The historical patrimony of the Congregation, comprising the work and writings of the Founder - as well as the documentary testimonies regarding the life and work of our first missionaries - is an essential source of inspiration for the vitality of the Scalabrinian missionary charism.
The area of expertise of the Historical Institute, which works closely with the General Archives, comprises the study and publication of the writings of the Founder (Pastoral Letters, homilies, letters), properly situated in the historical context of his time, as well as the life of the Congregation in the events that marked its beginning and initial development.
The Historical Institute already has numerous publications to its name. Among them, we recall the priceless "Vita di Giovanni Battista Scalabrini," written by Fr. Mario Francesconi, postulator of the Founder's cause of beatification, and the publication of the Pastoral Letters by Fr. Ottaviano Sartori. Thereafter Frs. Gianfausto Rosoli, Antonio Perotti and Agostino Lovatin followed as Direstors of the Historical Institute.
Special credit must be given to Fr. Perotti for the powerful impulse he gave to the Institute by his painstaking work of documentary recollection of the first years of the Congregation. It is a volume that presents the initial history of the Congregation. Unfortunately, the sudden death of Fr. Perotti (September 2004) left his work unedited and stopped short the preparation of a historical convention on "The Ecclesiology of Scalabrini". This was held one year later at the Mother House in Piacenza (October 2005), in conjunction with the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the death of the Founder.
Since 2008, the work of the Historical Institute has been temporarily suspended.
