In Pace Christi

Fr. Raffaele was born at Fontanarosa, in the province and diocese of Avellino, on 28 May 1935. Having entered the novitiate in Gozzano, he then was sent to Sunningdale where he took first vows on 9 September 1953 and began the scholasticate. Later, while still a scholastic, he went to Venegono and there took final vows on 9 September 1959 and was ordained priest on 2 April 1960.

Two months later he was assigned to Nabilatuk, in Uganda, as parish priest. He remained there until the middle of 1964 and then, also as parish priest, he was sent to Amudat, where he served for three years. He then went to Moroto till the end of 1973.

Fr. Giancarlo Guiducci writes: “I again found Fr. Raffaele in Karamoja in September of 1969, when I went to the mission for the first time. I was appointed to Matany and Fr. Raffaele gave me his first piece of advice: stay here in Moroto for a few days; at least you can get used to the environment of Africa. That year, he had built the cathedral in Moroto. For some years we were ‘neighbours’ in Karamoja. Then I went to Amudat, a mission he had started a few years before. In Amudat people remembered Fr. Raffaele. They liked and esteemed him. A young Moslem man boasted that he had been to religious lessons with Fr. Raffaele, and was the first in his class. Since a possible expulsion from Uganda was feared, Fr. Raffaele tried to find a Ugandan priest who could become Vicar of the diocese of Moroto. It was he who insisted that a Ugandan be chosen to succeed Bishop Mazzoldi”.

In 1974, Fr. Raffaele was elected provincial superior of Kenya and, in 1975, he went to Italy for the General Chapter, first in Rome and then in Ellwangen. In 1976 he was re-elected. In 1978, after a period of holidays in Italy, he went to the NAP to do Mission Appeals. He was later assigned to Naples as superior.

In 1981 he was sent to Nairobi as the Delegate of Father General for South Sudan, where the General Council intended to open a new circumscription. For that period, we follow what Fr. Francesco Chemello writes in his book A long Love Story: “Fr. Raffaele Cefalo was staying at the Comboni provincial house in Kenya preparing to enter South Sudan by mandate of the Superior General, Fr. Salvatore Calvia: to prepare the way for a possible new circumscription in South Sudan. The most important thing at the time was to obtain permission to enter South Sudan. He was advised to obtain it in Nairobi because, they said, it would be easier there than in Khartoum. As it turned out, after he explained that they would be involved in education and the construction of schools, they received the necessary permits in a matter of days. Fr. Calvia and his Council had entrusted this task to Fr. Cefalo who realised that there were no detailed explanation for this task. He asked the General Superior to clarify what was expected of him. Having bought a Toyota Land Cruiser and all the necessary supplies, Fr. Cefalo set out on his journey from Nairobi to Juba together with Fr. Cesare Mazzolari and Bro. Mario Rossignoli. They arrived in Juba on 1 June 1981. On 8 June, in the presence of his Councillors, Fr. Pietro Ravasio and Fr. Joseph (Vice-Representative), the first meeting of the Representative Council was held (that was the term used at that time). Actually, when Fr. Cefalo arrived as the representative of the Superior General, the South had been separated from Khartoum ‘ad experimentum’. Fr. Cefalo wasted no time in Juba but tried to gain a better understanding of the situation in South Sudan, especially with regard to personnel. In March 1983 Fr. Cefalo was elected Superior of the delegation of South Sudan. At the end of his mandate, Fr. Salvatore Calvia expressed his deep gratitude for all Fr. Cefalo had done in the first three years of the new circumscription and for the enthusiasm and courage with which he tackled the complex situation of the time. After his well-deserved holidays, Fr. Cefalo was assigned to Rumbek to help in the schools run by the Comboni Missionaries. In January 1986, the Provincial Council decided to move him to Rumbek for reasons of security. On 27 March 1987, in fact, Mons. Pellerino and Fr. Cefalo were imprisoned by the SPLA and taken to Boma, on the border with Ethiopia where they were released on 15 August".

Immediately afterwards, Fr. Guiducci continues, “Fr. Raffaele returned to Italy, to Rome before going again to Kenya. His second stay in Kenya was dedicated exclusively to the apostolate. He spent a short while at Kabicbich among the Pokot, the same ethnic groups as that of Amudat, and then among the Turkana. He rebuilt the church at Lokori. Then, from 2003 to 2016 he was at Nakwamekwi, also among the Turkana. The Turkana language is similar, if not identical, to that of the Karimojong. Fr. Raffaele had a strong, authoritarian character. Travelling by car, he himself always had to drive as he did not trust anyone else. For this reason he did not please everyone. Nevertheless, he helped many people, including myself, providing forty-five thousand dollars to build a school for girls at Kacheliba. He told me in confidence that his character led him to criticise too much. This was why he had to leave Turkana. In 2017, now old and physically weakened by various ailments, he returned for good to Italy, still wanting something to do. He did his work until he was confined to a wheelchair. I never saw him in that condition and I find it hard to imagine him so, having known him as a warrior, single-minded in the service of the Kingdom of God”.

Fr. Raffaele died in Milan due to respiratory complications brought on by the Covid-19, on 10 April 2020.