Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
A grand celebration marked the seventeenth anniversary of the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ in Buenos Aires, an institution founded when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was Archbishop of the city. This happened in 2008, at a time when the presence of priests in the poorest neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, the so-called Villas Miseria, had already been spreading for some time. Known as curas villeros, these clergymen actively participate in the lives of the poorest, caring first-hand for the great needs they face and sharing this commitment with others, thus becoming the center of communities that were born and multiplied.
The true beginning of the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ dates back to Holy Thursday 2008. On that day, Archbishop Bergoglio washed the feet of young people who had chosen to definitively leave drug addiction behind and inaugurated the first ‘home’, summarizing his method as “accepting life as it is”, in a “hand-to-hand” work with the brothers and sisters we meet along the way.
On March 16, the Basilica of Luján was filled with devotees. Coming from all parts of the country – and even from Ecuador and Paraguay – different people from the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ gathered for the mass to give thanks for “the embrace received over the years” and to pray for their beloved Pope Francis.
But there was yet another reason. It was time to pay tribute to the popular cleric Carlos ‘Charly’ Olivero, who joined the first group of the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ when he arrived at Villa 21 as a seminarian. Father Pepe Di Paola announced this in his homily, and Bishop Oscar Ojea — former president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference and a father figure to many curas villeros — said before blessing him: “Father Charly will live in Bogotá where, in the name of CELAM (the Latin American Episcopal Council), he will spread the method of the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ throughout the American continent.”
Dom Ojea, with the pride and tenderness of a father, recalled a passage from the Aparecida Document: “Knowing Jesus is the best gift a person can receive.” He then blessed Father Charly and his new mission “to take to all of Latin America this very rich experience of the Gospel that he had over so many years, in which he met the Virgin, consecrated himself to Her and met Jesus.”
The ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ is a Federation that brings together Community Centers that aim to provide a comprehensive response to situations of social vulnerability and/or problematic use of psychotropic substances, placing the individual and their qualities first. Its objective is to “systematize, research, transmit and safeguard the methodology, principles, criteria and strategies that unite us”. The federation works towards a culture of encounter and community leadership, promoting Christian values, offering training and awareness through training schools and multiple activities.
The ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ knows that it is facing situations of enormous complexity: it is not just a drug problem, but a problem of people affected by this scourge.
A complete and comprehensive recovery is impossible if the person who uses drugs is alone, lives on the streets or does not have an identification document that allows him to process social benefits or access any public institution. Without these basic conditions, it is impossible for anyone to think about rebuilding their life. That is why in its Community Centers the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ supports all aspects of a person’s life, acting in a holistic way, “respecting the time and freedom of each person”. Their role is to suggest, advise, and never to exercise control. Unlike so many standardized models of success that seem inevitable, they prioritize support with the conviction that “patience, closeness, affection and dedication are what educates, sustains and guides”.
And that is why drug addicts see the Community Center as a welcoming home, “where the close presence and testimony of those who have already walked the proposed path are poured out to serve those who are just starting out.” This allows the construction of a network of relationships. It is with other people that we foster the construction of social ties that allow us to feel part of an extensive society: the extended family, the community, the parish, the neighborhood are the bases of individual development.
Not only lonely, orphaned, desolate and sick people attend the Community Centers, but also all those whose health is compromised due to drug use. There, members of the ‘Great Home of Christ Family’ approach each story in a personal way and accompany “each body and soul”, which are recognized as people, people, in the image and likeness of God, “with the capacity to love and connect with others”.
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