Newsletter N. 6/26 – Maria Valtorta’s Friends

Friends, this isn’t your typical newsletter: it’s a real call to action! It’s the official invitation to the 2026 Valtortian Congress, and we want it to be an extraordinary event!

Are you wondering why it’s so important to be there? Think about it! Maria Valtorta has many friends and many enemies, but we—who have chosen to be her friends, who feel that we are, in every sense, the “implicit characters” of her works, and who are hungry to discover more and more—we must come together! It’s vital that we gather, at least once a year, around the date of her birth into Heaven. It will be an opportunity to shout out our immense “thank you!” to her for those immense hardships she was able to accept and embrace with such strength. And, why not, it will be a moment to get a foretaste of that joyful eternity in which, amid great and blissful circles of joy, we will do nothing but laugh and give thanks to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Imagine the scene: we’ll be there, in Viareggio, gazing out at the sea, right on the water’s edge at the splendid “Principino Eventi.” A theatrical setting—and so much more—that finally lives up to and honors the greatness of Maria Valtorta and her Work.

Mark your calendars: all day Saturday, October 17, and the morning of Sunday, October 18, 2026! It will be an intense weekend, designed for listening, meditating, and engaging in one-on-one dialogue with the leading experts on Valtorta’s Work. Together we’ll discover the exciting new milestones in scholarly research and celebrate the release of books full of surprises, including a fascinating, previously unpublished map of Palestine from two thousand years ago!

On this journey, Father Berti’s indomitable spirit guides us. Openly opposed to the superficiality of his time and to a sterile, unhealthy, and even scandalous form of devotionalism, he laid out a rigorous method for us. It is the same approach that we have proudly carried forward ever since these texts were ignored by the world. Listen carefully to the passion with which he wrote to Marta Diciotti, Maria Valtorta’s faithful “companion”:

“I earnestly beg you—whether by seeking help in Viareggio or by BRINGING the materials to the Carmelite Mother yourself—to reorganize ALL of Maria’s letters by person, year, month, and day. DO NOT DESTROY ANYTHING; DESTRUCTION IS AN UNSCIENTIFIC AND ANTIHISTORICAL METHOD. IT IS TO AMPUTATE AND FALSIFY THE TRUTH: Therefore, preserve every letter, regardless of whom it is addressed to or who wrote it. I am not asking to see them. But I ask that they be preserved. It would be a crime to act otherwise. In particular, I tell you that I will never mind if, among the letters, there are some that oppose us Servants of Mary or Fr. Migliorini, or me, or the Father General, or the Provincial, etc. Where there is sunlight, there must also be shadows. For even if there have been mistakes over the past fifteen years or so—and for a Work as unique as this, which has no equal—it is no cause for surprise. In any case, I believe they have been made up for and atoned for through fidelity, hard work, publication, and countless, nameless risks…”

Look at the strength, clarity, and determination of these words—carved even into their original formatting! Our Congress embraces this very same courage, without the slightest hesitation.

That is why we need you—your lively, numerous, and warm presence! Only by standing united can we help Maria Valtorta to finally be welcomed, in her own right and with all honors, into the heart of the Church. For all this, and for the countless other emotions we will experience together, our Maria Valtorta Foundation awaits you with open arms at this 17th Congress of Valtortian Studies. Don’t miss it!

— fr. Ernesto Zucchini

INFO, PROGRAM, AND REGISTRATION: https://fondazionemariavaltorta.it/congresso-2026/

[This text was automatically translated by Deepl.com – quotes included]