In Pace Christi

Fr. Francesco Cioffi (15.01.1935 – 02.11.2006)
Fr. Francesco Cioffi’s vocation was the result of the vocation ministry of Fr. Enrico Farè, who used to visit the various seminaries of Italy to present the missionary ideal to the youth. So it was that, on 14 May 1958, Francesco wrote to the Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries: “I, the undersigned Francesco Cioffi, a third-year theology student at the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Salerno, ask of your most illustrious person the high honour and the great favour of being admitted to your novitiate, so as to follow the divine call to the religious and missionary life. I also ask to be admitted at the end of the scholastic year because, if I were to go home, they would, I am sure, prevent me from coming.” This last sentence betrays that his family was opposed to his desire to become a missionary.
Fr. Leonzio Bano, the vocation promoter, was able to convince Francesco’s family and he joined the novitiate, not on the second, but on the fourth of July and with the blessing of his father, who, however, was unable to accept the blow and died of a broken heart some months before the priestly ordination of his son, at least according to his son Filippo.
Francesco Cioffi, the first of three children, was born at Cassino, as his father was an officer at the local station of the Carabinieri. His childhood was troubled by the well known wartime events which befell Cassino. As the bombing intensified, in 1944 his mother Luisa left the town with her three children and travelled the two hundred kilometres to Vico Equense, their home town where some of their relatives lived. Those days spent fleeing must have left a deep impression on nine-year-old Francesco and might explain the bouts of depression which afflicted him for most of his life. He himself, revealing some of his fears to Fr. Francesco Rinaldi Ceroni, his superior in Brazil, attributed them to the insecurity of his childhood.
His novice master, Fr. Pietro Rossi, described him as “emotive, shy, impressionable, naive, uncertain, too scrupulous, confused, lacking in constancy, inclined to become discouraged, but friendly, with a notable spirit of sacrifice, obedient, devout and zealous. He often has headaches.”
On 9 September 1960 he took his first vows and moved to Troia as a teacher at the junior seminary. On 23 October of the same year he was ordained priest in Troia by Mgr. Antonio Pirotto, without though having taken his perpetual vows. For this reason, he was incardinated into the diocese of Khartoum by Mgr. Agostino Baroni. In 1961 he left his teaching job at Troia and was assigned to Thiene, in charge of mission promotion. A year later he was assigned to Brazil.
From July 1962, Fr. Francesco was assistant parish priest at Guararema, in the area of Espírito Santo (Diocese di São Mateus), South Brazil. There he stayed until 1964 when he went to Ecoporanga, still as assistant parish priest and in charge of some villages. Then, from 1967 to 1973, he worked at Montanha, again as assistant parish priest. His superior, Fr Rinaldi, wrote of him: “He puts great effort into visiting the chapels of the parish and has a deep spirit of charity. In the community he fits in well and we all get along well together. He is also very patient with the people and commits himself entirely to helping others, especially the poor. Perhaps he is a bit naive which leads him to trust people, even those who try to cheat him. He gives a precise account of income and expenditure and always asks for the permissions laid down by the Rules. He humbly accepts remarks and tries to correct himself. He really likes working in the priestly ministry. He does not enjoy very good health and tends to be easily exhausted. I entirely support his admission to perpetual vows because he is a person who works for the glory of God, the good of souls and that of the Institute.
He spent the holiday period of 1974-1975 at Troia, again working in mission promotion, but in July 1975 he was again in Brazil at Mantenópolis, as assistant parish priest. Before leaving for the mission he wrote to the Superior General: “After the holidays I would like to return to Brazil to continue to work for the Brazilian people, whom I love very much”.
In 1977 he moved to Aguia Branca as assistant parish priest. He was parish priest at Sucupira do Norte in North Brazil from 1980 to 1981, but in 1981 he went to Pimenta Bueno, South Brazil, as assistant parish priest. From 1984 to 1985 he was assistant parish priest at Cacoal and, from 1985 to 1992, at Nova Venécia. Meanwhile, his health was worsening, so from 1993 to 1997 he was at Verona for treatment. Feeling he was cured, he repeatedly asked to return to the missions. From 1997 to 1998 he was ministering at São Mateus and, from 1998 to 1999, at São José do Rio Preto. In October 1999, however, he had to return for good to Verona to treat a worsening depression.
The life of Fr. Francesco may be summed up in his 46 years of missionary and priestly life, 35 of which he spent in Brazil and 11 in Italy. Even when in Italy, he always desired to return to the missions. The missions kept him going and gave him the will to live and to struggle. In fact, as soon as he heard he could no longer return to Brazil, he suffered another nervous breakdown.
Fr. Francesco was very good, simple and meek, preferring to suffer rather than hurt others. He lived many beautiful moments, especially while doing pastoral work in the villages of Brazil. However, from 1990 onwards he suffered mood changes which caused him great interior suffering as he was affected by scruples and obsessions. His love for the missions sustained and energised him during his journey of suffering. As long as he could, he practised Portuguese, Bible reading in that language and looking for news about the missions of Brazil.
God rewarded him by sparing him the agony of death. He went to sleep in the evening as usual and, around three in the morning, he died in his sleep. The nurse saw him sleeping peacefully at 2:00 a.m., but on her next round an hour later she was just in time to see him breathe his last. He died of heart failure on 2 November 2006, on the anniversary of his father’s death in 1959.
Fr. Giovanni Munari, on hearing the news, wrote: “We Comboni Missionaries of Brazil wish to unite ourselves to the prayers for the dead which you are offering for our confrere Francesco, who departed from this life so suddenly. With him, yourselves and his family, we celebrate the Pascal feast of his great and final meeting with the Lord. We are especially grateful to Francesco for the long years spent among us in various missions and for the close ties which he always maintained with this province, of which he always felt a living member, even during his last years spent in Verona, when he became more aware of the limits imposed by his illness. We are grateful to him for what he sowed and made grow in Brazil. He was never one to waste his time uselessly. Wherever I go I find people who enquire about him and remember him. This is what matters: learning to live by loving others and being loved by them. Is it not charity which alone remains? May Fr. Francesco now intercede for us, as we pray for him.”
After the funeral at the Mother House, the remains were buried in the Comboni Missionaries’ plot of Verona cemetery.
(Fr. Lorenzo Gaiga)
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 234 suppl. In Memoriam, aprile 2007, pp.41-47.