Circular

E V, 2384

Request for funding for the next missionary expedition to Argentina

Turin, 25 August 1876

New missionary expedition to the Argentine Republic and to Patagonia

Worthy Sir, God, who is merciful and rich in compassion, deigned to bless the idea of a Mission in the Argentine Republic, and within a few months the Salesian missionaries were able to establish a college in Montevideo, set up a shelter for abandoned children, reopen the church known as Madre di Misericordia, and start schools and Sunday oratories in Buenos Aires for the many Italians living there.

It was completed and a college was opened in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, where more than 120 young people have already been gathered, many of whom belong to families who lived in savage tribes. Attached to the college, they have also opened a public church where adults come to listen to the word of God, hear Holy Mass, and receive the Holy Sacraments of Confession and Communion.

With the opening of these houses, the way has been paved for progress among the savages; the Holy Father deigned to bless and commend this pious undertaking. Now we are planning to establish a new institute in the city of Dolores, another in Carmen, the last town in the Argentine Republic between the Atlantic and Patagonia. Letters received at this time from the missionaries give us great consolation that in three parts of the country the savages are asking for missionaries to go among them to proclaim the kingdom of heaven. Other houses and shelters of the same kind are planned in the Republic of Chile. There we have been offered the opportunity to open a shelter in Santiago, the capital, for the multitudes of abandoned children who live without education and are completely deprived of the means to know God the Creator; a college in Valparaiso, the second city of that Republic; a small seminary in the city of Concepción, the southernmost diocese of that Republic; and one in Valdivia, a city bordering the savages of Patagonia.

Once these houses are opened and these shelters are in place, morality and religion among the indigenous people will be ensured, and a scientific and Christian education can be given to children of all classes, while at the same time cultivating any ecclesiastical vocations that may manifest themselves among the students. In this way, it is hoped to prepare missionaries for the Pampas and Patagonia, so that the savages would become evangelisers of their own kind without the danger of seeing a repeat of the massacres of times past. The project to train indigenous missionaries seems to be blessed by the Lord, as there are already ten young indigenous men who have applied and been admitted among the missionaries.

Their fervent desire is to become clergy and go and preach the Gospel among the savages. But the Salesians who have been sent and are already in the field of evangelisation assigned to them by Divine Providence are insufficient for the serious work they have at hand and for the ever-increasing work that lies before them. In order that they may not succumb under the weight of their labours, it is essential that no fewer than twenty new co-workers be sent to their aid without delay.

This is precisely the number that is requested there and that is being prepared, all of them happy to face all sorts of dangers in order to go to their confreres and work with them to win souls for God.

But just as last year I had to resort to the charity of the faithful to make the first expedition, so must I do now. I need to provide books, personal equipment, sacred furnishings, school supplies, household goods, and travel expenses for those who are about to leave. It is also necessary to provide many items requested by those who are already at the mission sites. For in those remote countries, there is a lack of everything. The cost of the new mission is no less than sixty-six thousand francs. To raise this sum, I have no other recourse than to appeal to the piety of good Catholics and especially to Your Excellency.

While the Salesians willingly offer their lives to save souls, from their mission stations they turn to Your Excellency's charity, begging you to come to their aid with your benevolence. Do what you can, and please also recommend us to charitable people with whom you have a special relationship. Any donation, however small, can be sent to the undersigned by whatever means is most convenient for the worthy donor.

May our loving Divine Saviour, who died on the Cross for our common salvation, bless and richly reward all our benefactors. The missionaries, both those already in America and those preparing to leave, assure their benefactors of their daily prayers, and I, on behalf of all, professing the most lively and profound gratitude, have the high honour of signing myself as

Your worthy Sir’s

Most obliged servant

Fr John Bosco