In Pace Christi

He was a Comboni Brother who “came to satisfy his undeniable ideal of becoming a priest. He lived his priesthood with a vibrancy that seemed to glow in his eyes. His life was to preach the goodness of the Lord, celebrate the Eucharist and hear confessions”.

Fr. Giovanni Caliari was born at Santa Maria di Zevio, Verona, on 16 April, 1931. On 17 April, 1955, he applied to enter the then Institute of African Missions of Verona to become a Comboni Brother. Up to then he had been a small farmer and held certificates in Basic Professional Studies and also in Accountancy and Commerce.

He entered the novitiate at Gozzano, moving to Florence for the second year. He took his first vows in 1957 and perpetual vows, as a Brother, in 1963, in Brazil.

After two years at Carraia, looking after the house, and a further two years in Verona, where he worked mostly in the printing section, Bro. Giovanni was sent, in 1961, to work in Brasile Sud, in Espirito Santo state. He was first appointed to the St. Jude Thaddeus Social Centre, at São José do Rio Preto, in the State of San Paolo, recently founded by Fr. Angelo Dell’Oro and dedicated to looking after the children of poor families. He was not long there when he was sent as formator to the parish of São Gabriel da Palha, where the Comboni community had a minor seminary, where he remained till 1968; then, for a further two years, he was assigned to the minor seminary of Jerónimo Monteiro. Bro. Giovanni felt at home in that place, assisted by his conciliatory character and willingness to dialogue.

It was probably his experience in the minor seminaries and the winds of renewal in the wake of the Vatican Council that prompted him to become a priest. So it was that Bro. Giovanni was sent to Rome to study philosophy and theology and was ordained priest on 5 September, 1976, at his parish church of Santa Maria di Zevio, Verona.

After his ordination, the Superior General, Fr. Tarcisio Agostoni, wrote to congratulate him and to inform him of his new appointment: Via Luigi Lilio 80, the District of the Curia, as assistant-priest to the parish of St. Albert, the church of the Curia which then functioned as a parish, while waiting for the diocese to build its own church. In 1979, Fr. Giovanni was appointed to the minor seminary and the parish of Campo Erê, Brasile Sud, and formator and in charge of mission promotion. Three years later, while at home on holiday, he was asked to go to Portugal and the minor seminary of Viseu, again as formator, and to work in mission promotion. After a period of three years he was appointed to Brasile Nordest, to the newly-founded parish of Jaicós, in the diocese of Picos.

In 1989, he returned to Italy where he was assigned to the Mother House in Verona, again in charge of mission promotion and mission appeals. It was an opportunity to be close to his elderly mother whom he accompanied until her death.

In1995, he was appointed to Brasile Nordest to work in pastoral ministry, first in the parish of Paraibano, in Balsas diocese, and later in the parish of São Antonio, Timon, diocese of Caxias do Maranhão.

In 2001, he returned to Italy and the Verona Mother House to work, again, in mission promotion. He is well remembered for his availability for ministry in any parish or convent of Sisters.

Fr. Giovanni died in Verona of 2 February, 2012 and was buried in the cemetery of St. Maria di Zevio, Verona.