Missionary of the Immaculate Conception, Sister Filomena returns to Italy to be treated but keeps in her heart the homeland that welcomed her. The women of the Gopalpur Sewing Center have always been the first recipients of his pastoral service, even preaching the Gospel on a motorcycle.
Dhaka () – Sister Filomena Alicandro, 85, who has lived in Bangladesh for 55 years, returns to Italy. Dean of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Conception, the PIME Sisters, for more than 40 years Sister Filomena worked in the church in Gopalpur, near Natore, and only in recent months was transferred to Mirpur, near the capital, for medical treatment.
When he arrived in 1966, Bangladesh did not yet exist as we know it today: “This was then East Pakistan and there was a lot of poverty and backwardness,” he told the magazine. World and Mission. “Children in rural villages did not go to school, women were treated as servants at home and counted for nothing in society.”
Before taking the plane back to Italy, Sister Filomena explained to that “the roads were not good either. At that time he used a motorcycle to go preach the Gospel but sometimes it was difficult to navigate due to mud or dust”. With her home visits, the missionary won the hearts of the local community: “I am happy to have participated in the work of Jesus Christ as a catechist. It seems to me that these 55 years in Bangladesh have passed very quickly.”
As soon as she arrived in the country, she realized that most of the women did not work. Since she had learned to sew as a child, she decided to teach the local women how to embroider simple designs on the fabrics used for the liturgy. “Later we sold them and the proceeds went all to the female community”, so that women could be autonomous and economically independent.
At Sister Filomena’s sewing center, mothers were not allowed to keep their children from school. “Sometimes it was the women who taught the children directly. While some young women from the community entered the novitiate”, he continues telling .
Sister Filomena was born on January 28, 1937 in the diocese of Gaeta. “Since I was a child I have participated in Church activities.” She entered the house of formation in 1958 and made her vows in 1961. Before beginning her missionary life in Bangladesh, she worked at the PIME Center in Milan, also collaborating with the magazines Italia Missionaria and Mondo e Missione. Last year she received in Brescia the Corazón Amigo award, a recognition that supports the missionaries.
He still does not know if he will be able to return to Bangladesh due to his advanced age, but his wish is to return when he has finished the treatment: “Even if I am in Italy my mind will always be in Gopalpur. I could never forget that beautiful country.”
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