Fr. Andrea Gasparino, founder of the Contemplative Missionary Movement Fr. de Foucauld, passed away on Sunday 26 at around 6 am. He was 87 years and had suffered from worsening health conditions for the past month. He remained conscious and lucid until the end.
The community was founded as a Boys Town in Cuneo in 1951, to help orphaned children and homeless.
The community’s work was greatly helped by the inclusion of consecrated sisters in 1955.
In the 1960s, it opened its first missions in Brazil, Korea, and Madagascar, and today has spread to Kenya, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Russia and Albania.
Having recognised itself in the principles of contemplation and mission expressed by Fr. de Foucauld, the community is now called the Contemplative Missionary Movement Fr. de Foucauld.
The funeral will be held Tuesday, September 28 at the Church of the Contemplative Missionary Movement Fr. de Foucauld.
Fr. Gasparino had asked for the following words to be written in his tomb "prayer and love obtain the impossible", the spiritual message that has always guided his work and his community.
SIC: AN/INT'L