In Pace Christi

Bro. Mario Fortuna was born in Castelgomberto, in the Province of Vicenza, on 27 November 1938. Having done the novitiate at Gozzano and taken perpetual vows on 9 September 1964, he was sent to Pordenone to complete his professional training.

Living his consecration to God as a coadjutor Brother, he initially helped in mission promotion by accompanying the missionaries during mission appeals. He was later assigned to the construction works at the Mother House in Verona. Always willing to please, he accepted the post of local bursar at Carraia seminary and, later, while in Arco for medical treatment, assisted the elderly confreres there.

A capable person in different fields, he was called to help for some years in administering the Comboni magazines Nigrizia and Piccolo Missionario. He worked in Brescia for five years in charge of the finances of the house and the service to the sick confreres of the Centre.

At last, after twelve years’ service in Italy, he received orders to leave for Brazil. The first stage of his mission was in São José do Rio Preto, in the State of São Paulo, in the Province of the South, in charge of human promotion in the organisation “Jude Thaddeus Social Service” and succeeded the founder Fr. Angelo Dell’Oro.

The presence of Bro. Mario as President of the Work for Assistance to Minors deserves special mention. “The story of the Jude Thaddeus Social Service was begun by Fr. Angelo who dreamt of gathering and educating the neediest youngsters of the city. This dream came true with the collaboration of the first seven young people who came to the Comboni Institute and with the help of many friends. The Work trained the adolescents by means of professional courses: music, information technology and practical skills, providing also breakfast and dinner. As the number of those attending school at the Work increased, it was necessary to enlarge the whole structure of classrooms and workshops. There are at present twelve sections occupying 23 km². The pupils, aged from 11 to 17 years, engage in the various activities: lessons in formation technology, sport, skills, painting, plaster statue-making, woodwork, mechanics, printing and music with a band that is quite popular. In fifty years, the Work has trained around 20,000 young people.

Having finished his term as president of the Work, Bro. Mario was sent to Holy Family parish to assist Fr. Giuseppe Simionato, in the city of Cacoal, Rondônia. He left Cacoal a month before Fr. Ezechiele Ramin was killed (24 July 1985). He then worked in the parish of Santa Rita-Tibiri, Paraiba, as administrator of another Social Work for street children. He received death threats after he accused some influential people of child sexual exploitation. The news was broadcast during TV news on the Globo channel.

In July 1986, he was called to Verona, assigned to the Procure and other services at the Mother House.

After completing the Renewal Course in Rome, in 2007, he returned to Brazil to take up the post of bursar at Casa Comboni, built by Fr. Ludovico Bonomi, for sick and elderly Comboni Missionaries, at São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo.

Simply by his smile, Bro. Mario could communicate with people and win many friends. In the daily trials of the Jude Thaddeus Work, he lived out the words of St. Daniel Comboni: “Neither the seriousness nor the difficulties of the struggle should discourage us. We have at our side Jesus himself who fights and suffers with us and for us”.
(Fr. Enzo Santangelo, mccj).
Da Mccj Bulletin n.270 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2017, pp. 94-96.