The will of God is a complex topic; however it is possible to speak about it from hindsight. Between 1919 and 1922, several events which can now be attributed to the will of God took place in Fr. Allamano’s life. At the beginning of 1919, having ended the war, it was time for people to return to their daily lives and particularly to rebuild their broken families and lives. In June 1919 at the Mother House, a small celebration took place to commemorate the reunion of the missionaries from the war camps. As you would expect, there were prayers and hymns and a lot of food and drinks. Fr. Allamano led the community to end the bitter episode of the war and to reopen a new hopeful chapter of their lives by burning all the letters that he had received from those who had been in the military camps. A large bonfire was lit and in it went the painful moments, tears, fears and anxiety that had characterized the war period. In a few minutes, all those bitter moments turned into smoke and ashes. Fr. Allamano reminded the community that all had happened not by chance but through the will if God. He, God had reasons for everything.
As if to console the Founder, jubilant events followed immediately. First, there was the expansion of the Consolata Missionaries field of work to Tanganyika. Strange as it may appear, the conflicts between the Kenyan British authority and the Germans in Tanganyika had created a pastoral need. The defeat of the Germans in the First World War led to the expulsion of the Benedictine Missionaries in Tanganyika, forcing them to leave a vast mission territory they had been taking care of in the south Eastern side of Tanganyika. Pressed as he might have been by scarcity of personnel, Fr. Perlo send four missionaries from Kenya, to take the place of the numerous Benedictine Missionaries who had left Iringa. The four included: Fr. Giovanni Ciravegna, Fr. Giacomo Cavallo, Fr. Gaudenzio Panelatti and Fr. Domenico Vignoli.
The four were assigned to Tosamaganga and Madibira missions in Iringa. Tosamaganga mission already had 1642 baptized Christians and a network of 312 schools with 7,191 pupils. Madibira had fewer schools, but almost 2000 baptized Christians. Without wasting time, the four missionaries took their positions immediately and began working. It was not easy for them, since they were entering a very different situation from the one they had left in Kenya. The history of the people was very different the Kikuyu people of Nyeri in Kenya, the language, traditions, tribal formations, the colonial system, etc., everything meant a new start. They worked so hard to an extend that in 3rd March 1922, the Prefecture Apostolic of Iringa was created, entrusted to the Consolata Missionaries, and led by Fr. Francesco Cagliero as the Prefect Apostolic. In those three years, the number of the Consolata Missionaries had increased to 10 priests, 4 lay Brothers and 6 Sisters “in a territory that had once been run by around 40 German Benedictines who also had enjoyed unlimited means and the support of a sympathetic government” (G Telbaldi, Consolata Missionaries in the world, pg, 107). This is to say that the few Consolata Missionaries had a lot to do with limited resources. They were of course not the only ones who were feeling the heat. The opening of the Tanganyika mission added Fr. Allamano’s already heavy work. He, at the age of 71 years old, had now three African territories to follow and support yet the need for personnel was becoming acute each day. As usual, Msgr. Perlo was demanding for more missionaries from Turin. The events of Kaffa Prefecture required close follow up, and a keener eye was needed for the new Prefecture of Iringa. As such, the beautiful work of expansion of the missions was for Fr. Allamano a sign of God’s will in action.
The second event that was a consolation to Fr. Allamano and the Institute after the unpleasant experience of war was the beatification of his uncle Fr. Cafasso. Fr. Cafasso was the maternal uncle of Fr. Allamano. He had lived and worked at the Pastoral Institute for many years, and his excellence in teaching moral theology was known by all. Fr. Allamano had put it as one of his resolutions to see Fr. Cafasso beatified, not just because he was his uncle, but because Cafasso would have been a noble model for priests and religious. Fr. Cafasso had been known and respected in Turin as the Priest of hope due to his work of counseling and confessing those who had been condemned to death. On 23rd May 1906, pope Pius X issued a decree ratifying the introduction of the apostolic process of the beatification of Fr. Joseph Cafasso. Usually, the process of beatification is not a joke. It involves a lot of work. Most of the time it requires setting up of committees, asking for help from the bishops, and a huge amount of money for the work of documentation and traveling. In Fr. Cafasso’s case, there was nothing of that sort. Behind the whole process was Fr. Allamano the frail diocesan priest of Turin, assisted by Fr. Camisassa. How Fr. Allamano and Fr. Camisassa managed to do the whole task is still baffling, especially because he was still working at the Consolata Shrine, guiding missionaries in Africa without forgetting the Pastoral Institute. Certainly, this paints a picture of a no nonsense man in responsibilities. His dedication to the cause was an unimaginable.
In May 1911, Fr. Allamano witnessed the opening of the coffin of Fr. Cafasso at the Pastoral Institute, an event that was led by His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop Richelmy. In the spring of 1919, the examination concerning the miracles having been finished, Fr. Allamano took the documentation to Rome himself, where he was received by Pope Benedict XV. In 1921, Fr. Allamano was again in Rome, for the last and decisive run up for the finishing decision. Although Pope Benedict XV died on 22nd January 1922, the process continued during the pontificate of pope Pius XI. Finally, the news that Fr. Allamano had been waiting came. The event of the beatification had been fixed for 3rd May 1925. On 1st January 1925 when he got the message, Fr. Allamano had to save the last drop of his energy by staying inside. His energy had been sucked up by his frail health which had now been compounded by old age. When the day arrived, Fr. Allamano travelled to Rome with the students of the Pastoral Institute, all at his own expense. He was happy that his uncle was being raised to the altars. Fr. Cafasso’s feast was also a feast for the students who were studying in the place he had worked for years. To crown the event up, on 21st June 1925, Fr. Cafasso’s remains were carried into the Consolata Shrine in a ceremony that was attended by Archbishop Gamba and other bishops of Piedmont. Fr. Allamano literary dragged himself along painfully in the procession. Contrary to the expectations of many, Fr. Allamano who was the closest relative to the blessed, the promoter of the cause, the Rector of the Consolata Shrine and the Pastoral Institute, did not participate in the procession wearing the best liturgical vestments, but as usual, he joined the rest of the priests in his usual cassock. It was the highest level of humility many had ever seen. Given that he who sows in humility harvests in joy, in 1947, twenty-one years after the death of Fr. Allamano, the work he began reached its apex in the canonization of Blessed Cafasso.
Amidst those happy events, the death of Fr. Camisassa on 18th August 1922 became a real blow to Fr. Allamano and the Institute. Fr. Allamano had lived with Fr. Camisassa close to a life time. Theirs was not just friendship but ‘bloodship’. Their relationship demonstrated how good friendship is essential for a fulfilling and fruitful religious life. The two had been brother’s keeper to each other. When Fr. Allamano was in Rome to follow up the beatification of Fr. Cafasso, Fr. Camisassa wrote secretly to Fr. Ferrero in Rome telling him Fr. Allamano’s diet. He also told him to ensure that Fr. Allamano ate his food, and to keep informing him every day about his situation. Certainly Fr. Allamano must have been surprised to find his favourite meal in Rome without having told anyone about it. Unknown to him, someone in Turin was taking care of him. That was how close their relationship was. The death of Fr. Camisassa therefore hit Fr. Allamano like a thunderbolt. In silence and prayer, he moved through the rooms they had shared for almost half a century together, wondering why God had decided to be so unpredictable. Things had been brightening up after the war. The beginning of the Iringa Prefecture had thrust the Institute in the path to glory, but now the death of Fr. Camisassa revealed the mysterious hand of God. Fr. Allamano hoped that one day Fr. Camisassa would head the Institute after him. With him gone, Fr. Allamano would one day tell people “we promised to tell each other the truth and we always kept it”.
The last event which pointed the will of God for the Institute was the approval of the constitutions of the Institute on 27th February 1923. Remember that in 1909 Rome had given Fr. Allamano a Decretum Laudis, giving the Institute self-governing capacity and nominating Fr. Allamano as the Superior General and Fr. Camisassa as the Vice-Superior General for two consecutive six years periods. After that decree, nothing more had taken place – of course the war was to blame. Fr. Allamano had to invoke a general chapter in 1921 which was to give the Institute its permanent organs of governance: the Constitutions. The general chapter took place in two sessions: 22nd and 24th November 1922. With the approval of the Constitutions on 27th February 1923, Fr. Allamano was among the happiest people in Turin. His Institute which people, and many of them his fellow priests, had seen as just a passing wind that would end up like that of Fr. Ortalda, was now a stable religious and missionary Institute in the Church. He could only thank God. He was now sure that what had begun as just an idea some twenty-three years before was in fact the will of God. He could now afford a smile as he waited to see how things would unfold.