Fourth talk
18:00 Eucharistic Adoration
19:00 Supper (in silence)
20:00 Holy Rosary
20:30 Summary Talk
21:30 Night prayer

08:00 Eucharistic Adoration

09:00 Morning prayer
09:30 Talk: The
Movement
10:00 DVD about the
Movement
11:00 Holy Mass
12:00 Questions about the
mission
13:00 Lunch (without
silence)
15:00 Sharing our thoughts
16:30 Coming back home.

For a registration form or for more information, please contact:

Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World
PO Box 1112
St Albans AL1 9TE
servantsofthepoor.uk@gmail.com
Please note that places will only be confirmed
upon receipt of registration form and fee.

Gap Year on Mission

If you are a young person between the ages of 17 - 32 who has a heart
to serve the poor,
if you wish to discern your vocation
and deepen your spiritual life during your gap year

We invite you to join in our mission

Our charisma can be summarised as "Giving to the poor the riches of the
Church". The pillars of our charisma are the Eucharistic life, total
fidelity to the Magisterium of the Pope, and devotion to the
Blessed Virgin Mary . We want to serve the poor according to the
spirituality of the Servant of Yahweh, achieved by the meditation of our
spiritual rule, The Imitation of Christ.

17

St John Bosco

(Feast Day: 31 January)

Rev. Pierfilippo Giovanetti, msp
Saint John Bosco was born on the
16th of August in 1815 in Castelnuovo
dAsti and spent most of his life in
Torino, where he died on 31st of January
1888.
He wrote that an event that marked
the rest of his life was a dream when I
was nine years old in which the Lord
showed him what his field of ministry
would be: the youth of the lower classes
in Torino. During the Industrial
Revolution
these
youths
found
themselves living in conditions of abject
poverty and in grave moral danger. He
had to win them over not with blows,
but with gentleness and kindness, and
he had our Mother of Heaven as his
teacher.
After having been ordained a priest,
Don Bosco started to occupy himself
with that abandoned youth. He began by
teaching them the catechism and when
the group grew he initiated them in the
adventure of the Prayer of Saint Francis
of Sales, in the Torino ghetto of
Valdocco. The Chapel already existed
and Don Bosco made it into a place
where the youth felt welcome and were
in a family atmosphere. They received
both catechetical and human formation
as well as Christian development which
would help them become good citizens
and Christian saints.

18

Some of the young people Don

Bosco helped had a reputation for being
juvenile delinquents or children who
would never be able to aspire to more
than a life of delinquency. Because of
this the Saint faced opposition from the
civil authorities right from the beginning
of his plans, and even a lack of

understanding
authorities.

from

the

ecclesial

He died in poverty, in a poor room,

surrounded by a great number of the
young people he had devoted his entire
life to, but not without first having
founded the congregation Saint Francis
of Sales (from here the popular name
Salesians) and the Daughters of Mary
Help of Christians, with the aim of
helping children and youth of the entire
world.
Father Giovanni Salerno always
urges us, as Missionary Servants of the
Poor of the Third World, to know the life
and educational system of Don Bosco.
His Preventive System is based on three
pillars: love (teach young people in a
family atmosphere and with friendship,
where they can feel truly loved), reason
(help them to develop their own
intelligence in school and at work), and
religion (take them to Christ, so that
they discover their own dignity: that of
being children of God).
In our educational work we have our
eyes fixed on the figure of this great saint
and, like him, we also put ourselves
under the maternal protection of Mary.

THE MOST IMPORTANT HELP FOR MISSIONARIES

For this reason a Eucharistic celebration that does not

lead to meeting people where they live, work and suffer,
in order to bring them God's love,
does not express the truth it contains.
(Benedict XVI, Opening of the Ecclesial Convention of
Rome, 15 June 2010)

I, ____________________________________________________,
during all of 2010, commit myself to remain united to you in order to give thanks to God for
this new charism of the Church given to
the Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World.
My participation will be as follows:
Form of Offering

Daily

Weekly

Bi-weekly

Monthly

Other

Holy Mass
Eucharistic
Adoration
Holy Rosary

Address __________________________________________________
City ________________________ State _______ Postal code_________
Country ________________________Date ________________

This Spiritual Offering may be sent to our address in Cuzco, Peru.

There it will be placed at the feet of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the
altar of our chapel of Mary Mother of the Poor of the Third World.
19

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Available from our
House of Formation in
Ajofrin:
the pocketbook edition
in Spanish and Italian
of

The
Imitation of Christ
Specially prepared
by the Missionary Servants of the
Poor of the Third World

Please mail your request to:

House of Priestly Formation

Holy Mary
Mother of the Poor
Carretera Mazarambroz S/N
45110 Ajofrn (Toledo)
Spain

20

This edition containing an introduction

by Father Giovanni Salerno has a totally
new translation from the Latin by
Francesco Pini Rodolfi, author of the 726
footnotes in the book.
This golden book, read and
meditated on individually and in
community by each member of the
Movement, must become also the Rule
of all members, collaborators, and
oblates. This will help all of us to be
molded day by day to the image of the
Servant of Yahweh, and to be true
Servants of God, the Church and the
Poor.
I invite all of you to order it from
our house in Ajofrn so that you may
read it every day.

our Missionary sister servants

of the Poor of the third world

The traditional veil

worn by our sisters
is a sign of their
total consecration
to Christ, and of
reparation for the
sins of the world.

for more information,

please send in the form on page 23
21

ANNOUNCEMENTS
We invite you to visit the first official website of the Missionary
Servants of the Poor of the Third World:

www.msptm.com

The 1st edition has had great success

and has been translated into Spanish,
French, English, German, Hungarian,
Polish and Portuguese.
The 2nd English edition
of the book On Mission with God in
the Andes, gathering 36 years of the
missionary experience of Fr. Giovanni
Salerno, is in preparation.
This 2nd edition will include new
Memories and Reflections.

Missionary Servants of the Poor of

the Third World: Catholic

missionaries serving the poorest of
the poor. A DVD (55min) that
presents the charism of the
Movement and the different
communities that make up the
Missionary Servants of the Poor of
the Third World.

If you are interested in receiving a copy of

the book or DVD, please contact:
Missionary Servants of the Poor
of the Third World
PO Box 1112
St Albans AL1 9TE
22

We Invite You to Share our Missionary Work

in Peru as...
Young laywomen who wish to give all their love
to abandoned children, to stretch out their arms,
like Mary, to the Child Jesus Who is present in
these children.
Young laymen who wish to give their hearts to
Christ, to give their talents and skills, whatever
they may be, to the service of the Divine Master,
so His work can be realised in all human
circumstances.
Priests and seminarians to take the Body and
Blood of the Redeemer to the most remote and
abandoned sites of the Andean Cordillera, and to
announce the message of love and salvation of
Christ Crucified and Resurrected.
Full-time contemplatives, gathered together to

live an austere life in a cloisered community, to

give glory to God, to intercede for all the
members of the Church along with Mary, our
mother, and to make reparation for the sins of
mankind.
Married couples who wish to open their
families to the poorest, as a small domestic
church that is transformed into a shelter of love
shared with those who suffer.
Young people who are searching and who,
during a year of experience in the Third World,
are inclined to discern with an open heart, and
are willing to listen to what mission the Lord is
calling them.

Full-time contemplative:

Consecrated laywoman

Seminarian

Consecrated married couple

Priest

Oblate

Consecrated laymen

Associate member or collaborator

Name
Street
City
Postal Code
Telephone
Age
Email

State
Country
Occupation
Level of Education

Seminarians, please mail

your request to:

House of Priestly Formation

Holy Mary Mother of the Poor
Carretera Mazarambroz S/N
45110 Ajofrn (Toledo)
Spain
seminario.msp@gmail.com

All others, please send this form to the

following address:

Missionary Servants of the Poor

of the Third World
PO Box 1112
St. Albans AL1 9TE
United Kingdom
servantsofthepoor.uk@gmail.com

23

From our homes

As we suggested in our last
report in September, our mission is
developing mainly in the centers in
Cuzco, Lima and Budapest, and also in
the permanent missions of our Sisters
have in Cusibamba, Urubamba and
Punaqancha, where they serve children
and their families. However, working on
retreats and missionary encounters
with young people also takes up a lot of
our energies. Thankfully, there are
many collaborators behind them who
work in silence organizing and
advertising these events. All the
Support Groups, the centers of the
Movement in different countries, and
also the parishes and the monasteries,
make it possible for our priests to be
able to preach spiritual retreats in the
area of their expertise. We want to give
the most complete report possible of
what occurred during this Priestly Year
2010.

January
in italy, father Walter Corsini,
msp, organized missionary encounters
in Caltanissetta, Saint Catherine
Villaermosa (CL), Catania, Monreale
(PA), Alcamo (PA), Trato and Iolo (PO).

february
in italy, Father Walter
preached a two-day spiritual retreat in
Piazza Armerina (CL) and also
organized two missionary encounters in
Caltagirone (CT) and Chiaramonte Gulfi
(RG).
father vincent Mir, msp
lead missionary encounters in parishes
in Buffalo, NY from the 17th to the 21st.
fathers vincent Mir, msp,
and Augustine Delouvroy, msp were
invited to attend Eucharistic Adoration
at the Immaculate Mary, Bogota
(Colombia). There were 300 young
people present at this event.

March
in italy, Father Walter, msp,
was invited to several missionary
encounters in Novara, Piana de
Sorrento (NA) and Pozzuoli (NA)

24

Our Minor Seminary

San Luis Gonzaga
(City of Boys, Andahuaylillas).

on 6th of March, during the

Opening Mass for the new year at the
school Franciso and Jacinta Marto, in
the City of the Boys in Peru, the Minor
Seminary admitted seven new young
people. The rector, Father Vincent
Miro, msp, blessed and imposed the
cassock on the new candidates, as a sign
of their first step of devotion to the
village of Cusibamba, where our Sisters
have a permanent mission. We give
thanks to the Lord for these visible

fruits of that mission which is often

austere. On the 14th of March, Fathers
Augustine and Luis Maria Salle, msp,
lead a charismatic retreat in Lima,
where hundreds of the faithful
participated.
at the same time, Fathers
Vincent and Urs Zanoni, msp, saw to
120 university students in Cuzco. On the
21st of the month, our priests in Cuzco
organized another retreat for university
students, which hundreds of young
people came to.
in Germany, during the first
part of March, Father Sebastian
Dumont, msp, put on a retreat in
Schweinfurt. On the 7th, missionary
retreats were organized in Forcheim,
Huisheim, Mndling and Gosheim. On
the 10th, retreats were held in the
Saarbrcken school for teenagers.
Father Sebastian was on the Catholic
television station KTV to give testimony
about our Mission in Cuzco. On the
12th,
retreats
were
held
in
Burkardushaus Wrzburg; on the 13th
in Grosswallstadt; and on the 14th a
retreat was held at the Marian Shrine in
Waghusel with Youth 2000.

in switzerland, on the 16th,

Father Sebastian continued with
missionary encounters at the Amriswil
School. In the afternoon, the retreat was
televised on KTV television. On the
18th, a retreat took place with the Saint
Pelagibert Support Group. On the 19th,
a retreat was held in Oberriert. On the
20th and the 21st, retreats organized by
the parish in Pontresina, and on the
22nd, in Maiastein, there was a time of
meditation with the prayer group
founded by Father Hugo, a Benedictine
monk.

april
in hungary, Father Augustine,
msp, gave an annual retreat for the
youth of Budapest.

May
in england, Father Giuseppe
Cardamone, msp, spoke to a group of
young people who had just been
confirmed at Holy Ghost parish. On the
7th, 8th, and 9th he gave a spiritual
retreat for the youth in the Abbotswick
House of Prayer.

Spiritual retreats preached by different Missionaries of the Servants of the Poor

of the Third World

25

father vincent, msp, was in

Guadalajara, Mexico, from the 13th to
the 21st participating in a broadcast on
the television station Maria Visin. Two
retreats took place with more than 200
young people from different parishes.
From the 21st to the 24th, he was in
Monterey with the Famila de Dios
(Family of God) community, giving
testimony during the Kerygma retreat
where nearly 500 people participated.

with Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid. The

young people were invited to learn
about the missionary life, a face of the
Church that is always renewing itself
and devoting itself to God by serving the
poor. It was also an occasion to discover
some pleasant places in Spain, learn
some Spanish, open their horizons to
another culture and mentality, live
together in community and to share in
the richness of
their faith.

June

august

in france, Father Jeronimo

Gouailler, msp, held an encounter with
the Support Groups in Beaune and
Etang-sur-Arroux from the 17th to the
27th and he was able to welcome the
fruit of two missionary initiatives
organized by the schools in Roannes
and Sainte-Foie-la-Grande.

in Peru, on the 15th, Father

Giuseppe, msp, preached a retreat in
our Santa Maria Goretti school, in
Cusco, where some 130 people
attended.

in spain, from the 11th to the

30th, like last year, Father Giuseppe,
Father Walter and the msp seminarians
welcomed a dozen young people
originating from Italy, France, England,
Hungary, and one from Spain to our
Seminary in Spain for a community
experience in the missionary spirit to
prepare for the next World Youth Day

in argentina, on the 21st,

Father Sebastian Dumont and Father
Salvatore Piredda, msp, held some
missionary encounters in Begrano and
inspired a retreat in Abadia san Benito
de Lujan.

september
a retreat was held in Babylon,
New York, on the 18th lead by Father
Sebastian and Father Walter, msp.
father vincent Miro, lead
missionary encounters during the
following days in Rochester, Michigan,
and at Saint Thomas University in Los
Angeles.

october

One of the spiritual retreats that

took place in Cuzco, Peru.
26

in italy, Father Walter, msp,

continued
to
host
missionary
encounters in Gela (CL), Modica (RG),
Catania, Caltanissetta, Piscinola (NA),
Napoli, Pozzuoli (NA) y Quarto (NA).

on the 12th of October, in

Peru and in the presence of the Abbot de
Le Barroux (France), Dom Louis-marie,
Brother Caiano, Brother Cassius (Sister
Benedictas brother) msp, Sister Maria
(Mother Superior of the community) six
Missionary Sisters made their Solemn
Vows: Sister Benedicta Kaufmann
(French); Sister Luz Marleni Cari
Quispe; Sister Roco del Pilar Mansilla
Segovia; sister Sara Huillcahua
Palomino; Sister Sandra Goyzueta
Umeres; Sister Mara Luisa Huamn
Lucana (all Peruvian).
during the ceremony, Dom
Louis-Marie lead the solemn coronation
of the Virgin Mary of the new Sisters
chapel. That same day, in our seminary
in Ajofrin (Spain), Brothers Mathias
Brandt (German), Pablo Giandinoto
(Italian) and Rafael Santillan (Mexico)
renewed their Simple Vows for a year.
on the 19th, Father Giuseppe,
msp, lead an encounter with students
from the University of Cardiff and on
the 20th, he participated in a
missionary encounter in Bristol. He also

preached a spiritual retreat for young

people at Abbotswick House of Prayer
from the 22nd to the 24th.
from the 28th to the 30th,
Father Vincent, msp, lead missionary
encounters in Pucon, Chile.

november
on the 6th, a retreat took
place in Santiago, Chile, preached by
Father Vincent, msp
on the 13th and 14th, Father
Walter and Father Jose Carlos, msp,
preached at an annual retreat in Vicenza,
where a good number of members of
Italian Support Groups got together.
Father Walter also lead missionary
encounters in Ferrara and in Isernia
in Peru, Father Walter, msp,
gave the second annual retreat in Lima,
where a hundred faithful always attend.
For more news and information
also about the next World Youth day
2011: www.msptm.com.

Missionary Sister Servants of the Poor of the Third World on the day of the
Profession of Vows.

27

From The World

The funds sent by the developed countries to combat
malnutrition have not changed in seven years, according to the
report Malnutrition: How much has been spent? An analysis of
the financial flows in favor of the fight against malnutrition
between 2004 and 2007, presented in Rome by Doctors
Without Borders (MSF). The funds are equivalent to the mere
3% of the yearly amount needed to prevent the deaths of between
3.5 and 5 million children under the age of five due to
malnutrition. The report analyzes the lack of funding in a
worldwide effort that would lower cases of malnutrition among
children (a condition that weakens childrens defense
mechanisms and increases their risk of death from pneumonia,
diarrhea, malaria, measles, and AIDS).
Developed countries only spend $350 million a year but the
World Bank calculates that $12.5 billion is necessary to
adequately combat malnutrition in the 36 countries that suffer
most from malnutrition and in the 32 countries that are at a high
risk.
MSF has used data from the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, from the European Commission,
from the Gates Foundation and from UNITAID to analyze
sources of funding. Although thousands of dollars of
international aid have been classified under nutritional
assistance for the development and food safety or emergency
food aid, less that 2% of this is spent effectively on projects that
are specifically aimed at reducing infant malnutrition.
Moreover, according to the report from the M.S.P., the
existing funds are wasted as a result of of inefficient policies that
direct food aid in kind, which increases costs by $600 million
rather than following policies whereby good would be acquired
locally. The authors of the report also state that governments
could improve dietary aid by introducing food that was more
expensive but more nutritionally suited to the needs of younger
children.
(12/11/2009 agencia fides)
28

In Praise of Contemplatives
Would you like to join our Contemplative Servants of
the Poor of the Third World, who dedicate most of
their day to prayer and Eucharistic adoration, and
who also dedicate some hours to manual labor in
order to help the poor?
You have chosen, or more exactly, Christ has
chosen you, to live His Easter Mystery with Him
in time and space. May all that you are,
everything you do each day, be it the Office
recited or sung, the celebration of the Eucharist,
the work done in your cell or in community,
respect for the cloister and silence, the voluntary
or imposed mortification of the rule, be taken
on, sanctified, and used by Christ for the worlds
redemption.

Like
Saint Therese of the
Child Jesus, you too
can offer your
donation to
God to
benefit the
neediest.

I, _________________________________,
from the Monastery
of:_________________________________
Address:_____________________________
City:________________________________
Country:_____________________________
commit myself to live the obedience and poverty of
my surrender to God in my monastery for the
Movement of the Missionary Servants of the Poor of
the Third World, so that the Kingdom of God may
come to the poorest.
29

TO NEW READERS
If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please send us the form
below. We can also mail you extra copies of the newsletter for you to
distribute to your family members, local parish, or youth group, and thus
you can help us spread this message for the good of those who suffer in the
Third World.

(PLEASE PRINT)
Name
____________________________________________
Address ______________________________________
City _________________________ Postal code _______
Country ___________Email_______________________
Please mail me #________copies of the newsletter.

Do you know others who would be interested?

Name
_________________________________________________
Address
_________________________________________________

City _________________________ Postal code__________

Country ________________ Email ______________________
Name
__________________________________________________
Address
_________________________________________________

City _________________________ Postal code_________

Country _________________ Email ______________________
30

Our Friends Write To Us

Reverend Father Giovanni, thank you very much for your letter . . . I really liked
the Christmas pamphlet and the DVD you sent me, which I have watched more
than once. Im enclosing a small donation, half of my pension, but given with
much love. I am also donating my sacrifice for Lent. I was really impressed with
your missionary work! And with your Pamphlet and your DVD. I have kept every
pamphlet since I received the first one. This last one is much better but I imagine
that the expenses have increased a lot.
I give thanks to God because there are still many young people who devote
themselves to the Lord in service of the poor. I commit myself to doing everything
I can to raise awareness your work.
fernanda, from Portugal.

I still have Father Salernos letter before me . . . Its true that missionaries in love
with the Gospel are needed. We pray for vocations every day. We pray for the
Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World in Peru, but also for the poor,
that is, for ourselves . . . Im happy to see that Father Salerno says that money is
not the essential problem. To tell a person with an empty stomach that he is loved
by God is not believable. I am enclosing a cheque for material necessities . . . I give
thanks to God because He has given me the pleasure to share and to believe in His
Word.
a benefactor from france

Change of address
Please note that with effect from 1 december 2010, our
mailing address in the UK has been changed to:
Missionary servants of the Poor of the third world
Po Box 1112
st.albans
al1 9te
31

Missionary Servants of the Poor of the Third World

OPUS CHRISTI SALVATORIS MUNDI

Associates:

Bishops, priests, ecclesial groups and

others who, though outside the
Movement, live the spirituality of The
Servants of the Poor of the Third
World, and practice poverty
and help the poor

Contemplatives:

With the characteristic life of austere

monks, who at the same time
work to help the poor

Committed Members:

Priests and lay persons in the

service of the poor, who live the
characteristics of
community life and the professions
of the evangelical counsels

Oblates:

Missionary
Servants of
the Poor of
the Third
World

Per
Misioneros Siervos de los Pobres
del Tercer Mundo
PO Box 907
Cuzco Peru
Tel: +51-84-307-093
Fax: +51-84-236-851
Email: sptmcuzco@hotmail.com
www.mstpm.com

The sick or prisoners who offer their

sufferings for the poor of
the Third World

Collaborators:

Those who help the Movement

in any way

United Kingdom
Please Note Change of Address
Missionary servants of the Poor
of the third world
Po Box 1112, st albans al1 9te
Tel: +44-(0)750-042-1991
Email: servantsofthepoor.uk@gmail.com
United States
Opus Christi Salvatoris
Mundi
PO Box 844
Cannonsburg MI 49317
USA
Tel: +1-616-691-7909