In Pace Christi

Fr. Luigi Parisi was born on 4 July, 1920, in Bleggio, in the province of Trent, Italy. When he was eleven, he joined the apostolic school at Trent, with the ardent desire of becoming a missionary in Africa. In 1939, he consecrated his life to the mission with the vows of religion. He then went to Verona to study philosophy. At the beginning of the 1941-1942 scholastic year, he was sent to Rome to study theology at the Urbanian University. In 1943, after two years, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree. He continued his studies in Verona, later moving to Rebbio due to the war. He was ordained priest on 29 June, 1945, with twenty four other confreres.

He was sent to Sulmona, in Abruzzo, as assistant to the missionary aspirants at the apostolic school and stayed there for five years, working as prefect over the boys and then as a teacher in the school. Placed in charge of missionary animation, he travelled the regions of Abruzzo and Molise, preaching in the various parishes.

In 1950, Fr. Luigi was sent to southern Sudan. There he worked among the Azande at Mupoi and at Naandi, at a time when those people were opening up to the Gospel. In an interview with Fr. Panciroli, in 1980, Fr. Luigi said: “I worked there for almost twelve consecutive years, studying the habits and customs, the character and mentality of that Azande people among whom Divine Providence had placed me. My work consisted in the proclamation of the Kingdom, the formation of catechists, the promotion of local vocations and in helping, as far as possible, such people as the elderly, the lepers and the sick”. Fr. Luigi He also added: “On 20 December, 1963, having received exit and re-entry permits from the government of Khartoum, for a period of holidays in Italy, I left for Rome. It was my first sight of Italy for almost fourteen years of missionary work. Unfortunately, my return to Sudan was not to be since, on 26 February, 1964, the Sudanese government decreed the expulsion of all foreign missionaries from South Sudan. So, I, too, was expelled for good; I just did not have the trouble the others had when they were expelled”.

Fr. Luigi was then sent to Spain where, for ten years without interruption, he worked in missionary animation and formation. Those were years of hard work, trying to find vocations and the wherewithal to provide for the novitiate which houses three communities with 120 members including philosophy students and novices. In the month of June, 1974, I at last had the joy of returning to the mission among the Azande but this time it was in Zaire. I worked first in the mission of Ngilima, and then at Duru. The latter was the closest to Sudan but only partly evangelised. In 1977 he was recalled to Ngilima. His apostolate for three years consisted in visiting the chapels of the mission and in the assistance and instruction of the catechumens. He also spent some months at the mission of Ndedu.

In May, 1981, he left Zaire for Nairobi, Kenya, where he obtained the long-awaited permit from the Sudanese embassy to enter Sudan. He arrived safe and sound at Nzara where he was welcomed by Mgr. Yosefo Gasi, Bishop of the diocese of Tombura-Yambio, who put him in charge of the parish. In June, 1982, he felt a tiredness that left him unable to carry on his apostolate. In Nairobi, the doctors discovered he had one kidney that was almost completely useless. The kidney was removed and he returned to Nzara.

In 1988, he went to Italy for holidays but was hit by a car in Rome and could not return to the mission until June, 1989. The political situation in southern Sudan was far from peaceful and there was guerrilla activity in the eastern part of the province of Equatoria on the part of the revolutionary movement of the SPLA. In November, 1990, with a sudden advance, the guerrillas unexpectedly reached Yambio. The people fled by whatever means possible towards the Central African Republic. Soon, the missionaries, too, had to leave the parish at night with their vehicles. First they went towards Tombura and then towards the Central African Republic. From there, Fr. Luigi left for Italy.

In April, 1991, he returned to Zaire and the mission of Dungu-Bamokandi, where he was sent by his superiors to assist the Sudanese refugees fleeing the guerrilla war in southern Sudan. Two years later, he had the joy of visiting the mission of Nzara which had been rebuilt and well organised by the Comboni missionaries.

From Dungu he went to Dakwa, also among the Azande. There he stayed for just over a year. In December, 1996, deadly conflict and grave political disturbances forced him to leave Zaire at short notice and to take refuge first in the CAR and then in Kenya.

He was appointed to the mission of Duru but stayed there no more than a year. In October, 1998, the mission was savagely looted by soldiers or, more likely, by Sudanese bandits. The whole population fled deep into the forest. The missionaries, too, decided to leave the mission to reach Sudan, avoiding the dangers of the guerrilla warfare. After three days walking through the forest, Fr. Luigi reached the mission of Nzara. From there he went by plane to Nairobi. In July, 1999, he reached Isiro and, eventually, Dungu-Bamokandi, where he took care of the refugees and the sick among the Sudanese refugees.

In early October, 2001, Fr. Luigi fell ill with a serious bout of cerebral malaria and he was advised to go to Italy for treatment. He arrived in Verona where the treatment was started. He was later sent to Arco, to our house for self-sufficient elderly confreres. “I am now in Arco where I am still a missionary through prayer and the daily acceptance of the will of God in peace and cheerfulness, always, in heart and in spirit, among my dear Zande people”. In 2008, he was transferred to Verona where he passed away on 14 December, 2013.

Writes Fr. Pietro Ravasio: “We could introduce the cause for canonization concerning Fr. Parisi: the Azande Christians have considered him a saint! My knowledge of him and about our belonging to the same community of Nzara is limited to the years 1981-1987. In 1980 I started to organize the diocesan ‘Palica’ (Pastoral Liturgical Catechetical Centre). His contribution was great because he knew the language and culture of the people. He had a well-organized program: he was following the elderly, administering the sacraments and animating catechists before leaving for his visits to other communities. When the Palica Centre was ready, he helped me by teaching the catechists. He was a missionary without any other hobby or interest that was not geared to the mission: only ministry and prayer. He remained in Nzara until 1990 when together we went as refugees to Central Africa”.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 258 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2014, pp. 146-154..