In Pace Christi

Here in Verona we came to know him only when he became ill and he spent most of his time in bed. He came to us ten years ago from Mexico, after almost fifty years of missionary work in that country (1950-1999), except for a short period in Italy.

He was born at Valdagno (Vicenza) on 16 December, 1919, into a family of seven children. From his youth he already felt he was called to enter the seminary from which he emerged as an ordained priest in 1942. Six years later he entered the novitiate in Florence, where he took his first vows in 1950 and perpetual vows on 31 May, 1953. He was immediately appointed to the province of Mexico, where we Comboni Missionaries were still finding our feet. Fr. Ermenegildo carried out pastoral work both in the territory of Lower California and in the interior of the country, especially in the capital. He first worked in the parish of “La Purísima” and then in the novitiate in Sahuayo and in the diocesan seminary of La Paz. Later on, he went to work in the interior.

Three confreres, who knew him in Mexico, will help us to praise God for all that Fr. Ermenegildo did for the growth of the Kingdom of God.

Fr. Rafael González Ponce, the present provincial of Mexico, writes: “As soon as the news of Fr. Ermenegildo’s death reached us, there was an immediate flood of appreciation from the confreres. We were all deeply struck by his Comboni missionary vocation which he followed for almost fifty years in this land of Mexico with utter generosity. I would like to draw your attention to three points:

1. A tremendous passion for the Word of God. Fr. Ermenegildo was a Biblicist not only because of his studies but above all because of how he spent his life in the love and contemplation of Holy Scripture. The books of the Bible, in their original languages, were the constant source of his spirituality and apostolate.

2. His prophetic vision in the use of modern methods of communication in evangelisation. Some of his booklets for general catechesis, tape recordings and other material are still in circulation. All this reflected his desire to nourish the people of God in a language they could understand and rich in symbols to move simple souls,

3. His filial love for Our Lady of Guadalupe. His outings and times of relaxation consisted in visiting the Marian Basilica to find strength and comfort.

Fr. Ermenegildo was a man of few words and great humility. He worked very hard without ever showing off while, in his own way, he won the affection of the people who now pray for him and beg his fatherly intercession. May Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Daniel Comboni welcome him in that place where lives the Eternal Word whom he loved so much and followed so closely”.

Fr. Bernardo Becchio says: “I remember Fr. Ermenegildo during his years of missionary service in Mexico. In Mexico City, the house of Moctezuma served both as an office for processing immigration papers as well as an apostolic school. Everything was arranged in a very temporary way, in the outskirts of the capital and not far from the old military airport, then fallen into disuse. There were about fifteen missionary aspirants. There I found Fr. Ermenegildo working as vocations promoter. I am not sure how long he worked in that field but I can tell you he put all his heart into it. He was always on the go.

Using and old car, he journeyed mostly throughout the central states of the Republic: Jalisco, Guanajuato and Michoacán. He became extremely tired as if he were exhausted, and was ill with a bacterial infection in the lobe of his right lung. He had to go to a specialised clinic (Instituto Nacional de Neumología) at Tlalpan. There the doctors decided to carry out plastic surgery. After incredible sufferings, Fr. Ermenegildo was cured but, according to his confreres, he began to show gradual signs of cerebral decay.

Apparently restored to health, he was placed in charge of the chapel that had been built in the meantime, dedicated to the Uganda Martyrs and open to the public. Fr. Ermenegildo gave it all his energy and threw himself into pastoral work forming groups for prayer and Bible study. He was a missionary in love with the Word of God, especially St. Paul. He began to produce Bible translations using popular language and met with great esteem and success. He found support for his work among friends he had made and got permission to make a study journey to the Middle East in the footsteps of St. Paul.”

Now we turn to Fr. Umberto Parizzi: “I remember how, right from the start, Fr. Ermenegildo made himself available to the local radio station of the city of La Paz for some Bible programmes. He had many listeners, especially because he had invented a very original character who would ask very ingenuous questions to which Fr. Ermenegildo would reply. In the capital, at Moctezuma house, he held weekly Bible study sessions. This was the passion of his entire life”.

Personally – says Fr. Romeo Ballan – I remember how, when I arrived for the first time in Mexico in 1982, bound for Peru, they showed me a repository at the CAM (centre for our magazines) full of cassettes and recordings made by Fr. Ermenegildo. Recently I also heard of a widely distributed booklet of his entitled: Darle sabor al caldo (Ed. La Buena Prensa), a collection of popular stories and testimonies.

Fr. Ermenegildo was buried on the morning of 7 April, 2009, at the priests’ chapel in the cemetery of Novale in Valdagno, Vicenza.
(Fr. Romeo Ballan)
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 241 suppl. In Memoriam, luglio 2009, pp. 81-85.