Padre Américo: the light of the heart, the intelligence of charity
“I confess and believe, myself, that if I do not have this Charity, I am nothing.”
Padre Américo, Pão dos Pobres (2nd vol. 5th ed., 1990)
Américo Monteiro de Aguiar, better known as Father Américo, was born on October 23, 1887, in Galegos, in the municipality of Penafiel and died in Porto, in 1956. Almost a century and a half after his birth, it is urgent to celebrate the life and work of one of the most extraordinary men, not only in the history of the Catholic Church, but also in Contemporary Portugal.
Father Américo holds many lives within himself. He was not just a devotee of God, a mystic, a bastion of faith, an evangelizer or a man of unshakable moral manliness. He was also a pedagogue of so many generations of a forgotten and marginalized Portugal, a fearless traveler and an exemplary pilgrim, an amazing writer endowed with an acute sensitivity and a fine and caustic irony. He was a person of action for whom no barrier was an insurmountable limit. A “peaceful revolutionary”, as he defined himself, who always stirred consciences towards the cause of the poorest of the poor.
He was always tireless in his teaching. He studied in Penafiel and Felgueiras, worked in Mozambique, in what was then Lourenço Marques, having completed the Seminar in Coimbra, in 1925. The experiences of the “Sopa dos Pobres” and the multiple visits to prisoners in that city, combined with the “Colónias de Férias” that he had begun to organize for the little boys of Downtown Coimbra inspired him to open, in 1940, the first Casa do Gaiato, in Miranda do Corvo, an institution entirely dedicated to welcoming and protecting minors deprived of their families and the most basic subsistence conditions. In 1944 he founded O Gaiato, a fortnightly newspaper (still published today) that worked as a media for spreading his ideas and projects, receiving from his readers the support (not only monetary) that enabled him to finance his charitable work. In 1951 he launched the “Património dos Pobres”, an initiative that promoted the construction of around 3500 homes in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique.
The most recent exhibition at the Biblioteca do Paraíso, entitled Padre Américo: the light of the heart, the intelligence of charity, will bear witness to all of this, which aims to present precisely a relevant set of works written by and about Padre Américo, revealing his spiritual, moral and pedagogical path. We talk about unavoidable titles such as Pão dos Pobres (in several volumes, which began to be published in 1942), Doutrina (1974-1980) or even the writings collected in Obra da Rua (1983).
We are, therefore, invited to pay homage to the work and works of one of the greatest personalities in the History of Pedagogy, Social Assistance and Housing in Contemporary Portugal. A life that is intertwined with the history of kindness and charity. From the light and intelligence of the heart. May we can also hear and recognize these words of Father Américo in their deepest Christian meaning:
“Poverty is such a holy thing that no one can touch it! I will make a will: leave a poor Work, to serve the Poor Classes; to bind my final will to my followers who, for this very reason, must be heirs of the renunciation of gold and silver, in order to deserve this sacrificial position.” (in Doutrina, 1st vol. 2nd expanded ed., 1974)
Pedro Marques Pinto
Prof. Luís Leal (reviewer)
