 Father
and founder of Nomadelfia is Fr. Zeno Saltini.
AUGUST 30, 1900. Zeno Saltini was born on August 30, 1900 in
Fossoli di Carpi (Modena) in a patriarchal family.
1914. REFUSAL TO ATTEND SCHOOL. At 14 and a half years of age,
Fr. Zeno refused to continue his studies, stating that school taught things
which did not affect life, and went to work on his family's land. He lived
with the workers and became familiar with their miseries and their aspirations.
1920. A CHANGE IN CIVILIZATION. During the period in which Fr.
Zeno was a soldier in the National Service in Florence, he had a brutal
encounter with an anarchist in the presence of other soldiers. The anarchist
sustained that Christ and the Church were obstacles to human progress.
Zeno, being Catholic, sustained the opposite, while recognizing that many
Christians are incoherent. But the anarchist was a studious man and he
was not. In the midst of the other soldiers' whistles, mostly in favor
of the anarchist, Zeno retreated and decided, "I will answer him with
my life. I will change civilization by first changing myself. For the
rest of my life, I want to be neither a servant nor a master".
He decided to study law and theology and meanwhile continued to participate
in apostolic activities as well as helped needy youngsters. He received
his college degree at the Catholic University of Milan. As an attorney,
his intentions were to help those that could not afford to pay for a counselor.
Soon after he realized his mission was to prevent people from falling
into misfortune and decided to become a priest.
 6.1.1931. PRIEST. THE FIRST SON. He celebrated his first
Mass in the Carpi Dome and at the altar took Danilo, a 17 years old boy
who had just been released from prison, as his son.
 1941. THE FIRST MOTHER. In S. Giacomo Roncole, near Mirandola
(MO), Fr. Zeno welcomed abandoned children as his own and founded the
"Little apostles". At the altar he swore never to form a college.
World War II broke out.
In 1941, a young student named Irene ran away from home and asked Fr.
Zeno if she could become "mother" of the "Little Apostles".
With the approval of his bishop, Fr. Zeno entrusted the youngest children
in her care and hence the beginning of a new and virgin motherhood. Other
young women soon followed in Irene's footsteps and became known as "mothers
of vocation".
Other clergymen joined Fr. Zeno and together lived as communitarian priests.
1943-'45. THE RESISTANCE. Following the armistice on September
8, 1943, the Germans occupied Italy.
Fr. Zeno had always been against fascism, the war and racial laws. He
went South and some of his children followed him in order to escape a
possible deportation to Germany.
In San Giacomo, Fr. Zeno's mission was persecuted and many tried to
dissolve it.
Many children of the "Little Apostles" entered the partisan organizations
while some priests collaborated with the resistance and helped hundreds
of Jews and persecuted politicians to reach Switzerland by providing them
with false identification.
Seven "Littles Apostles" lost their lives in the battle for freedom.
1947. The Little Apostles occupied the concentration camp in Fossoli.
 1948. NOMADELFIA IS BORN. After the end of
the war in 1947, the "Little Apostles" occupied the ex-concentration camp
in Fossoli, near Carpi, to build their new town. As they tore down walls
and fences, in addition to the "mothers of vocation", new families were
formed by newlyweds who asked Fr. Zeno's permission to take in abandoned
children and raise them as their own.
On February 14, 1948, the constitution was signed at the altar and hence
the "Little Apostles" became Nomadelfia, which in Greek means "the law
of brotherhood".
1950. Fr. Zeno proposed the "Movement for brotherhood".
 1950.
THE MOVEMENT FOR BROTHERHOOD. In 1950 Nomadelfia proposed a political
movement called "Movement for brotherhood" in order to abolish any form
of abuse while promoting a democracy. But the initiative was blocked by
political forces and by some ecclesiastical milieus.
800 of the 1,150 Nomadelfians which made up the community at this time
were abandoned children (many of which were in need of medical treatment).
There were also 150 homeless and unemployed adults. The economic situation
became more and more difficult and many used this as an excuse to dissolve Nomadelfia.
The Nomadelfians arrived in Maremma and lived in tents for two years.
 1952.
THE DISSOLUTION. On February 5, 1952, the Holy Office ordered Fr.
Zeno to leave Nomadelfia and he obeyed. Since the Nomadelfians had been
forced to leave Fossoli, they seeked shelter in Grosseto on 400 hectares
of land that had been donated by Maria Giovanna Albertoni Pirelli, where
most lived in tents.
Although Fr. Zeno was far from his children, he continued to provide for
them. On various occasions, he went to court in defense of the children
who had been taken out of their families and had gone back to living bad
lives.
1953. THE SECULARIZATION PRO GRATIA. Fr. Zeno asked the Pope's
permission to temporarily leave priesthood in order to return to his children.
In 1953, Pope Pius XII granted him the secularization "pro gratia". At
this time there were about 400 Nomadelfians.
1962. THE "SECOND" FIRST MASS. Fr. Zeno created the "family groups"
in 1954. In 1961, Nomadelfia became a civil association and drew up a
new constitution. At this point, Fr. Zeno asked the Holy Father's permission
to re-enter priesthood. Nomadelfia was made a parish and Fr. Zeno was
nominated the parish priest. On January 22, 1962, he celebrated his "second"
first mass.
In 1965, Fr. Zeno proposed Nomadelfians a new form of apostolate: "Nomadelfian
Entertainment Evenings", which consisted in a dance performance.
The monthly magazine "Nomadelfia is a Proposal" was first published in
1968.
And in that same year Nomadelfians were given authorization to educate
their children in their own schools.
The Nomadelfians performed for the Holy Father.
 AUGUST
12, 1980. Nomadelfians performed for Pope John Paul II at the villa
in Castelgandolfo. All of Nomadelfia was present and the Holy Father stated:
"If we are called to be the sons of God and brothers, then Nomadelfia
is a presage of the world to come".
JANUARY 15, 1981. FATHER ZENO'S DEATH. A few months later, Fr.
Zeno suffered a heart attack and spoke his last words, which are considered
his testament, to the Nomadelfians.
Fr. Zeno died in Nomadelfia on January 15, 1981 while the Holy Father
was receiving a Nomadelfian delegation to pray for Fr. Zeno.
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