In Pace Christi

Bro. Paolo Reniero was born on 24 November, 1927, in Valdagno, in the diocese of Vicenza (I). He entered the Gozzano novitiate at the age of 31. On 1 May, 1960, he took first vows and, six years later, in Spain, he consecrated himself for life to the mission in the Comboni Institute. In 1972 he was awarded a diploma in mechanics and another in technical science, apart from a diploma in theology which he gained in Thiene, at the seminary for Comboni Brothers. He learned various trades, as was necessary at that time due to the needs of the Comboni missions scattered throughout Africa and Latin America.

During the years he spent in Italy, he served at various houses of the Institute but especially at Pellegrina, in charge of the farm, and at Moncada (Spain), with the team of Brothers involved in building construction, working also in the sector of the immigrants and the sick.

In 1967, he was appointed to South Brazil, where he worked for twenty years, assisting at the seminaries of Ibiraçu, São Gabriel da Palha and Jerõnimo Monteiro, in the State of Spirito Santo, and also at the Seminary of Campo Erê, in the State of Santa Catarina.

He was recalled to Italy and spent from 1988 to 1992 at the Mother House, Verona, assisting the sick.

In 1992, he returned to Brasil, this time to the North East Province. There he worked in a number of Comboni parishes and communities: São Domingos do Azeitão, Mirador, Alto Parnaíba, Pastos Bons and then in South Brasil at São José do Rio Preto, in the State di São Paulo.

Despite finding it difficult to speak Portuguese, which he usually mixed with the Venetian dialect, his twelve years in Brazil were years filled with pastoral work. He did, in fact, want to be a priest: he often spoke of this with confreres and superiors who always thought it would be difficult for him to take on the study of philosophy and theology, especially since he suffered from migraines. Nevertheless, Bro. Paolo succeeded just the same in living and practising his baptismal priesthood among the people. Various episodes of his life demonstrate his goodness towards everyone, his complete availability for any service whatever, including the most onerous and delicate that were usually avoided by other confreres.

A proof of the charity of Bro. Paolo was his encounter with Valdemar, when he was at Alto Parnaíba (1995-1996). Valdemar was the latest person to arrive in that Brazilian commune, in the extreme south of the State of Maranhão, in the north-east. Already on in years, he had come, like many of the inhabitants of the town, to find a small portion of land and make a new start in life. He lived in a cabin with his family, farmed a small piece of land and had made friends with his neighbours. Despite his poor health, he was a tenacious man. One day, Fr. Giacomo Molinari, the Parish Priest, came to hear he had been evicted from his cabin because the owner had discovered strange marks on Valdemar’s body and feared they were contagious. The result was that the family had to take refuge in a tent.

Bro. Paolo, charged by the Parish priest with finding a solution, on seeing Valdemar, recognised the signs of leprosy and took him straight away to see a doctor. Tests were carried out among the inhabitants and 32 initial cases of leprosy were found. In a matter of a few weeks, all the people infected were cured, thanks to the programme rapidly established by Bro. Paolo. Together with Fr. Giacomo, he had a house built for Valdemar and his family during a “contest of goodness” involving the entire Catholic community of Alto Parnaíba. During a moving ceremony, Bro. Paolo personally handed over the keys of the new house to Valdemar, keys that were meant not so much to close but to open the doors of the solidarity of the community to all the needy. Valdemar, also recovered from his disease.

“I was able to observe at close quarters how Bro. Paolo spent his years in Brazil – Fr. Pietro Bracelli tells us – especially while he belonged to the province of South Brazil. He loved being with people and he was appreciated for his goodness and simplicity of character to which he added a sound knowledge of catechesis and theology. After unceasing requests, the ecclesial communities and the diocesan authorities made him an officially recognised ecclesial and sacramental worker. Besides being an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, he was also a minister of Baptism and a qualified witness for marriages. These duties, which helped him to realise, at least in part, his desire for the priesthood, rendered his years of missionary life more beautiful.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 266 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2016, pp. 5-8.