Our beloved, Dr. Silvana Quattrocchi Montanaro, MD, has died peacefully passing into life with the Good Shepherd on the feast of Good Friday, March 30, 2018.
Dr. Montanaro was a vital part of the original founding community of the Rome Atrium throughout the unfolding of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and its content as well as the close friend and colleague of Sofia, Gianna, Tilde, and Fr. Mongillo. As an early and ever-active member of the original Italian Association dedicated to the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd ("Maria Montessori" Association for the Formation of the Child,) she was unstinting in her generosity in serving the growth of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and supporting the persons involved in it, aided by her facility in many languages.
Dr. Montanaro served in an important role in the formation of catechists who were involved in catechesis with adolescents. She eagerly participated in the days of recollection and retreats for adults connected to the Center. She was the keynote speaker at the first international gathering of catechists in Rome (1993), and thereafter, at the International Council gatherings (Consiglio). She was always warm and welcoming in offering one-on-one or small group sessions in her home for catechists from around the world, both in the catechesis as well as her specialty with children 0-3 years of age.
Dr. Montanaro supported many initiatives of those engaged in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd around the world. For example, Silvana gave the keynote address at the first convocation of graduates of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Certificate Programme at the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto (1994). In addition, she presented with Sofia Cavalletti at the 1999 North American Montessori Teachers Association Conference (NAMTA) "Montessori and the Spiritual Development of the Child," and was a keynote speaker at Weaving Our Gifts.
Dr. Montanaro obtained her degree in medicine and surgery from the University of Rome. She specialized in psychiatry and was considered an expert in the challenges of the formative years of child development. For many years she lectured on mental health and neuropsychiatry at the Scuola Assistenti all'Infanzia (Assistants to Infancy) Program in Rome to help prepare adults to care for children under three years of age.
Dr. Montanaro also trained childbirth educators in the Respiratory Autogenic Training method and prepared prospective parents with this method as well as offering lectures and discussions on the first years of life. She directed the Association Montessori Internationale (A.M.I.) Assistants to Infancy courses in Rome(Italy), Denver (USA), and London (England).
Dr Montanaro's writings include Understanding the Human Being: The Importance of the First Three Years of Life (Mountian View, CA: Nienhuis Montessori USA 1991), The Child is Father of the Man (Rome: Edizioni Opera Nazionale Montessori, 2003) and coauthored The Good Shepherd and the Child - A Joyful Journey (Liturgy Training Publications, 2013) with Sofia Cavalletti, Patricia Coulter, Gianna Gobbi, and Rebekah Rojcewicz.
Not only did she have the pedagogical and psychological gifts needed for the development of CGS but she was a great cook who loved to sing ballads. She delighted us with her brilliance and she lived serving and advocating for the life of the child. Her legacy on behalf of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd C is profound and enduring. She was a woman of great faith, deep prayer, and intense involvement in the liturgical life (as in her practice of daily Eucharist). She will be missed by many.
"Consider for a moment the way God invites our collaboration. In relation to God we are more dependent than the child is in relation to us, yet God puts us in the heart of creation, gives us the whole world, and says, "This is all for you. Do what you can. Use it responsibly and wisely." God invites us to be co-workers in creation. Recall this in your relationship with your child and your attitude becomes the attitude of someone who receives an important person as your child really is- who has great potential and needs your help to grow." (The Good Shepherd and the Child, A Joyful Journey, page 20)
