In Pace Christi

Bro. Carlos Díaz Pérez was born on 13 January 1958 in Pesoz Argul, diocese of Oviedo, Spain. He died the evening of 17 April 2002, in a car accident while returning from Nampula to his mission of Carapira. He had gone to Nampula to sign a contract with the ministry of education. Little is known about the accident, because he was travelling alone. Members of a family that lives near the road said that they saw the car go off the road and flip over. No other vehicle or person was involved in the accident. The road is in a state of disrepair and has many potholes. The body was found near the car, where it had been ejected during the accident. We think that he died of massive head injuries.

Bro. Carlos joined the German branch of the Comboni Missionaries at a very young age and soon began his professional training. After the reunion, he became a member of the unified province of Spain. He attended the novitiate in Moncada in 1977-1979. After a short stay in Pordenone, for the period 1979-1985 he continued his professional training as a carpenter in the Salesian schools in Spain, where he earned his diploma. From 1985 to 1987 he was at the CIF of Nairobi and, towards the end of 1987, he was assigned to Mozambique, but first he went to Portugal to learn the language. In Mozambique he was assigned to Carapira, where he remained until 1997.

In the school of Carapira he worked in a team with other two brothers, at first running the carpentry department and the sawmill. Later he was nominated by the director of the school and appointed by the ministry of education as administrator of the entire school and of its products division.

I feel blessed for having had Bro. Carlos next to me in running the school for ten years. These were hard years, spent in the uncertainty of the civil war. Together we shared the sorrow of collecting the body of Bro. Alfredo Fiorini from the spot where he had been killed. These were also the most beautiful years in the history of the school, because this was the time of rebuilding it from its ruins and of its greatest development. Bro. Carlos was always in the forefront, always enthusiastic and supportive of everything, particularly the carpentry shop, the farm and the animal husbandry. He had one great wish: to start a carpentry school. He succeeded in 1993 even though, for a variety of reasons, it remained at a primary level.

In 1997 he was placed on rotation and returned to Spain. After four years, worried by the needs of the school and after repeated requests, the superiors in Mozambique were able to get Bro. Carlos back in the school at Carapira, where he resumed his previous duties in November 2001.

I have marvellous memories of Bro. Carlos. He was a dear friend and a great co-worker. He was always of good cheer, with a smile for everyone. The students and the teachers loved him and had him in high esteem. Even his return to Carapira was greeted by everyone with open arms as the solution to many problems. I believe that one of his greatest virtues was his ability to play things down. With his hearty laughter and a joke he was able to avoid and defuse situations of tensions and conflict. He was extremely generous and hospitable.

Dear Bro. Carlos, we do not understand why the good Lord has asked you to return to Him so soon. The void you are leaving behind is a source of great pain to all of us, even though we do not despair, knowing that we are all useful, but not essential instruments in His fatherly hands. It is He who decides how and where to use us. Dear Bro. Carlos, we are certain that you will be our intercessor before the Father. We ask of you some of your good cheer, your wisdom, your knowing how to live serenely and happily. We thank you for all that you have been for us here on earth, and we hope you will continue to assist us from heaven.