The Oblates of the Church Ecumenical Missionaries are a community founded in 1959 by Monsignor Giulio M. Penitenti in Riano (RM). Our charism originates from Jesus’ prayer at the Last Supper: ‘That they all may be one’ (John 17:21).
The Mother House – Ecumenical Citadella Taddeide – stands above the remains of a small and ancient convent of the Capuchin Fathers. Our Center for Ecumenical Spirituality welcomes religious communities for spiritual exercises, retreats, and chapter meetings, also offering space to families, parishes, pilgrims, scouts, and all guests eager to share a unique spiritual experience.
Our mission: to pray, work, and promote the unity of all Christians.
Monsignor Giulio M. Penitenti was born on January 10, 1912, in Sermide (Mantua) and entered the Seminary on October 25, 1924. He was ordained a priest on June 6, 1936. In the years 1942-1943, he served as a military chaplain in Russia and other European countries. On April 6, 1944, in Rome, he founded the MICHAEL Association, later renamed UNITAS along with its eponymous magazine. In 1945, he entrusted this initiative to an experienced theologian to establish, once again in Rome, on Via Matteo Boiardo, amidst numerous difficulties and trials, a religious community called the ‘House of Little Workers,’ aimed at gathering ‘bold’ and ardent souls consecrated to ecumenical apostolate.
“On August 17, 1946, in recognition of his illustrious merits, he was appointed Canon of the Pantheon. In 1947, he relocated the headquarters of his budding community to Pian Paradiso (Viterbo), and in 1951, definitively to Riano (Rome), where he was welcomed by the late Cardinal Eugenio Tisserant, then the bishop of the area. On December 13 of the same year, he formally established it as a Pious Lay Priestly Society.
The Mother House – the Taddeide Ecumenical Citadel – is the driving force of its ecumenical apostolate, which is extending to many parts of the world.
The memory of Mons. Giulio Penitenti is alive. We remember one of his statements which demonstrates the commitment and sacrifices to realize his great dream
“It doesn’t matter if I’m condemned to move forward at a snail’s pace, it doesn’t matter if I still have to face so many humiliations in stretching out my hand to ask everyone for alms. It doesn’t matter if I have to cover the walls and walls more with tears and sacrifices than with lime. It doesn’t matter if I will always be forced to pray with my knees on the ground instead of on the benches that I can’t buy. What matters is not to look back, but to continue to fight and toil as long as there is breath, with trust, with love, with humble constancy!” Monsignor Giulio Penitenti, year 1969.
Why Taddeide?
The desire of Monsignor Giulio Penitenti to build a sanctuary dedicated to the veneration of the Apostle Saint Judas Thaddeus dates back to the month of May 1951, that is to say the moment in which, having to leave the house of Pian Paradiso, as the Bishop Monsignor Roberto Massimiliani, once the five-year probationary period granted to him by his predecessor Monsignor Santino Margaria expired, was not renewed, indeed, he was ordered to leave. During his research to establish a new headquarters, the Founder had turned his gaze to the Convent, now abandoned by the Capuchin Friars, but rented for 15 years to third parties. He had to overcome enormous obstacles to obtain it: the dissolution of the contract with the person who lived there and the huge sum to purchase it. Literally desperate for this situation, he was advised by his former elementary school teacher Annita Pedrini to turn to the saint of “desperate cases” St. Jude Thaddeus, a saint whose memory he celebrated in the Breviary and in the Holy Mass, only on his liturgical day indicated by the Catholic Church (28 October).
Following the advice of his former teacher, he ardently invoked Saint Jude Thaddeus and, one after the other, obtained the desired graces. The clear sign of his protection came when he went to the Trappist Monastery of Tre Fontane to borrow the necessary sum for the redemption of the small convent, stopping to pray in the church next door, he discovered, to his great consolation, that the only light lit was the one located in front of the image of Saint Jude Thaddeus:
“Saint Jude Thaddeus, the Holy Apostle, protector in desperate cases, in the aftermath of that meeting made me obtain everything, everything, everything: in a truly miraculous and mysterious way. And it has been since then, from that meeting with that little being on the steps of the Church of “Jesus” in Rome, the teacher Annlta Pedrini, and from that miracle of millions of sounds and sounds that allowed me to give new life to the “House of the Little Workers Oblates and Oblates of the Church” and to start the Citadel Ecumenical TADDEIDE, in honor of the great Apostle TADDEO, that my devotion, my gratitude and my cult of invocation and imitation are ever more magnifying, because the favors received, for me and for all of you, my dearest and most beloved friends, they have been and still are innumerable, and will grow more and more, to the glory of God and to the benefit of all.” –I found the Apostle Saint Jude Thaddeus on my path-.
The ecumenical work
After the death of Monsignor Giulio M. Penitenti in 1978, his “spiritual children” continued his important work.
The Ecumenical Association was founded in Rome in 1944 by the late and beloved Monsignor Giulio M. Penitenti, whom we, his spiritual children, commonly called “the Father.” Following precise divine designs, he created a community of young people who, like him, were eager to dedicate their entire lives to the service of the ecumenical cause.
After various peregrinations and several years of prayer, work, and sacrifice, that small convent was transformed into an imposing Ecumenical Citadel which, in honor of Saint Jude Thaddeus, was named TADDEIDE, the driving center of our ecumenical activities.
