In Pace Christi

Fr. Gianni Pacher, born at Levico (Trent) on 9 March, 1954, was the product of a family with deep Christian roots and committed in the social and educational field. The father, Alessandro, and the mother, Annamaria, gave their five children a sound religious and professional education. Gianni himself was a qualified and experienced building surveyor. But the Lord had special plans for him: the missionary priesthood. When he was 22, he entered the Comboni novitiate in Venegono Superiore (Varese), and, at 24, he took his religious vows and began to study theology at the Urbaniana University in Rome. He followed this with a year’s missionary experience in Peru and was ordained priest at Levico on 13 February, 1982, by the Comboni bishop Mgr. Edoardo Mason. He immediately left for Peru and the mission where he served for more than 25 years, except for a short period (little more than a year, in 2000) when he was in charge of the community of Limone sul Garda and the house where our Founder, St. Daniel Comboni, was born.

Peru became his missionary homeland and he dedicated himself to it body and soul with his intelligence, energy and hopes. The missionary communities where he worked were those situated in the Andes, at Lima, in the forest at Yanahuanca (at 3,000 m.), at Lima again, where he worked editing and distributing the Comboni magazines “Misión sin Fronteras” and “Aguiluchos” (the ‘PM’ of Perù). Then he went to the most distant mission: Pozuzo, between the Andes and the Amazonian forest (here the first Comboni Missionaries to work in Peru and America were based since 1938). He spent almost 20 years of hard and dangerous work where the cruel terrorism of such groups as the ‘Sendero Luminoso’ and the ‘MRTA’ dominated the Andes and the Amazonian forest with the complicity of the drug traders. There were frequent deaths among the civil and military authorities. The Comboni Missionaries were also in danger but they stayed at their post by the side of the people.

After the period in Limone, Fr. Gianni returned to Peru where he wanted to undertake a new mission – new at least for the Comboni Missionaries - in still more difficult areas. He fixed his attention on an area of the Amazonian forest: San Martín de Pangoa, in the apostolic vicariate of San Ramón and run by the Franciscan Missionaries. At first Fr. Gianni worked alone but then, little by little, due to his insistence and that of the bishop, the Comboni community accepted that mission as a commitment of the entire group. Fr. Gianni had put into it his enthusiasm and much energy but he also worked in promoting the culture of the local people, especially the youth and, above all, by building a large school with the help of his many Italian benefactors and friends, both individuals and institutions.

On 29 March, 2009, the bishop handed over the mission of San Martín de Pangoa to the Comboni Missionaries. Fr. Gianni was not present, as he had been transferred to Lima for medical reasons. Here in Lima, the day after the handing over of the parish, Fr. Gianni passed away of a heart attack.

These facts are part of the latest news as explained by Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez, provincial of the Comboni Missionaries in Peru: “I have just returned from San Martín de Pangoa where Fr. Gianni worked for the past six years and which, only yesterday, we accepted as a commitment of the Comboni community. The great affection of the people for this confrere of ours for all he had done was evident. When, just a few days ago, I asked him to accompany me to take possession of the parish, he replied that he had little liking for such occasions and that he would accompany us from Lima through his prayers for all the people whom he had known and assisted in that area.

Some months ago, Fr. Gianni was found to be suffering from a form of epilepsy and a whole series of health problems. He was attending the Tezza clinic in Lima. So he was asked to help in the financial office of the province in Lima. He was beginning to find his feet in this new work. We had no idea that it would all end so tragically. His heart gave in and he died this morning, 30 March, from a sudden heart attack.”

Here are some extracts from the letter the Superior General, Fr. Teresino Serra, sent to his mother and the family of Fr. Gianni: “The sad news, sudden and unexpected, left all of us in sorrow and disbelief. Humanly speaking, our hearts are sorrowful while our faith leads us to thank God for the life of Fr. Gianni and his love for the mission. The examples of faith left us by Fr. Gianni are numerous and demand we imitate them. Among his virtues we remember his goodness and his love for the people. His faith was straightforward: it was the faith of one who believed in his vocation”.

A personal comment of mine – says Fr. Romeo Ballan – on the death of Fr. Gianni is this: For Fr. Gianni, his death is more of a “mission accomplished” than anything else. He offered his life for that indigenous community in the Amazonian forest of San Martín de Pangoa! He was, once again, the “grain of wheat” which falls to the ground and dies to give rise to new life.

On the morning of 7 April, the remains were taken from Verona to Levico Terme (Trent) where they were met by his mother, brothers, sisters, relatives and a great crowd of people who filled the cathedral of Levico for the Mass at 2.30 pm, presided by the vicar general of the diocese Mgr. Lauro Tisi, accompanied by more than 30 priests, half of whom were Comboni Missionaries (from Trent, Arco, Limone, Verona, Bressanone and Como). At the homily, Mgr. Tisi, Fr. Romeo Ballan (Verona) and Fr. William Dal Santo (from Peru) all intervened. At the end of the Mass testimonies were given by members of the family, the mayor of Levico and the director of the Mission Office of Trent. The emotional scene reflected the great esteem which this Comboni Missionary, who died at the early age of 55, aroused for the distant missionary lands of the Andes and the Amazonian forest of Peru.
(Fr. Romeo Ballan)
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 241 suppl. In Memoriam, luglio 2009, pp. 73-80.