A New Home for Formation: Blessing of the St. John Baptist Scalabrini Novitiate House in Alfonso, Cavite

An historical event in the Scalabrinian Family took place on Wednesday the 18^th of March this year 2026 at Cavite area in the Philippines. A religious house once belonged to the Korean Martyrs religious congregation, was newly restructured to accommodate  new generations of Scalabrinian Novices that will be coming from different parts of the world.

For the blessing of the “St. John Baptist Scalabrini” Novitiate House, the event counted with the presence of  Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista of Imus diocese who presided the Eucharistic celebration accompanied by our Superior General Fr. Leonir Chiarello cs, our Provincial Superior Fr. Ignacio Gutierrez cs, his counselors from Australia and the scalabrinian priests, sisters and seminarians from Manila Area an Cebu, as well as local authorities, architects and benefactors of our Scalabrinian family.

Being blessed as Scalabrinians  with higher number of vocations in the last few years, coming specially from Vietnam, Indonesia and India, we foresee, as we have blessed this new venue,  to have a larger and quieter venue for the novices who need to be  focused in physical work and prayer, in order for them  to concentrate on this important yearly program which prepare candidates to embrace religious vows through the religious and solemn profession ceremony which takes place at the end of each novitiate year.

With the Blessing of this beautiful and peaceful venue of Alfonso in Cavite and its surroundings, became officially opened a new place for our novices to find themselves in a good and better recollected environment where the spiritual aspect of this year takes an essential role in their formation as Scalabrinian Missionaries preparing to minister in the near future to the old and new generations of migrants, refugees and seafarers in the world.

The solemn blessing of the new Scalabrinian Novitiate house, was celebrated in a very special year for our Congregation, celebrating this year 2026-2027, the “Scalabrinian Vocational Year”, that makes all our formation houses, as well as our missions, to focus on the essential of our call as Missionaries sent to people on the move with a renewal Spirit which rekindle  in us, the gift of God’s call, helpings us to become more humble and to give testimony  of the spirituality of the Good Samaritan, by serving migrants, refugees and seafarers, following the steps and with the same spirit of our founder St. John Baptist Scalabrini, “Father of Migrants”.

Fr. Gerardo Garcia Ponce, CS