Padre Kino’s native community celebrates the anniversary of his birth

 

August 10th marked the 379th anniversary of the birth of Father Eusebio Chini (August 10, 1645). Last year in Segno, we remembered Padre Kino with bread made with wheat he introduced to Arizona and Mexico as a symbol of peace and sharing. This year, in collaboration with the Municipality of Predaia, the Historical Museum of Trentino and all the Segno Associations, we remembered Padre Kino as a "builder of bridges between people".  

 

Great is the friendship that binds the homeland of Padre Kino and the lands overseas where he carried out his wonderful work in support of the weakest, the fruit of the precious legacy he left us, which this year is realized with the signing of the act of twinning between his homeland, the Municipality of Predaia, to which Segno belongs and Magdalena de Kino where his mortal remains rest. 

 

Celebrations began with a solemn Mass concelebrated by the Italian Archbishop of Trento Mons, Lauro Tisi with the Bishop of Treviso Mons, Michele Tomasi, and the parish priest Don Riccardo Pedrotti, cheered by the parish choir of Segno, the birthplace of Father Kino. 

 

After the greeting address to the authorities and guests of Sonora and Arizona who  

came for the occasion, the solemn ceremony of the signing of the twinning act by the Municipal President of Magdalena Omar Ortez Guerrero and the Mayor of Predaia Giuliana Cova took place. 

 

To strengthen the ties between the homeland of Padre Kino and the territories where he 

worked, the Padre Eusebio F. Chini Cultural Association and the entire community of Segno and Predaia wanted to symbolically pay homage to all the lands where Padre Kino worked, with the gift to the city of Magdalena de Kino of the bronze statue, previously preserved in the Segno museum, the work of the artists Livio and Giorgio Conta, a model of the large statue erected at the entrance of Segno and inaugurated on July 28, 2008, on the occasion of the signing of the twinning between the then Municipality of Taio and Magdalena de Kino. 

 

With the collaboration of all the Segno Associations and the UFTE, a convivial moment  

followed, an “Apericena” with typical local and Mexican products: bread, tortillas, wines, and sparkling wines dedicated to Padre Kino. The evening concluded with the show of the Mexican group Mariachi Romatitlán. 

 

The entire event is visible online, thanks to the Diocese of Trento, and was shared with Sonora, Arizona, and California, the lands so dear to Padre Kino.