In Pace Christi

On hearing of his death on the evening of 16 December, I was reminded of that passionate missionary I knew in Mozambique. His passion was evident in all he did, especially in his work of evangelisation and, especially in the last years he spent in Mozambique, in the field of education.

Fr. Silvano was born on 11 April 1929, in Minucciano, Lucca, into a large family of nine children. His father was Giovanni ad his mother Maria. At the end of his novitiate in Florence, he took first vows in 1951 and went to study theology first in Verona and then in Venegono. On 31 May 1958, he was ordained priest and, after some months in Portugal learning Portuguese, he left for Mozambique. This would be the land he loved and the people God entrusted to him for his whole life and which filled with joy his missionary work.

Fr. Silvano arrived in Mozambique in 1959 and was assigned to the mission of Carapira, Nampula, the first mission opened by the Combonis in 1948 and which also became the provincial house. It was at that mission that he learned Makwa and studied the customs of the people, especially their rites of initiation, obligatory for boys and girls once they reached puberty: the passage from childhood to adulthood. This he did to understand the people better, their way of thinking and their deepest feelings, and to share their life. From 1973 to 1984, Fr. Silvano worked in Portugal and Italy in various ministries including missionary animation and formation. In 1984, he returned to Mozambique, first to Nacaroa and then to Matola, as a formator of postulants. Eventually, he spent the years from 1994-98 in Maputo, in the parish of Benfica, in the outskirts of the capital. It was during that period that I had the joy of knowing him and to share the same mission with him.

In 1999, he left Mozambique due to his unreliable state of health and was assigned first to Italy, then to Portugal and again to Italy, for reasons of health. In 2011 he was assigned to the mother House in Verona and then, in 2015, when the house had been opened, he moved to Castel d’Azzano.

There is a well-known secret in the life of Fr. Silvano which he revealed to all who met him: his great devotion to our Lady of Fatima. “To speak of Our Lady – he used to say – is in no way difficult; I am always ready!” Furthermore, Mary, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, is the patron of Portugal, of Mozambique and also of Carapira mission.

During his final years in Mozambique, I saw that he had a special concern for young people. At the age of 65, he would speak to them with enthusiasm. He also spoke with conviction and energy, leading them to respond positively to his proposals.

Last, but by no means least, I cannot forget his passion for the Gospel. Fr. Silvano resolutely lived this basic dimension of the life of every Christian and even more so of every missionary: his motto: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel”, led him to give himself to the mission in many ways; he leaves behind the mark of a Comboni missionary life lived to the full, there where the Lord sent him.

This was why, when I would go to Castel d’Azzano and he still had all his faculties, even though he was weak physically, he made me see in him the living mission, the people, the celebrations and the joy of life.
(Fr. Jeremias dos Santos Martins).