Year founded: 1985, in Palermo, on the initiative of Fr Antonio Santoro omi.
Type of association and ecclesial recognition
The Association, after numerous de facto recognitions in several dioceses and ecclesial bodies, at diocesan, regional and national level, it also obtained the formal ecclesiastical recognition (can. 299 of the CIC) by decree of the Archbishop of Monreale (Palermo). Under civil law its legal form is that of a “non-profit organisation of social utility” (onlus).
→Brief history
The Associazione OASI CANA Onlus was founded in Palermo, as the “Gruppo Cana”, on 11 November 1985 on the initiative of Fr Antonio Santoro omi. It is an association of volunteers, Christian-inspired and non-party, for the welcome and formation of the person, the couple and the family.
The members of the Association – from the very first steps of what was then the “Gruppo Cana” – almost without realising it breathed in and, in different ways, took on the fundamental features of the charism of St Eugene: passionate love for Christ and for the Church (in the concreteness of its incarnations), attention to the poor in their many faces, especially to the “poverties” of spouses and families, missionary drive starting above all from the family, attention to social issues, a family atmosphere, the “Marian style” in the apostolate and in other services…
Over time, these aspects have been considered and lived above all from the perspective of the couple and the family as subjects, and of service to them. In this way there grew an ever deeper awareness of being, as spouses “in the Lord”, subjects, recipients and missionaries, of a particular charism, the marital charism of the “unity of the two”: couples for couples, families for families …
From the informal meetings of the early days we moved to increasingly structured formation meetings, serving both the needs of the group's members and those of other couples.
Listening to the Spirit and attentive to the area and to the needs of people and of the local Churches, over the years the Association – thanks to the commitment of members, registered supporters and people who share its aims, objectives and work – has, in order to achieve its purposes, created and now runs several permanent service facilities (see site www.oasicana.it), thus giving substance, harmony and continuity to what the Lord of Life and Love was letting us experience: Couples’ Units (that is, family groups), the house ofOasi Cana di Gibilrossa; Verso Cana… (itinerary for engaged couples); Lettera di Famiglia (the Association's periodical); Centro Solidali con Te (centre for integration and rehabilitation of people with disabilities and support for their families); Casa Nazaret; Oasi Famiglia S. Maria di Cana; “Cana” Family Counselling Centre; Sedes Sapientiae (which runs the Association's formation programmes, internal and external); the Centro OASI CANA per la Famiglia e la Vita; the Rectory Church “S. Famiglia di Nazaret”; a nursery school (now closed, having completed its task); the Food Solidarity Fund (to support families in need with basic foodstuffs), the Pe.Co.Fa.S. (Centre for Studies and Research on the Person, the Couple and the Family).
→The Association’s resources
The great source is Providence, which shows itself through the real faces of volunteers in many services and of benefactors. For some years now it has also been possible to draw on a share of the 5×1000.
Thanks to the great resource of volunteering by many people and to their help (through donations and loans), we have been able, and are still able, to meet the considerable costs of purchasing premises for our services, their day-to-day running, maintenance and so on.
Just a few figures.
*Some tens of thousands are the hours of volunteering given so that the Association can carry out its mission each year.
*For the purchase of a property in Palermo (where the Centro OASI CANA per la Famiglia e la Vita), the Association took out, in 2004, a loan (that is, debt) of 800 thousand euros; another 400 thousand euros come from private loans: members, registered supporters and other people who share the Association's aims and objectives.
→Distinctive traits
What is distinctive about the Association is its service to couples and families: couples for couples, families for families, individuals working for the good of married and family life.
In short, the distinctive traits could be outlined as follows family spirituality for which we feel responsible as an Association, aware of a gift received and passed on to others.
* The centrality of the person, the couple and the family according to God's design.
* Active faithfulness to the Magisterium of the Church, in the sense that it aims at knowing, deepening and spreading the teaching of the Church, above all concerning marriage and the family.
* Formation of the members of the Association and of other couples and people interested in marriage and family matters.
* Communion with the local Churches and commitment to family ministry of the same; collaboration with institutions and other educational and cultural bodies active in the area.
* Bond with the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and missionary outreach: is the concrete commitment of the couple and the family and of the Association as a whole, in order to meet the many “poverties” of individuals, spouses and families. A significant contribution to forming this missionary awareness comes from the charism of communion and mission of St Eugene de Mazenod; a charism, which for its origins, its spirituality, the inner life of its communities (see the spiritual testament of the holy Founder) and its outward missionary self-giving, we might call “spousal”, in the light of mystery of the spousal covenant between God and his people, between Christ and the Church-Humanity.
* Attention to the Church and society of today to grasp “the signs of the times” for a service worthy of life and the family, and carried out with it.
→Main activities offered
*Formation activities for children, young people, adolescents, youth, engaged couples, young couples, parents, pastoral workers and family counselling staff. Summer meetings of formation and rest for couples and families.
*The Association works together with the Offices and Commissions for Family Ministry at various levels (national, regional, diocesan) and with other public and private bodies. In particular it belongs to: the Italian Confederation of Family Counselling Centres of Christian Inspiration and of the same at the level of the Sicilian Regional Federation; of the Forum of Family Associations of Sicily since the founding of the Forum; of theARIS (Religious Association of Social and Healthcare Institutes). The Association works with schools, with the Public health service, with the Juvenile Court of Palermo, with the University of Palermo (hosting students on training and orientation placements and psychologists on post-graduate placements), with Postgraduate schools of psychotherapy (taking on for their placement psychologists already graduated and qualified), with theCatholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milanor thanks to the work of the Pe.Co.Fa.S. research centre (see www.oasicana.it). The Association is listed in the Regional register Sicilian of the “Family Solidarity Associations”.
→Services offered
Itineraries for engaged couples, days of spirituality for spouses; the “Cana” Family Counselling Centre of declared Christian inspiration; family groups; formation itineraries; summer meetings of formation and rest for couples and families; the “Solidali con Te” Centre for the rehabilitation and integration of people with motor and neurological impairments; courses on education in sexuality, love and fertility in schools, parishes and groups where we are called; teaching of natural methods of fertility regulation; various services to the local Churches (taking part in marriage preparation courses, leading family groups, thematic meetings, etc.); support for families in need through our “Food Solidarity Fund”; study and research on the person, the couple and the family (Sedes Sapientiae and Pe.Co.Fa.S. – see www.oasicana.it); publication of the newspaper “Lettera di Famiglia”.
→Publications
The “handouts” from the lessons and other writings on the various themes covered have been collected, many of them available on the site www.oasicana.it.
Articles on: “OMI Missions” (monthly magazine of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, Province of Italy; “Giornotto” (pastoral magazine of the Archdiocese of Monreale); “Lettera di Famiglia” (periodical of the OASI CANA Association and of the Missionaries of the Family); “Consultori Familiari Oggi” (journal of the Italian Confederation of Family Counselling Centres of Christian Inspiration). A. SANTORO OMI, The Our Father in the Family, Ed. Paoline, 2007; contribution, on two themes, to the editing of two volumes edited by R. TADDEI, Paths of relationship. Guided programmes for young couples and family groups, Elledici, Leumann (TO) 2006; A. SANTORO OMI, C. FERRARO, R. TRAPANI, E. VACCARO (eds.), Women who followed Jesus, Effatà Editrice Cantalupa (TO), 2008. P. A. SANTORO “Do whatever he tells you” A path of reflection and prayer in the light of the “Gospel of marriage and the family”, Effatà Editrice, Cantalupa (TO) 2009.
