Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, covers an area of 203 km², but the metropolitan area—known as Greater Buenos Aires—spans 14,966 km². This vast urban zone, which has been steadily expanding for decades, constitutes the metropolis’s outskirts and comprises 24 municipalities, including Merlo to the west.
Consolata Missionaries—both men and women—arrived in Merlo long ago; specifically, the Consolata Missionary Sisters established the Consolata School from the ground up, an institution now managed by the Diocese of Merlo and Moreno.
Merlo—itself on the outskirts of the capital—has its own outlying areas, formed over time by families arriving from the provinces as well as from other countries, such as Paraguay and Bolivia. The Consolata family’s pastoral work in this area was intense and sustained. A group of Consolata Lay Missionaries was also established there; they remain very active to this day.
The year was 2010. To mark the centenary of the founding of the Consolata Missionary Sisters, a major outreach mission was organized in the “Parque El Sol” area, involving IMC confreres, LMC lay members, and the Sisters themselves. Sister Maria Elena recalls:
“It was a nationwide initiative, so we sought a location that could accommodate large numbers of people while also being an area with a limited Church presence. We prayed and reflected deeply during this search. Eventually, we settled on the Pompeya Parish, specifically focusing on the outlying areas served by its chapels, Guadalupe and San Cayetano.”
Parque El Sol, then, is the periphery of the periphery of the periphery of the periphery. In short: the perfect place!
Local families, despite their poverty, welcomed the missionaries into their homes; neighbors helped one another, with some even offering up their own beds, while everyone contributed to providing food.
The outcome of this mission was the establishment of a center—now known as the Consolata Chapel.
This great mission laid the groundwork for the future Consolata Chapel on a plot of land the Sisters had long used for pastoral work, chosen for its central, strategic location in the area. That dream has now become a reality: the Consolata Chapel.
The creation of this chapel was a collaborative effort by the united Consolata Family—Fathers, novices, seminarians, Sisters, and laypeople—with each person contributing their own unique gifts and skills.
Today, the Consolata Chapel has its own pastoral leaders who animate the celebrations and are eager to reach out and proclaim the Word of God in other places.
Building Consolata Chapel
Betty, a Consolata Lay Missionary, shares her story:
For nearly ten years, traveling the streets and visiting families, we served as Consolata Lay Missionaries at the invitation of the then-parish priest, the late Father Rubén Lopez. It was an ongoing mission, carried out alongside the Consolata Missionary Sisters and the missionaries from the Pompeya parish.
A large community of Paraguayan migrants lives in this area; over time, we got to know one another and built the Consolata Chapel together. Now, the local community itself sustains the life of the chapel. The people have learned to love Our Lady and to make her a part of their own lives.
Each in their own unique way, the Consolata family made its contribution: the presence of Saint Joseph Allamano and Our Lady of Consolata was always felt. It is truly the case that when God proposes and we are open to His call, beautiful things happen.
Every year—even though we are no longer actively serving there—we return for the Feast of Our Lady of Consolata, and in this chapel, we renew our commitment as Consolata Lay Missionaries. It was from this very chapel that a lay vocation emerged: Marisa, a strong and spirited woman who is a gift to the entire lay group. God’s grace has truly poured out and spread!
Consolata Missionary Sisters is an international religious congregation, founded in Turin on 29 January 1910 by Saint Joseph Allamano, we serve the Church in the mission of first proclamation of the Gospel to those who do not yet know Jesus Christ, the true consolation of the Father.
Called by the Holy Spirit to share in the Charism, God’s gift to Father Founder, we offer our life to Christ forever, in the mission ad gentes, that is, to non-Christians, for the proclamation of salvation and consolation.
