In Pace Christi

Fr. Giovanni Ferrazin was born at Castelbaldo, in the diocese of Padova, on 8 September 1935, into a family which was far from being well off.

He himself often spoke of the demands made on his parents in rearing their children and how the family moved to Merano in search of a better life.

Meanwhile, Giovanni had joined the Comboni seminary in Padova. In 1955 he was admitted to the novitiate at Gozzano and in 1957 promised fidelity to the Lord. In 1964 he was ordained priest. His first appointment was to Uganda. However, before departing, he spent a year in England to learn English, as required of missionaries working in Uganda by the colonial laws of the time: “They must learn to speak our language.”

He was first sent to the mission of Otumbari, North Lugbara, where Fr. Bernard Sartori was superior. Fr. Giovanni would later bear witness to the life of the saintly Fr. Sartori and collect documents for the cause of his beatification: we owe it to him if we can today invoke the “Servant of God Fr. Bernard Sartori.”

With his great devotion to Our Lady, Fr. Sartori was a true master, an example for the young missionaries he met during their first missionary experience. He taught them how to deal with people, as well as how to take care of the sick.

The next experience of Fr. Giovanni took place in the parish of Lodonga, in the shadow of the church of Our Lady Mediatrix, the Sultana of Africa. After a short period in the Curia, 1983-1984, a post which “was too limited for him”, as he often said, he was appointed to the province of South Sudan. At Juba he continued his work of translating the Bible into Ma’di. In 1991 he was appointed to Loa mission. There he threw himself into pastoral work with great zeal, without thinking much of his health, which was beginning to show signs of failing.

He had to return to Italy to regain his health, but even there he did not remain idle. He soon set to work with his PC and finished the translation of the Bible in Ma’di. His heart, like that of Comboni before him, had never left Africa and the Africans, so thirsty for the Word of God and eager to be able to read God’s Word in their own language.

He had, in fact, begun the Ma’di translation while he was still at Moyo, Uganda, with the help of the catechists. We must also remember that he had done the same work among the Logbara. The first Sunday missal in that language was his own work, carried out with the help of young students and catechists.

In 1999 he was again appointed to South Sudan, first at Nairobi as provincial secretary and then at Kocoa where he worked in the refugee camps and in the centre for vocations promotion, and at Moyo where he was equally committed.

In September 2002 he returned to Italy for a period of rest. He was found to have a malignant prostate tumour. Everything possible was done to help him and, after a year and a half of treatment and operations, and much suffering borne with patience, Fr. Giovanni was allowed to return to Moyo at the start of 2004.

Seeing that the refugees of the Kuku people had no prayer books in their own language, he began the work of translating liturgical texts. In mid 2005 he moved to Lomin in Kuku territory where such a difficult task would be made easier. There he spent the last of his remaining energy. He asked to be allowed to move to our mission at Ombaci to regain his strength. Here he was suddenly struck by a strong attack of pernicious malaria. He was immediately taken to Angal hospital where he collapsed. All the best efforts of the staff and the Sisters were to no avail. He died in their arms on 1 June 2006.

On the day he left Lomin he had joyfully said: “I am really happy and content. I have finished the translation of year C and the missal for the feast days.” The Lord waited to call him at a time when he was really content.

The funeral of Fr. Giovanni took place at Lomin parish church on 3 June 2006. During his homily, Fr. Luciano Perina spoke of the last four years of Fr. Giovanni’s life: “His was a life lived entirely in showing concern for others. We know that Fr. Giovanni has suffered a lot. One of his previous operations left him with some embarrassing troubles. Still, we never heard him complain. He was so busy with others that he did not have the material time to complain.

I always admired his constant serenity: his amiable, relaxing smile, his sense of fun, his ability to avoid making a mountain out of a molehill, and his unfailing optimism in spite of the burden of the physical handicap he had to bear.

No longer able to endure fatigue, he spent his last years translating liturgical and catechetical texts into the local language. His work was like that of a monk in his cell: tireless, patient and precious. If today the Word of God is proclaimed in the local language in all the churches of the diocese, it is due to his enduring work and unfailing dedication.”
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 232 suppl. In Memoriam, ottobre 2006, pp. 75-84