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Ugo di Censi was born on January 26, 1924, in Polaggia, Berbenno, Italy, second of six children. As a child, he and his brother Ferruccio attended a Salesian school in a neighboring province. Because of this experience, both decided to join the Salesians of St. John Bosco.
In 1940, Ugo’s father became a soldier in World War II, his mother died, and Ugo was hospitalized for several years at the Santa Corona hospital because of tuberculosis of the spine, Pott’s Disease. However, after making a pilgrimage to a site in Lourdes, France where many believe Mary once appeared, his health improved to such an extent, that he was able to graduate in political science and theology and ordained on March 8,1951 as a Salesian priest.
For almost twenty years, Fr. Ugo lived in a Salesian house in Arese, a community northwest of Milan, where he also worked.
In 1965, Father Ugo attended the nineteenth chapter of the Salesians and met Father Pedro Melesi, the Salesian ambassador for Latin America. Father Ugo invited Fr. Pedro to stay with him at the Salesian house in Arese, and over time, Pedro talked to Ugo about his work in Poxoreo, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Fortunately, Fr. Ugo made a deep impression on Fr. Ugo, and in the summer of 1966, Fr. Ugo went to help Fr. Pedro at a youth center.
Soon, Fr. Ugo established Operazione Mato Grosso (Operation Mato Grosso), named after the state in which Poxoreo is located. As time went on, Fr. Ugo recruited more volunteers from Italy who came to South America to help the poor, especially children and youth. In time, their work expanded from Italy and Brazil to other nations such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, and the United States.
Among the works Father Ugo and Operation Mato Grosso (OMG) accomplished were establishing schools for the poor, including room and board and even residences for the poor elderly.
Today, there are hundreds of young volunteers working to raise funds for OMG project and serving in mission fields. Some of the OMG projects include agricultural schools, vocational schools teaching wood carving and textiles, a nursing school, and a paper mill. OMG is also helping with the building of seminaries, oratories and churches, and it is building hospitals, infirmaries, and clinics. OMG has established cooperatives to help individuals and families with finances, building bridges, roads, and even houses.
One of Father Ugo’s last projects was his crowing glory, the Total School in Chimbote, Peru. In Chimbote, OMG has eight kindergartens, a Mamma Mia refectory attended by about 1,000 people every day, and Total School that includes a primary school where children receive free books, uniforms, and lunch. The only condition for studying at the Total School is that the students live “the spirituality of charity with the poor and that are open to the Providence of God.” This school also has spaces for carpentry, masonry, weaving, and its famous classes in woodworking and ceramics.
The OMG motto reflects Father Ugo perfectly: “Stop talking, put words into action.”
Father Ugo di Censi died on December 2, 2018, in Lima, Peru.
