Pasquale Uva

The major orientation of Father Pasquale Uva's ministry finds its source in an event that occurred during his years of study in Rome. One winter evening in 1906, while seeking shelter from a torrential rain, he took refuge in a second-hand bookstore. There, he purchased two volumes recounting the life and work of Saint Joseph-Benedict Cottolengo (Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo), the founder of the Little House of Divine Providence in Turin. This reading deeply moved him. He became aware of the distress of people suffering from mental and physical disabilities, epilepsy, or psychiatric disorders, who, at that time, were often abandoned on the streets, marginalized, or treated inhumanely. Father Pasquale decided to imitate Cottolengo's work in Southern Italy (the Mezzogiorno), where reception facilities for these patients were almost non-existent. On October 3, 1921, he laid the first stone of the "House of Divine Providence" (Casa della Divina Provvidenza) in Bisceglie, next to the sacristy of the Sant'Agostino church. The establishment opened modestly with only three rooms to accommodate the first infirm and epileptic patients. To ensure the operation and the spiritual and material support of this work, Father Pasquale Uva founded the Congregation of the Handmaids of Divine Providence (Suore Ancelle della Divina Provvidenza) on August 10, 1922. For this purpose, he formed an initial group of eight young catechists from the Daughters of Mary, ready to dedicate themselves entirely to the service of the most destitute. The first Superior General was Lucia Caprioli. The work grew rapidly. Faced with the influx of patients, Father Pasquale Uva did not just house and feed them; he surrounded himself with local doctors and professors from the newly established University of Bari to offer them cutting-edge psychiatric and medical care. Over the decades, the House of Divine Providence became a true "city within a city." Father Pasquale expanded his action by founding other psychiatric hospitals and reception centers: In Foggia (1945); In Guidonia near Rome (1953-1954); In Potenza (1955).

After the death of Father Pasquale Uva on September 13, 1955, his reputation for holiness and heroic charity continued to grow. The cause for beatification and canonization was officially introduced in the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie on November 24, 1985 (the diocesan process having concluded in May 1991). The writings of the Servant of God were examined and approved by the theological censors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On May 10, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Father Pasquale Uva. Through this decree, the Italian priest was officially declared Venerable. For him to be proclaimed Blessed, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession by the Holy See is required.

The spirituality of Father Pasquale Uva rests on an absolute and unwavering trust in Divine Providence and on an active, concrete, and boundless charity. For him, the mentally ill and the infirm were not outcasts, but "representatives of Jesus Christ." He insisted that the service of the poor and the sick is a form of divine adoration superior to any formal rule, affirming that one "does not leave God when one leaves God for God." His daily life was marked by rigorous asceticism, long hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and incessant work. Today, the legacy of Father Pasquale Uva is perpetuated through the Congregation of the Handmaids of Divine Providence, which has also established itself in Latin America (notably in Argentina in 1989 and in Peru in 2006). The hospital and rehabilitation structures he founded continue to operate under the name "Opera Don Uva" (managed today by Universo Salute), perpetuating his mission of care and dignity for the most fragile.