We Are Made for Heaven

Father Stefano Igino Silvestrelli (1921-2012) was the founder of the Opera Famiglia di Nazareth (Opera Family of Nazareth).

Born in Porcino di Pazzon, a small village in the province of Verona, he cultivated from an early age the desire to become a priest — a goal he reached only after a long and winding, yet providential, journey. The years he spent with the Salesians and the Jesuits left a lasting mark on his personality and educational approach.

After his first pastoral assignments in Bosco Chiesanuova and Bardolino, he was sent by his bishop to the Maremma region in early 1952 to take part in a mission initiative promoted by Pope Pius XII. “For me, it was a revelation”. There he encountered a world that had largely forgotten God, and he discovered that adolescents were especially receptive to the great truths of the faith.  

On 28 January 1956, with the blessing of Giovanni Urbani, Bishop of Verona, the Opera for the Salvation of Adolescents was born. The idea had first emerged during his time in the Maremma and gradually took shape through dialogue with his bishops and spiritual advisers, among them St. Giovanni Calabria and Fr. Mario Venturini.

This book retraces the stages of Fr. Silvestrelli’s life, the birth of the Opera, and its subsequent development. At its heart stands a priestly soul set ablaze by love for Christ, tirelessly proclaiming that we are in this world for Heaven.