After the difficult years during World War II and the fall of Fascism, the Italian Waldensian Church went through an important period during which many new projects were initiated.
The most important of the new projects was the Agape Center, located roughly 30 miles northwest of Torre Pellice in the upper Germanasca Valley, initiated by Pastor Tullio Vinay. After the violence and hatred of the war, Tulio Vinay felt the need for a project that would celebrate God’s love in Christ (hence the name ‘Agape’ which is ancient Greek word that means something like ‘selfless love’). The construction of Agape was supported by various churches and ecumenical organizations from around the world. In 1951, the Agape Center was inaugurated.
Over the years, the Agape Center has been a lively theological laboratory that has helped the Waldensian Church reflect on the relationship between faith and politics as well as its engagement with the Global South, and movements for peace, ecology, feminism, and the LGBTQ+ community.
In the following years, Vinay also led the construction of Servizio Cristiano, an educational and social center in Riesi, one of the most underdeveloped areas of Sicily.
A similar initiative, the La Noce Diaconal Center, was started in Palermo, also on the island of Sicily, by Pastor Pietro Valdo Panascia. In general, the 1960s and 1970s were a period of growth for the diaconal work of the Waldensian Church, which, by the end of that period, supported daycare centers, nursing homes, schools, and hospitals.