Why the denomination

"Don Eleuterio Agostini - Don Guglielmo Ferrarini Foundation"?

 

The current configuration of the St. John Paul II Pastoral Unit is made up of three parishes: St. Francis of Paola, St. Maurice Martyr and St. Albert of Jerusalem. In the territory of two of these (San Francesco da Paola and Sant'Alberto di Gerusalemme) are located the "Don Primo Carretti" nursery schools, active since 1945, and "Elisa Lari", active since 1925. These realities, consolidated over time , have offered a service to many families, favoring the territorial identification of the activity with specific names, both for those who work or serve there, and for the many people who refer to them.

 

The “Don Primo Carretti” school is located in the heart of the so-called “Villaggio S. Stranieri - Bazzarola”, a reality that historically developed with new housing settlements for people coming from various Italian regions for work reasons after the Second World War . The priestly figure of Don Primo Carretti, parish priest of Sant'Alberto di Gerusalemme and first manager of the school, inspired the choice of the name.

 

The “Elisa Lari” School takes its name from a first benefactor, whose descendants are still an active part in showing affection and attention towards this reality. Located in the so-called "station area", it represents a precious educational place for which the municipal administration itself, over the years, has recognized its value, especially taking into account the particular multi-ethnic territorial context.

 

Today's Foundation proposal intends to recognize the added value that the pastoral ministry of Don Eleuterio Agostini and Don Guglielmo Ferrarini, priests of the Reggio Emilia clergy who were able to accompany and make the two schools grow, also supporting the phase in which management passed from religious orders to the direct management of the parish institution.

 

Don Eleuterio Agostini, a prominent diocesan figure, was parish priest of Sant'Alberto di Gerusalemme from 1975 to 2009. Showing attention to this reality even in the following years, he is still a priestly figure much remembered and towards whom the parishioners cherish a living memory.

 

Don Guglielmo Ferrarini was Parish Priest of San Francesco da Paola from 1955 to 2001. Over his long ministry, he carried out invaluable management of the "Elisa Lari School", in particular by promoting a new headquarters which is still the object of attention and appreciation . The strong demographic increase of the then Villa Ospizio favored the intertwining of many links with the figure of Don Guglielmo and even today, a few years after his death, many people retain his memory of him and the link with the educational activity. The communion journey of over twenty years of the three parishes today allows identification in the reality of the Pastoral Unit of Saint John Paul II, while maintaining the consolidated specificity of the names that each bears.

 

With the same intentions, the "Don Eleuterio Agostini - Don Guglielmo Ferrarini Foundation" intends to enclose in these two names of priestly figures, significant for the territory, the educational realities that are still identified in the names "Don Primo Carretti" and "Elisa Lari".

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The pastor

Don Matteo Bondavalli