Evi Alborghetti:
 

“Humanity is still in trouble”
 

The president of the Italian Spiritist Union says it is up to us, as Spiritist, to build collectively a world of love and equality,
that will come just in time
 
 

We went to the city of Lecco, located in the North of Italy, to talk to the confrere Evi Caio Alborghetti (picture), president at the newly-founded USI – Unione Spiritica Italiana. Born at the same city, he lived for many years in Brazil, where he got married and had a family. It was also in Brazilian soil that he had his first contact with the Spiritist Doctrine, which he liked at first, which, with time, turned out to be a cornerstone in his evolutional journey, as he states: “Spiritism is for me a blessed opportunity of knowledge of the spiritual truths, once that, through its study and work, we can enhance our evolution. The importance is paramount  because,  because of such an

experience, with great effort, I try to conquer my tendencies and leanings to become a better person”.

It was like this, willingly, amid the countless appointments at the presidency of USI – Unione Spiritica Italiana, that Evi delivered this interview, giving his point of view on several questions, which deserve our attention.

O Consolador: Where were you born?

I was born in Italy, in Lecco, on Feb/5/1948, but at age 12, precisely in 1960, I moved with my family to Brazil, where I lived until 1994. In Brazil I grew up, had a profession, got married and had 3 kids.

O Consolador: Where do you currently live?

I currently live in Italy, in my hometown.

O Consolador: When and why did you come back to Lecco?

In 1995 I had a work offer from a company that is located there.  Being counseled by the family, we opted to move. At the beginning we thought we would stay here for 2 or 3 years, but it’s been 13 years already.

O Consolador: What is your educational background?

Technical graduation. I have been working for 44 years as a mechanical projector of machines and equipment. 

O Consolador: What roles have you performed in the Spiritist movement?

None. Being president at USI – Unione Spiritica Italiana is my first role. 

O Consolador: When was your first contact with Spiritism?

Basically when I got to Brazil, but I wasn’t studying it back then; I sometimes attended family meetings, so common in that time, but I had no commitment. I went when I felt like. After getting married, I started going more, listened to lectures and received passes, t it was not the moment to study yet. Only later, when I had my children teenagers attending the Evangelization and my wife studying the Doctrine and joining the Spiritist movement in our city -- Santo André, region at Paulista ABC --, I felt the necessity to enhance my knowledge and study the books by Kardec. 

O Consolador: Was there anything which caused this contact?

No. My contact with Spiritism was slow and very rational.

O Consolador: What was your family’s reaction?

My family got very happy and there were many times that we studied together, mainly after we came back to Italy. 

O Consolador: From the three aspects of Spiritism – Science, Philosophy, Religion – which of them is more appealing to you?

I think that the Spiritist Doctrine is great, mainly for the capacity that it has to explain these three aspects. I wouldn’t know, then, how to say which of them I like best. 

O Consolador: What are your favorite Spiritist authors? 

I like many Spiritist authors, besides Kardec: Chico Xavier, Herculano Pires, Yvonne A. Pereira, Divaldo Franco etc.  

O Consolador: What books do you consider indispensable for those who are starting off in Spiritism?

The books by Kardec, without any doubt: What is Spiritism, The Spirits’ Book, The Gospel According to Spiritism, which are the main sources. Logically, there are other great books. Besides, Italy has the privilege to have more than 80 books translated to Italian by Casas Fraternais O Nazareno. 

O Consolador: If you were to spend some years in a desert place, with restricted Access to Spiritist activity, which books would you take?  

I’d take the Compilation; books by Chico Xavier, Herculano Pires and Leon Denis, Yvonne do Amaral Pereira, Divaldo Franco...  

O Consolador: The doctrinal differences in our movement are not many. One of them talks about the secular Spiritism. Is Spiritism a religion for you?   

Allan Kardec himself defined it very well, saying that Spiritism is not a formal religion with organization and structure of existent religions, though it has its religious aspect, besides its scientific and philosophical one. The Spiritist moral code is the Gospel of Jesus, and the practice at the Spiritist Doctrine emphasizes the religious aspect, because of the necessity of changes in man’s behavior. The moral understanding of the Spiritist means that he should follow the teachings of Jesus: Love God above everything, learn to love their fellows as themselves, conquer egoism, vanity and pride. He needs to learn to forgive always, to be indulgent towards others and good to everyone. These teachings by Jesus are hard to practice, but it’s the only way to perfection. 

O Consolador: Another subject in the Spiritist practice sometimes presents differences related to so-called standardized passes, proposed by Edgar Armond. Though we know the most common procedure is the laying of hands as José Herculano Pires, what’s your opinion about it?

We see pass as an inspired practice through the passages from the Gospel of Jesus, when not a few times He, through the laying of hands, gave His love and healed. We think that the technique must be the simplest possible, so that we can keep Jesus simple in our Centers.

O Consolador: How do you see the discussion about abortion? As you see things, should Spiritist be bolder in defense of life, as the Church?  How is it in Italy?

Yes, we need. We Spiritist should be ser more audacious combating the practice of abortion. There is still not much knowledge about the implications an abortion can involve, since many reject or ignore the realities of reincarnation. Particularly, I consider that, if there’s anything missing here, is the personal effort in every Spiritist to show his convictions in the proper moments, always based on Kardec, without, however, imposing on them.  

O Consolador: Euthanasia is a practice that has no support from the Spiritist doctrine. Kardec and other authors, such as Joanna de Angelis, got their point across already. Lately, though, there has been this idea of orthothanasia, even backed by Spiritist doctors. What is your opinion?

Neither euthanasia, nor orthothanasia. Both always break the Laws of God.  

O Consolador: Do you have contact with the Brazilian Spiritist movement?

Yes, we have contact with the Brazilian Spiritist movement, and we recognize that the movement has spread their horizons supporting the international movements, such as the creation of CEI – International Spiritist Council, which allows collaborating with several European countries spreading Spiritism, aware that each country has their own laws and they must be respected.  

O Consolador: How’s it going the Spiritist movement in Italy? Do you agree the Doctrine has been well taught?

Despite being rich in mediums and blessed in men of science who followed and studied the phenomena, such as Ermacora, Schiaparelli, Lombroso, Ernesto Bozzano, Morselli, Chiaia and mediums like Politi, Lucia Sordi, Linda Gazzera and the famous Eusebia Paladino, Spiritism hasn’t developed here. Over the last years, though, something is happening and today we have several Spiritist groups in Italy, some of them being settled 10 years ago, like the CISSAK - Centro Italiano di Studi Spiritici Allan Kardec at the city of Aosta, the Sentieri dello Spirito de Milan, others about 10 years old like GRAK – Grupo di Roma Allan Kardec and the Fraternal Group settled in Pescate in 1998, in our house, today called GLAK – Gruppo di Lecco Allan Kardec, and others. I believe that from the movement in which the main Spiritist groups in Italy founded the USI – Unione Spiritica Italiana, the Spiritist doctrine has been widely developed. In this sense USI has received letters of explanation, as well as specific books for the creation of small groups.    

O Consolador: How was the necessity to settle USI?

As the number of Spiritist groups increased, we prepared the way for the “Union”. In 2005 during the First Italian Meeting of Spiritism, organized by GLAK with the support from CEI (International Spiritist Council) – Europe Department, a commission has been established for the elaboration of statute of the future organ, the USI - Unione Spiritica Italiana, which saw the fruits of effort and work coming through, on April 12, 2008, uniting the Spiritist groups in the light of Jesus and Kardec.  

O Consolador: How do Italians feel about Spiritism?

The Spiritist Doctrine is not well known here, because the word Spiritism is still directly connected to the reading of hands, crystals, shells, etc. Italians are not interested by now in the knowledge and study of Spiritism. They always look for mediumistic manifestations, in which they expect to speak directly to the Spiritist and receive answers for their own problem. With hard work the Spiritist groups are trying to change this tendency, and the first results are starting to be shown, but we are still far from our goal.  

O Consolador: How do you see criminality and violence in our country? How can Spiritist help in this situation?  

Knowing that criminality and violence walk along with culture and social welfare com, and social welfare is closely connected to work; the lack of it generates violence. We, as Spiritist, can directly contribute in the cultural formation from our family core and spread, thanks to our doctrinal knowledge, to people in general the possibility to evolve personally to try to reach a more stable social level.  

O Consolador: How long do you think it will take for Earth to be promoted from his current status, world of tests and atonement, to the condition of regenerating world, according to Saint Augustin, the word love will be written in all fronts and a perfect balance will ensure relationships?

I’d like to say that in a few years, but humanity is still in trouble. We’ve heard that a group of luminous Spirits have already reincarnated and work for it to happen, and it is up to us, as Spiritist, to build collectively a world of love and equality, that will come just in time.

O Consolador: About the problems that the earthly society is facing, what should be the top priority for Spiritism in the world?

Spreading the doctrine based on Allan Kardec in every country in the world. The top priority, thus, would be to translate to every country, in their own language, the largest number possible of good Spiritist books. In a national level, I think that the current initiatives should help one another, for the sake of reciprocal experience.