In Pace Christi

Bro. Fulvio Lorenzini was born at Castion Veronese, province of Verona, on March 4, 1929. He completed his primary studies at the Archdiocesan College of Verona.

Having entered the novitiate in Florence on November 1, 1949, he took his first vows on September 9, 1051, and attended the Comboni technical school of Thiene, Vicenza. He remained in Italy until October 1954, when he left for Khartoum, where he worked in the workshops of the technical school and studied Arabic. In Khartoum, on September 9, 1957, he took his perpetual vows. In January 1959 he was called back to Italy and assigned first to the care of the motherhouse in Verona and later, from 1965 to 1974, to Rome, in the Curia. Here he was the driver for the superior general for four years, then was asked to help in the mission procure and, finally, he was put in charge of the Travel office and of the house.

Fr. Pietro Ravasio, who was then working in Curia as Mission Secretary, remembers: “Bro. Fulvio was very active and an expert in all kinds of bureaucratic procedures. I had the opportunity to see both his talents and his exemplary life as a religious. He helped everybody. He distinguished himself for his generosity with all and for his love for the Institute.”

In 1976, after almost two years in Cincinnati, in the NAP, he was assigned to Kenya, first at the residence in Nairobi, then in Langata as teacher and bursar. Fr. Raffaele Cefalo remembers: “When Bro. Fulvio was assigned to Kenya, we were very happy because at Ngong Road we needed someone like him. He was a first class driver, always ready to go to the airport, to the embassies and wherever there was a need. His only regret was that he was never able to learn English well.” In fact, we have his answer to the letter of the father general, Fr. Tarcisio Agostoni, assigning him to Kenya: “I am ready to go to Kenya. But I would not want to disappoint you with my dreadful English-American-Veronese language.”

From 1988 to 1992 he was formator of the Brothers in the CIF of Nairobi. During his last year in Kenya he was in the parishes of Ongata Rongai and Amakuriat. In 1995 he returned to Italy and was assigned to Verona.

Fr. Duilio Plzzotta recalls: “He had just come back from Kenya and was already available to help in the service of the elderly and the sick, substituting for Fr. Alberto Martinuzzi. I was impressed by his exuberant friendliness and his availability. After a brief vacation at the foot of Monte Baldo, in his family home of Castion Veronese with his sister Maria, he was ready to start his new assignment. We all remember his extrovert character, his friendliness and his ability to create community and communion; his arrival gave a new tone to the environment of the second floor of the motherhouse. After a day’s work, in the evening he liked to share time with the confreres to play cards, to share problems and daily news, to tell stories about his life in his family and in the missions and to describe lively portraits of confreres. He had a great ‘archive’ of memories, events, facts and people from which to draw, giving color and life to his stories: it was a pleasure to listen to him. All these things helped the feeling of brotherhood. He felt at home also with the doctors and the nurses of the CAA, in the hospitals and doctor’s offices. Everyone immediately took to him and considered him a valuable friend. The personnel of the CAA and of the Motherhouse loved him and appreciated him. Bro. Fulvio knew how to shower simple, and not so common, attentions on all: a flower, a little gift… When special occasions were celebrated in the Motherhouse, with the staff, with relatives of the confreres, doctors, nurses and health workers helping us, he was always at the door to welcome each one with a great smile and a friendly greeting, letting people know immediately that they were welcome. Only the Lord knows how many trips he took to Negrar, Bussolengo, Legnano, Peschiera and to the city’s hospitals to accompany confreres for visits, medical assistance and also to take them to the Emergency Centers. He was a man of prayer and action. Always on time for community prayer, he often would become its animator, moderating the prayer of the breviary, the rosary and the liturgy. He helped prepare for the greater Comboni celebrations, feasts and events both at home and in the city. Willingly, he organized outings for the elderly and the sick to visit Marian shrines.” He passed away at the Center for the Elderly and Sick Confreres (CAA) on August 28, 2013.
(Fr. Duilio Plazzotta, mccj)
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 258 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2014, pp. 97-103.