This news fills the Canossian family with joy and revives the bond, which has always been at the heart of our history, between Italy and the community of Hong Kong, the cradle of the Canossian missions.
On Sunday 6 June, Canossian Mother Anna Viganò will be awarded by the Italian Consul in Hong Kong, Clemente Contestabile, with the honour of Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia, conferred by the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella. This is one of the most prestigious awards conferred by Italian institutions. This comes in recognition of M. Viganò’s fifty years of commitment to the Italian Catholic community in Hong Kong, as underlined by Mgr Javier Herrera Corona, head of the Holy See’s Study Mission in Hong Kong: “For many years M. Viganò has coordinated Sunday Mass, catechism for Italian children and has always been a Catholic, concrete and spiritual reference point for all Italians and their families here in Hong Kong”.
Originally from Carate Brianza, in northern Italy, Ms Viganò has been a Canossian nun since 1964. Her mission on the islands of the former British colony began in 1973. In Hong Kong, she has worked in liturgical and educational pastoral work, without ever neglecting the study and deepening of intercultural knowledge, becoming herself a ‘bridge’ between such distant realities and always maintaining a strong link with her community of origin. So much so that the mayor of Carate Brianza, Luca Veggian, sent her a message in which he wrote: “I can only thank Mother Anna, an example of humanity and pride of Caratese in the world, on behalf of all of us”.
As a testimony of her passion for the land where she lives her mission and her intercultural commitment, M. Viganò has contributed significantly to the realisation of the volume ‘500 years of Italians in Hong Kong and Macao’ published by the Italian Consulate in Hong Kong, a land where the Canossian family has been present since 1860, with the arrival of the first Canossian ‘pioneers’. An extraordinary story, recently enriched with new precious details thanks to the research work of Fr Gianni Criveller, historian of the missions.
The ceremony of conferring the Star of Italy will be held on Sunday 6 June during the Eucharistic celebration in the Canossian chapel in Caine Road, the place where – as Giornale Diplomatico writes – Mother Anna concentrated her work and where she still continues to give her all despite an illness which has recently forced her to take more rest. The celebration will be attended by the Provincial Superior, Mother Virginia Wong Pui-ling.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)