In Pace Christi

Fr. Mario Mantovani was born at Orzinuovi, Brescia, on 18 De- cember 1919. He was ordained priest in 1946. After 11 years of service in Italy, in 1957 he left for Uganda where he worked in Karamoja area till his tragic death on the eve of the feast of Assumption, 14 August 2003. He gave his missionary service in the missions of Morulem (1957-1959), Kaabong ( 1958-1960, 1982-1983), Nabilatuk ( 1960-1965), Losilang (Kotido) (1966-1970), Karenga (1970-1975, 1978- 1981, 1983-1985), Matany ( 1976-1978), Naoi (1986-1995), Loyoro (1996-2002 ), Kapedo ( 2002-2003 ).

Fr. Mario was nicknamed by the Karimojong "Apalongor", which means "bull of an ash-grey colour". The Karimoiong, nomadic shepherds, give everyone a nickname taken from the names used to describe a characteristic of a head of cattle. Fr. Mario was a kind, friendly, generous, zealous and very human person. He was also an excellent cook. On special occasions he was the one to work around the kitchen stove to prepare something nice. His fish and pasta were delicious.

Fr. Mario was a man of prayer, always available and very understanding. One felt comfortable in his company. He would adapt himself to any situation. He could get along with anybody, but especially with those who were open and not too demanding, and particularly with young people. Lately at Kapedo he had a good relationship, based on trust and respect, with the Ugandese Bro. Godfrey Kiryowa, who would be killed together with him, almost as a last indication of Fr. Mario's ability to create empathy with all.

Fr. Mario knew well the Ngakarimojong language. He had written two grammars and a study on the verbs of Ngakarimojong. He was very happy to teach the language to the newcomers, wondering at the fact that some young missionary had no idea about the difference between a verb and an adverb, between a conjunctive and a conditional. When preaching he would be overcome with enthusiasm and raise his voice as he was carried away by passion and fervour. On those occasion the Karimojong would look at him with curiosity, smiling at his funny way of talking. His enthusiastic way to express love for Jesus Christ must have appeared strange to them.

His ability to create friendship with people was shown by accepting tobacco from the Karimojong and by sharing with them some of his own, thus breaking down barriers. He always carried tobacco with him packed in a small container. He knew also how to appreciate a glass of good wine or beer.

The difficulty of working among the Karimojong never discouraged Fr. Mario. He was basically an optimistic person. He was always a source of encouragement and of hope to the young missionaries of Karamoja. He always made himself available to go whenever he was needed, even though, humanly speaking, he might have not been enthusiastic about it. And this is how he accepted his last assignment: the mission of Kapedo. At his age, that mission had seemed to him to be rather isolated from the others. He had discreetly expressed his desire to be assigned nearer to Kotido, the main centre. In any case, he humbly and bravely accepted also this last challenge.

Fr. Mario was working in an area bordering with Sudan. Here lived the Dodoth people. In the south of the district lived the Jie people, a tribe traditionally clashing with the Dodoth over cattle pastureland.

Fr. Mario had recently been for three weeks at Kanawat, near Kotido and the mother mission of the Jie, to recover from a malaria bout. Bro. Godfrey went from Kapedo to fetch him on 13 August. The following day at 9 a.m. they left together from Kanawat. In the Kopoth area, which lies on the border between the Dodoth and the Jie, there were over 300 warriors armed with guns and roaming about, as there had been a cattle raid during the night carried out at their expenses by the Jie and some Sudanese warriors.

As around 10 a.m. the two missionaries were driving through the Kopoth area, it seems that some Dodoth, humiliated by the cattle loss, shot at the first car that happen to pass by. Bro. Godfrey was hit and died instantly. A young man who was in the car with them managed to control the vehicle until it stopped. He then smashed the car's window and succeeded to escape, leaving in the car Fr. Mario who also managed to get out and tried to hide in the bush.

Fr. Chris A. Z. Aleti, the only Comboni Missionary then at Kanawat, on the evening of the same day sent a radio message to Kapedo to inquire whether the two confreres had arrived. When he heard that they had not yet arrived, he informed the police, but these told him that it was not prudent to go and search for them at night. The following day, 15 August, Fr. Chris set off and followed the road taken by the two confreres. He found the car with the body of Bro. Godfrey inside and brought it straight away back to the mission of Kanawat. There was no trace of Fr Mario. Accompanied by a soldiers' escort, Fr. Chris set off again to search for him. From the place of the ambush they followed the marks left by small boots that looked like those of Fr Mario, in the hope of finding him. Instead the tracks led them to the hut of the suspected killer who seemed to have shot him and put on his boots. Shortly afterwards they found the body of Fr Mario riddled with bullets. The suspected killer was imprisoned at Kotido police station. A couple of days later and in rather mysterious circumstances, the suspected killer was shot dead as he was, allegedly, trying to escape.

Fr. Mario was buried in the graveyard by the church of Kanawat.

On 19 August Fr Guido Oliana, the provincial of Uganda and on holiday in Italy, presided over the the funeral Mass at Orzinuovi, Fr. Mario's hometown and where he was well known. The church was packed with people. Fr. Guido thus explained the meaning of Fr. Mario’s death: "It is on account of our faith that today we celebrate Fr Mario's evangelising victory in Christ. He could not have concluded in a more meaningful manner his missionary service among the Karimojong." The readings used in the service were an excellent commentary to the evangelical and missionary meaning of Fr. Mario,s death: "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulations, anxieties, persecutions, lack of food or clothes, danger,  the sword - and we could add - "the gun"? In all this we are more than winners by virtue of him who loved us." Fr. Mario shares in Christ’s victory. Let us hope and pray that the blood he has shed will produce fruits in the difficult task of evangelising Karamoja. The Karimojong culture believes in sacrifices, so much so that, before setting off on a cattle raid, the Karimojong offer a head of cattle in sacrifice and, occasionally even a human sacrifice. In the light of faith and of the Gospel, now it will be the sacrifice of Fr. Mario who will earn the Karimojong not heads of cattle, but their allegiance to Christ and to the Church.

With the killing of Fr. Mario and of Bro. Godfrey, the number of Comboni Missionaries who have shed their blood in Uganda has risen to 13. During the closing days of the 2000 Intercapitular Assembly Fr. Raffaele Di Bari, another Comboni Missionary working in Uganda, was shot and burned to death at Pajule (Acholiland). Now, at the start of the XVI General Chapter, Fr. Mario Mantovani and Bro. Godfrey Kiryowa have been killed at Lobel. Probably the Lord by this event wants to send us a message about the true Comboni missionary spirituality.

Da Mccj Bulletin n. 222 suppl. In Memoriam, aprile 2004, pp. 58-76