In Pace Christi

Fr. Marco De Angelis was born at Mondavio, in the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, on 13 February, 1952.

In 1976 he wrote: “I entered Pesaro minor seminary in 1962. At that time I was unable to grasp the profound meaning of the missionary call but as I grew up, the need to help others increased in me. There was no shortage of difficulties but the Lord always helped me through them all. As I began to have a deep experience of God, he made me realise it was he who called me to the apostolate, independently of my qualities; he made me realise my limits to remove from me any reason for pride in myself.”

After Pesaro and the novitiate in Venegono (1974-1976), he completed his theological studies in Florence (1971-1974) and was awarded a Bachelor’s degree in theology at the Seraphicum on 25 June, 1979. He was ordained on 24 June, 1979, by Pope St. John Paul II.

His missionary life consisted in two parts: Italy (1979-1987 and 1999-2014) and Congo/Zaire (1987-1999).

After some years in Italy (1979-1987), in Pesaro as missionary animator, and in Bari as formator in the minor seminary and local superior, and after a year in Paris studying French, he departed to the province of Congo/Zaire. He worked there for twelve years. He was sent first to Isiro for pastoral work and then to Kisangani as formator of the student and Brother postulants where he remained until 1999.

Fr. Fermo Bernasconi writes: “Relations with others were his passion and sometimes his cross. In his pastoral work and most of all with the young people of the parish of St. Anne at Isiro, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he tried especially to build up pastoral relations based on friendship and trust in order to work together with others in a journey of faith.

It was at St. Anne’s, on the evening of Easter Sunday, while returning after the two Comboni communities had had supper together, that Fr. Marco was bitten by a horned viper. It was thanks to Bro. Tarcisio Calligari, who immediately took him back to the Sisters’ place, and the dedication of the Comboni Sisters, with them Sr. Christine, a Spanish Dominican and doctor, who worked throughout the night to treat him, that he survived, even though his health was permanently affected.

It was also on the basis of his pastoral work that he was chosen as formator at the Kisangani postulancy where he worked for a number of years, some difficult, until he returned to Italy at the service of the Italian Province.

Back in Italy, he was appointed to Lecce and spent six years in mission and vocations promotion. He was also a provincial councillor for five years. He then spent four years in the community of Bari and a year in Bologna for pastoral ministry. After a year in Rome working in mission promotion, the Travel Offices and ACSE, in December, 2011, he moved to the diocese of Fano where the bishop gave him a pastoral commitment, appointing him to the parish of Cartoceto. In March, 2012, he went to the diocese of Teramo-Atri where the bishop appointed him administrator of two small parishes.

He died on 4 July, 2014, at Pineto, in the province of Teramo. “Last night, after a long battle with an incurable disease, Fr. Marco De Angelis passed away. The parish priest of Pineto died in his own residence on the National road in the Poets quarter. A mourning room was opened in his own house from 9am to 9pm – to the great sorrow of the people of this Adriatic town at the passing of their parish priest and guide in many fields, for many of its citizens”. (from Cityrumors.it)

The Provincial of Italy, Fr. Giovanni Munari, speaking at the end of the celebration of the funeral, mentioned that he and Fr. Marco had been companions in the novitiate and that Fr. Marco was the third of their group to “reach the final destination of heaven”. Fr. Giovanni also spoke of his last visit to Fr. Marco: “I asked him whether, seeing how his condition had worsened, it would not have been better for him to enter a Comboni house where he could be assisted. But Fr. Marco preferred to stay in the parish and the family that had welcomed him so as to continue to offer his testimony there”.

Testimonies by the parishioners of Pineto

Fr. Marco immediately presented himself to the parish community, revealing his plans for creating a community together and his words were always preceded by his concrete attitudes of openness and acceptance of his parishioners, and even of sharing with them. He showed he accepted us during his homilies, repeating always and constantly the importance of loving and imparting love in daily life and in our lives as citizens and parishioners. His enthusiasm turned to fervour when, afterwards, he dedicated himself to projects with the young parishioners, with the children with whom and for whom he worked to help them grow in the joy and colours of the Word of God. He wrote: “The challenge is to make oratories become places of welcome and dialogue, real bridges between the institutional and the informal, between local reality and planetary challenges, between the virtual and the real, between the age of childhood and the age of responsibility”. The inheritance which Fr. Marco leaves us is a great lesson in humility, strength, tenacity, love and determination, always trusting only in God and, therefore, of immense serenity!
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 262 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2015, pp. 49-53.