Fr Pedro Aguado, General Father of the Pious Schools, visited the Piarist presence of the Province of Nazareth in Peru. This mission, like many other new initiatives promoted under Fr Pedro’s guidance, counsel, and accompaniment as General Superior of the Order, was founded nine years ago.
Since then, the Piarist presence has remained faithful to its original mission of serving in contexts of poverty, while experiencing many developments in charismatic and missionary expression. These signs today reflect a mature and committed presence — with people, with children and young people, with the Fe y Alegría institution, with the local Church, and especially with the poorest.
There are two Piarist communities in Peru: one in Ñaña and the other in San Juan de Lurigancho. Both communities share the mission between religious Piarists and lay Piarists. Fr Pedro Aguado, General Superior, and Fr Julio Alberto Álvarez, General Assistant for America, met with both communities, participated in the assembly of the Piarist presence in Peru, and met with students, leadership teams, teachers, student groups, boys’ and girls’ vocation groups, pastoral groups, and Calasanz Movement groups. Fr Pedro also held one-on-one meetings with each member of the two Piarist communities.
The Piarist presence in Peru includes three Fe y Alegría schools — numbers 4, 5, and 41. There is also a beautiful growth of the Calasanz Movement in each presence, a strong vocational culture, the accompaniment of young people interested in our Piarist life, and the creation of academies to help young people complete their education and prepare for university.
The Fe y Alegría schools supported by the Piarist communities welcome more than 3,000 students in contexts of nutritional, educational, and structural hardship, and in family situations facing serious challenges to integral development.
With deep gratitude to Fr Pedro Aguado, this Piarist presence offered the best fruit of these years: love for Calasanz in children and young people. Great joy for the General Father in witnessing the constant effort of the Nazareth demarcation and their dedicated accompaniment. New horizons are opening for this young Piarist mission.
Thank you to Fr. Oswaldo, Provincial of Nazareth, for leading the province with a hope-filled vision and a style of leadership based on accompaniment and process-building.
Thank you to the current members of the Piarist communities in Peru: Fr. Carles Such, Fr. Lizardo, Fr. Jaime, Fr. Juan Pablo, Fr. Juan Carlos Sevillano, Br. Juan Diego Botero, Daisy and Gloria, for their witness of dedication and creative fidelity to the charism of Calasanz.
Thank you to the children and young people for showing us your kind hearts in every smile, every handshake, and every respectful and friendly greeting—for reminding us that you are the reason the Pious Schools came to Peru.
And thank you, Fr. Pedro, for your tireless work in the Order.
