In Pace Christi

Fr. Guglielmo Maffeis was born at Ponte San Pietro (Bergamo) on 13 February, 1933, to Giuseppe and Rosa Consonni, the second of eight children. The father worked at the Legler factory and the mother, a housewife, looked after the large family.

Guglielmo felt called to the priesthood from childhood. When he was ten years old and had finished elementary school, after the visit of a Comboni Missionary to the Oratory of his town, he decided to enter the seminary. It was there that his journey of preparation for the priesthood began at the Comboni seminary of Crema.

He took first vows on 9 September, 1952, and perpetual vows six years later, in 1958. He was ordained priest on 14 March, 1959, in Milan by Cardinal Montini (the future Pope Paul VI) and, in 1962, he left for Uganda.

He spent the first three years at the missions of Alanyi and Aber, in the diocese of Lira. He then had to return to Verona for treatment. But about two years later, he again left for Uganda where he served in the missions of Minakulu and Aboke. In 1973-74 he did the Renewal Course in Rome.

Having returned to Uganda, he was assigned to the mission of Katikamu (two years) and then to that of Kasaala, in the district of Luwero, to the north of Kampala (1976-1989), where he was curate at the time of Fr. Fulvio Cristoforetti.

The country was tormented by continual guerrilla attacks, clashes and attacks by rebels and the burning and devastation of villages. On 28 September, 1983, while they were visiting some chapels, they fell into an ambush: Fr. Guglielmo was miraculously unhurt but Fr. Fulvio was seriously wounded. He would suffer much as a result. He was taken first to Kampala and then to Italy for operations and treatment.

In 1985, during the entire month of September, the mission was looted by a group of guerrillas belonging to the UNRF (Uganda National Reserve Front), and loyal to the former president Idi Amin. The priests were only saved by sheer good fortune, after having fled on foot and covering 35 Km by night, accompanied by a group of parishioners. Early in October, Fr. Guglielmo and his confrere returned to Italy for holidays in a clear state of shock.

Five years later, Fr. Guglielmo was transferred from Kasaala to Iceme (1991-2006), a mission 50 km to the east of Lira. In September, 2003, rebels of the Lord’s resistance Army (LRA) attacked the mission, looting it and mistreating the missionary.

But Fr. Guglielmo was “hopelessly in love with that suffering and splendid land to which the Lord had called him to live and work for more than fifty years, and with those people who had become part of him and whose progress in the faith he followed with satisfaction: last Sunday we had fifty baptisms and the week before that eighteen marriages...”. He lived more than fifty years like one of the “poor” of this earth where, until the year 2000, in his mission, there was neither water nor electricity, not to mention the telephone or email. A keen photographer, the only luxury he allowed himself was that of often sending his brother Gianfranco and sister-in-law Margherita, postcard-size photos, complete with captions, of “his people”, which he took at special moments of the day or during particular religious events.

Fr. Guido Cellana lived with Fr. Guglielmo for the last eleven years of his life, first at the mission of Aliwang and then, in the final year, at the mission of Iceme. He writes that Fr. Guglielmo was a great example to him during that long period, especially for his dedication to the work of the apostolate, his care for the catechumens, his assiduous prayer, his poverty, his detachment from money and superfluous things, his obedience, the sensitive way he would deal with people, his exactness in keeping the parish office in order, a place where he spent much of his time registering and checking the files of the baptised.

Around mid-November, 2015, Fr. Guglielmo began to show signs of tiredness. He was taken to Lacor hospital (Gulu) but the doctors could not make a diagnosis. He returned home but was not able to grasp things with his right hand. He was taken to Nsambya hospital (Kampala) where it was found that he had a tumour on the brain. He was advised to go to Italy and Fr. Guglielmo was accompanied to Milan and immediately taken to hospital where he also spent Christmas. He was then sent to the CAA in Milan where he died on 31 March, 2016.
Da Mccj Bulletin n.270 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2017, pp. 56-61.