In Pace Christi

Fr. Peter Magalasi, son of Baripi and Anyongo, was born at Diayanga (Maringindo, Western Equatoria) on 31 December 1929. He was baptised by Fr. Carlo Arrighi when he was eleven years old, at Raffili, Bahr-el-Gahazal, on 8 December 1940 and confirmed the following year on 20 Aprile 1941, by Mons. Rodolfo Orler. He felt called to the priesthood and entered the seminary where he studied philosophy and theology. He was in second theology when he expressed the desire to become a Comboni. Fr. Longino Urbani, Rector of Sacred Heart Seminary in Gulu, encouraged him, affirming that his desire to be a missionary was authentic. Mons. Domenico Ferrara, Prefect Apostolic of Mupoi, introduced him to the Combonis and he was admitted to the novitiate in Florence (Italy). He made his first profession on 9 September 1956, finished theology and was ordained priest on 7 July 1957 in Verona. After his ordination he was sent to Rome to study Canon Law at the Urbanian University.

Once he had completed his studies and taken perpetual vows on 9 September 1959, he returned to South Sudan. From July 1960 to June 1962, he worked as a teacher at St. Paul’s Major Seminary of Tore River. He afterwards went to Mboro, close to Wau, as assistant parish priest and, a year later, in 1963, became parish priest of Wau. Those were difficult years for the Church in South Sudan. In 1964, all the foreign missionaries were expelled. Tore seminary was closed and transferred to Kit with Fr. Magalasi as a teacher and spiritual director but only for a short period. In fact, in 1965, both priests and seminarians fled to Uganda and continued their training there. Fr. Magalasi continued with his work of teaching and made sure he was pastorally involved at week-ends.

In 1971 he was assigned to the province of Ethiopia-Eritrea and worked at the parish of Fullasa, in Ethiopia, again as a teacher. He stayed there until 1973. In 1972, the signing of the Addis Ababa Peace Agreement allowed the Church in South Sudan to recommence its work with new energy; as a result, in 1973 Fr. Magalasi returned to South Sudan and went to Rejaf and Kit, also as spiritual director of the Brothers of Saint Martin de Porres. In June 1980 he was assigned to Rumbek where he worked tirelessly for the community of the cathedral. He also visited the chapels up to Cueibet and Bargheil. In the meantime, a second civil war had begun that caused great suffering to Church personnel. In 1984, near Tonj, the vehicle in which Fr. Magalasi was travelling was attacked and he was robbed. As a result of that attack, he decided to leave Rumbek and move to Maringindo, the land of his childhood. He settled at Nagero where he provided pastoral assistance to the local population. In 1986 he was assigned to the community of Lomin in Kajokeji. He stayed there until 1987 when the community was closed due to insecurity.

In July 1988, the superiors proposed Fr. Magalasi undertake a period of ministry in Italy in the field of missionary animation. There he was able to rest a bit and recover from the traumas he suffered in the previous years. It was during that time that he developed a special devotion to Blessed Clementine Anuarite, a Congolese martyr. In 1991 he was assigned to the Congo where he stayed for sixteen years, working in three different parishes: Ango, Bambilo and Duru. While he was at Duru, on 17 September 2008, the mission was attacked by the LRA militias and the missionaries had to flee together with the faithful, taking refuge in South Sudan.

After a period at Yambio, Fr. Magalasi joined the community of the postulancy at Layibi (Uganda), cooperating in the formation of the Brother candidates. In June 2013 he began what was to be a year with Bishop Emeritus Mons. Joseph Gazi Abangite, at Yambio. However, his health worsened and he was taken to the community connected to the hospital of Lacor. There he spent the remaining years of his life. The Lord called him to himself on 8 December 2018, at the age of eighty nine years.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 278 Suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2019, pp.144-147.