All the social work of Dorothea de Chopitea was firmly rooted in her deep Catholic faith. Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable on 9 June 1983.
On the occasion of the first showing on 16 December, Cristóbal López, on behalf of the Salesians, thanked the makers of this documentary about "our mother". He said that it was thanks to Dorothea de Chopitea that the Salesians arrived in Barcelona. She had got to know the work of St John Bosco in 1882, especially through the work of the Salesians at Talleres, which offered an opportunity to young people of the working class. Thanks also to the desire of Don Bosco (who stayed for a month in Barcelona), Dorotea de Chopitea began the construction of a small chapel, after she had completed the construction of the temple dedicated to the Sacred Heart on Tibidabo.
The documentary is presented by the journalist Agnès Marquès. It premiered on 20 in the programme Sense Ficció on TV3 and can be seen here. It was made with the assistance of journalists Enric Calpena and Lluís Permanyer, historians Dani Cortijo, Merce Tatjer, Roser Nicolau and Carles Sudria, and priests José Arlegui and Nicolas Echave, and also Archbishop Juan Jose Ornella of Barcelona.
Who was Dorothy Chopitea?
Dorotea de Chopitea, daughter of an aristocratic family of Basque origin, arrived in Barcelona at the age of three when her parents settled in the city. At 16 she married Joseph Maria Serra, against the wishes of the parents. He also was born in Chile from a Catalan family and later became one of the founders of the Bank of Barcelona and the Maquinista Terrestre y Marítima.
She became the mother of six daughters one of whom died at the age of 16. The protests and the burning of convents in 1835 convinced Dorotea de Chopitea of the need to work on behalf of the marginalized and to spend her money for the education of the youth of the then nascent working class.
Dorotea de Chopitea died in Barcelona on 3 April 1891 at the age of 75, surrounded by her daughters, her sons-in-law and her grandchildren. She had devoted almost all her possessions to the needy. When she was widowed she donated half of what she had inherited from her husband to the poor. She is buried in the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Sarria which she herself had founded.
Spain Salesian Bulletin
The documentary was broadcast 04/01/2017 on Radio Estel / Catalunya Religio
