When Leo XIV arrives at the Little Cottolengo Don Orione in Claypole, he will not simply be entering an institution dedicated to people with disabilities. He will be entering a history that began more than ninety years ago and that has a particular connection with Rome.

A stone brought from Rome

On April 28, 1935, Saint Luigi Orione laid the foundation stone of the Cottolengo in Claypole. Inside, he placed a unique symbol: a brick from the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, brought from Rome as a memento of the Holy Year.

Don Orione first arrived in Argentina in 1921. This land would eventually become his second home. During his long stay between 1934 and 1937, he promoted the expansion of his work and shaped the Claypole project, which was inaugurated in 1936.

But Claypole is just one example of the profound mark Don Orione left on these lands. His work extended far beyond its borders and continues today in various communities and projects throughout Argentina. Perhaps that is why Claypole holds such symbolic value: it is where one of the most visible expressions of his mission remains, and years later, his very heart also remains there.

“I leave my heart in Argentina”

Before returning permanently to Italy, Don Orione expressed a wish that would eventually take on a literal meaning: “I leave my heart in Argentina.”

He died in Italy in 1940. Decades later, the relic of his heart arrived in our country and, since the year 2000, it has remained permanently in the Don Orione Sanctuary of Claypole.

His heart remained there where his work had also taken root.

A work that lives on

Today, Cottolengo has over 400 residents and more than 100 people who visit daily. Around 400 professionals, technicians, and staff, along with religious personnel and volunteers, support daily life there through care, rehabilitation, education, workshops, and companionship.

All of this takes place on a property of approximately 50 hectares, where 16 group homes operate.

It is a work dedicated especially to those most in need, those who cannot afford care and rehabilitation. It is a concrete example of one of Don Orione’s lifelong convictions: “Only charity will save the world.”

Place in the center

Leo XIV also spoke of a Church capable of reaching out to those suffering from illness, poverty, or disability. In August, during a meeting in Rimini, he recalled that Jesus did not leave these people on the margins: he welcomed them and placed them at the center, recognizing their dignity.

Perhaps this is how the choice of Claypole during his visit to Argentina can be interpreted. Not merely as an official stop, but as an encounter with a community of over four hundred residents, where vulnerability should not mean exclusion.

When Leo XIV arrives in Claypole, he will also find the heart of that Italian priest who made Argentina his second homeland and dreamed of a home for those who often found no place anywhere.

The story began with a stone that arrived from Rome. It continued with a heart that chose to remain in Argentina. And ninety-one years later, a successor of Peter will arrive in the place where that work lives on.