Cattarina Silvio

He was born in Storo, Trentino, on January 3, 1954, where he spent his early years and where he frequently returns, bringing with him his family, the young people from the Communities, and many friends.

He attended high school in Pesaro, as a resident at the Villa Marina boarding school. During this time, he encountered Communion and Liberation and Don Luigi Giussani. He graduated in Sociology from the University of Urbino in 1979. In 1980, he married Miriam, with whom—“after many little kisses”—he had four children. He met Don Gaudiano and began working as an operator at the Therapeutic Community of Gradara, where he remained for seven years. He later promoted the foundation and directed the Therapeutic Community of San Carlo in Cesena.

On October 1, 1990, together with Don Gaudiano, he established the Therapeutic Educational Community for deviant and drug-addicted minors. From there were born “L’Imprevisto,” the Day Center, the women’s Therapeutic Community “Tingolo per tutti,” the Reintegration Houses, and the social cooperative “Più in Là.”

Meanwhile, after also obtaining the title of psychologist, he organized and participated as a speaker—both in Italy and abroad—in numerous study events, seminars, and conferences. The centers and communities founded by Silvio Cattarina represent a unique experience and have become a point of reference and a model that is closely observed and studied for their significant impact and noteworthy results.

To sum up his experience, Silvio states: “I have always been with drug addicts. I have grown up and grown old with them. I have never gone anywhere else. I’ve received more than I’ve given. They have taught me everything. Woe to those who try to take them away from me… They are The Unexpected of my life—The Unexpected, an excess of reality, an overabundance of grace that comes to meet us and wraps us in wonder. Even evil and pain—in a certain sense—are an overabundance, an overflowing need for love. In pain and suffering lives a mystery to behold, before which one should kneel and bow one’s head.”