Agenzia Fides

Macas (Agenzia Fides) - On November 24, the city of Macas, capital of the province of Morona Santiago, will host a historic event: Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefect of the Congregation for the Saints, by mandate of Pope Benedict XVI will preside over the ceremony for the beatification of Sister Maria Troncatti, of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, an Italian missionary who spent most of her life in Ecuador. According to information sent to Fides Agency, on the occasion of this event, in addition to the Salesian Superiors of Latin America and Ecuador, senior representatives of the Salesian Family and the Catholic Church will be present at the ceremony in the Latin American country.
In a very rare ceremony in Ecuador, Sister Maria Troncatti, a "full-time" missionary in the eastern part of the country, will be beatified. The city of Macas, Mendez and Sucúa owe everything they have today to the Salesians: Missionaries of St. John Bosco in fact laid the groundwork for the formation of the first settlers, including the education of the Shuar people.
Maria Troncatti was born in Brescia (Italy) in 1883 and in 1922 she left for the Salesian missions of eastern Ecuador. She died in a plane crash, a few blocks from the hospital she founded in Sucúa, on August 25, 1969. She was 86 years old, 65 of which she spent in consecration to God. Sister Maria had studied nursing in Italy and had served during the war. Then in Ecuador she dedicated herself to healing wounds and doing minor surgical operations, at a time when doctors were scarce, and technics were still unknown. With her sensitivity she prevented conflicts between the colonists and the people of the Shuar people. She conquered all with her serenity, humility, and meekness. Chunchi, El Pan, Mendez, Sucúa, Macas, Sevilla Don Bosco and Guayaquil recall the wise and holy woman, a well-prepared and caring nurse, to whom one went to for advice, a missionary wholly dedicated to the welfare of others. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 26/10/2012)