Recently, Passionists at Glen Osmond were pleased to welcome Signore Claudio Martini, President of the Regional Government of Tuscany, Italy. Signore Martini was accompanied by Mr. Tommaso Coniglio, Italian Consul to South Australia and was welcomed to The Monastery by Fr. Tiernan Doherty CP, Community Leader.
The visit by Signore Martini was significant in that our first Passionist in South Australia Fr. Maurice Lencione CP was from Lucca in the Tuscany region. Fr. Maurice is been regarded as one the first missionaries to Australia from Italy. Fr. Maurice left for Australia in 1842, initially working at Stradbroke Island with the Aboriginal people. He later came to South Australia in 1846 and died in 1864.
Pictures below show our visitor at the tomb of Fr. Maurice and also examining monumental inscriptions of the pioneer Passionist Missioners.
Fr. Tiernan showed Signore Martini and the visiting party various pictures of Fr. Maurice and of The Monastery in early days. This was followed by a visit to the Sacred Garden and the beautifully crafted Stations of the Cross made from Carrara marble. (Carrara is a city in the province of Massa-Carrara in Tuscany).
