Mother General of the Salesian Sisters Visits Cuenca Ahead of Macas Gratitude Festival
Cuenca Expat Staff
What Happened
The Unidad Educativa María Auxiliadora in Cuenca welcomed Mother Chiara Cazzuola — Superior General of the Instituto de las Hijas de María Auxiliadora (the Salesian Sisters, FMA) — on Wednesday, April 16, with a Mass and a cultural program (source).
It's a notable visit for Cuenca's substantial Salesian community, and a stop on a journey that ends April 26 in Macas for the Fiesta de la Gratitud Mundial 2026.
Why She's Here
The trip is tied to the canonization of Santa María Troncatti, which the Vatican celebrated on October 19, 2025 in Rome. Troncatti was an Italian missionary who spent decades in the Ecuadorian Amazon — her territory was around Macas, in Morona Santiago.
Sor María Cleofé Maza, rector of María Auxiliadora in Cuenca, framed the visit:
"Celebramos un 'gracias mundial' a todas las Hijas de María Auxiliadora. La madre Chiara ha elegido Ecuador en el marco de la canonización de Santa María Troncatti, que tuvo lugar el 19 de octubre de 2025 en Roma. Estará en Macas, territorio donde la misionera desarrolló su labor."
In plain English: a global thank-you to the Salesian Sisters, with Ecuador chosen because of the Troncatti connection.
What Cazzuola Said
Cazzuola spoke about the Salesian charism — the spiritual orientation of the order — as something shared, "no es propiedad privada" ("not private property"), and laid out three guiding ideas: profecía, esperanza, caridad — prophecy, hope, charity.
On hope:
"La esperanza es necesaria en este momento de la historia."
On charity, framed as everyday attentiveness:
"significa estar atentos al otro, comenzar por quien está al lado."
Who Was There
The welcome included students, teachers, alumnae, salesianos cooperadores, Don Bosco volunteers, delegations from the Movimiento Juvenil Salesiano, and Father Franklin Arévalo, who represents the Salesians in the Austro region.
Groups Pumapungo and Tumipampa from the Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) performed.
What's Next
Cazzuola continues to Guayaquil on April 18, then on to the Amazon for the Fiesta de la Gratitud in Macas on April 26 — a gathering of Salesian family delegations from multiple countries.
What This Means for You
If you're not Catholic or not Salesian-adjacent, this might land as background noise — but the Salesian footprint in Cuenca is significant:
- María Auxiliadora is a major Cuenca school and parish. If you have kids here, or pass through El Vado, you've seen it.
- The Universidad Politécnica Salesiana (UPS) is one of the city's main universities and runs Salesian-rooted programs across Ecuador.
- Macas matters. If you've ever wondered why the Amazon side of Ecuador has so much Salesian presence, the Troncatti story is a big part of the answer — Italian missionaries embedded for generations.
- The April 26 Fiesta de la Gratitud in Macas is open to international Salesian delegations. If you have a tie to that world, it's a real gathering — not a small parish event.
A quiet visit, but it's the kind of thing that signals where the institutional Catholic Church in Ecuador is paying attention.
Source: El Mercurio
