Encounter in recognition of Don Alberto Altana

On Saturday 16th of January took place in Reggio Emilia, Italy, an Encounter of reminiscence and homage of the Italian priest Don Alberto Altana (1921-1999), on the 10th anniversary of his death. Don Alberto's life was completely devoted to Church's service, especially to the poorest. His words "The contemplation of Jesus servant, chaste, poor and obedient, generates in our hearts love and desire of imitation", mark his life and his ministry: on one hand, Don Alberto made a great work in the Secular Institute "Servi della Chiesa" (Servants of the Church) founded by Don Dino Torregiani; on the other hand, he worked hard to promote the diaconate in Italy, founded the association "Comunità del diaconato in Italia" (Community of the Diaconate in Italy) and collaborated with the International Centre of the Diaconate (IDC) over several years.

My husband, deacon Aurelio Ortín, from Barcelona, ordained in 1981, met him and collaborated with him a lot of times. The "Comunità del diaconato in Italia" invited Aurelio to participate in this Encounter in recognition of Don Alberto Altana, and to offer his testimony. He couldn't attend the Encounter, but I could, and I read this message.

We met Don Alberto at the beginning of the 80's, at one of the National meetings of Italian deacons that were held at Assisi: I was glad to attend it, with my husband and our little children. We were so well and fondly welcomed by Don Alberto, de Lorenzo Tagliaferri and the other deacons and wives, that we could sense and appreciate the supra-diocesan ecclesial aspect of the deacons ministry.

A few years later, in November of 1983, Don Alberto came to Barcelona, invited by the Cardinal Archbishop, Narcís Jubany, who had been the great urger of the permanent diaconate, not only in Barcelona, but in all the dioceses in Spain. On 15th November, at noon, Don Alberto met the Cardinal, in the afternoon he talked to the Presbyteral Council and in the evening he met the nine permanent deacons that there were in Barcelona at that moment. Afterwards, some of them and their wives (I was among them) had dinner and could talk in open brotherhood. Next morning Don Alberto made a speech at the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia and in the afternoon he had a meeting with the members of the diocesan Committee for the permanent diaconate. On 17th, the last day of his stay in Barcelona, he visited the Monastery of Montserrat, Patron of Catalonia, and had a meeting with the Cardinal and the candidates to the diaconate. This very day, the newspaper "La Vanguardia" published an interview and a chronicle of his stay.

During these days in Barcelona, Don Alberto explained the basic ideas of the theology of the diaconate and the pastoral practice that at that moment was carried out in Italy to promote, set up and consolidate it. Don Alberto said that priesthood and diaconate are the two arms of the bishop and that without diaconate, the first arm (priests) undergoes a hypertrophia damaging to the Church. He insisted that deacons must be sign and sacrament of Christ the Servant, and that they must remember the vocation to the humble service in the Church. He also said how important the deacons work could be, as they live and act within the world, to give life to the Church where it doesn't yet exist.

Some years later, in summer 1988, during another travel of our family to Italy, we could visit Don Alberto at his house in Reggio Emilia. We were kindly welcomed and we could see how humbly he lived and how he gave refuge to the poor; we could understand better his Christian vocation and how he tried to show that the Grace of the Spirit of God helped him to carry out the service to God and to his brothers and sisters.

For me, as a deacon's wife, Don Alberto is especially important in my life: Aurelio was still a candidate, and Don Alberto helped me to understand that my husband's vocation was a choice that we made together for life, and that we had to offer our future life to the service of others, specially those who need it more.

Now we remember some of the teachings of Don Alberto, which continue to light our path of love and service, and our hope:

• "The Church accomplishes better its mission of salvation, if it is done as love, that is, as a "communion-service-testimony".
• "We must consider the grace of the diaconate as a spiritual energy, deeply united to the path of the ecclesial renovation, especially as it is referred to diaconia, that is, the Church vocation to service".
• "Diaconia is the spiritual attitude that must be shown in all the aspects of the diaconal ministry: announcement of the Word, Liturgy and Charity."
• "The deacon participates in the bishop' s ministry, underlining the representation of Christ servant: that is why he is called to be consecrated to service and to animate all the Church (all the Christians, lay people and ordained ministries) to the spirit of service".
• "Thus, in a Church where everybody is called to be servant, deacons are the sacramental sign of Christ's service".
• "As Christian service means to share, a preferred choice in favor of the poorest implies a choice of real poverty, as well of persons as of the Church as a whole".
• "The presence of deacons and their families can also help priests to get out of solitude and to be involved in communion".
• "Deacons realize that, after ordination, their lives change completely. Their service is not yet a voluntary temporal service, but a consecration that implies complete donation of life, full of graces of the Holy Spirit".

Our testimony of Don Alberto finishes thanking God for his work in favour of the diaconate and the foundation of the "Comunità del diaconato in Italia", where Christians work to promote the diaconate and to think about the meaning of diaconia in the Church life , so that Church can be, in our society, a better witness of Christ the Servant.

We believe that Don Alberto is among us, not only because we think of him, but also because his spirit helps us to discern which must be our answer today to the call of service of God and others in the Church.

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