In Pace Christi

Fr. Candido Poli died on Monday 24 May, due to a heart problem. He was 97 and lived in the Comboni community of São José do Rio Preto, in Brazil where he spent almost 51 years of his missionary life in various communities, all of them in the North East, devoting himself mainly to ministry.

He was born in Villa del Conte (Padua, Italy) on 11 December 1923. He entered the Florence Comboni novitiate where he made his first profession on 7 October 1943. He first went to do the scholasticate in Venegono, then in Verona and then back to Venegono where he made his final profession on 24 September 1948. The following year, on 11 June 1949, he was ordained priest in Milan. After some years in Pesaro as the local bursar, he was appointed to North East Brazil and the parish of Alto Parnaíba as local superior and then to Rio de Janeiro as procurator.

In 1962, he was appointed to Portugal with the first group of Combonis missionaries to go to that province. He worked there for 16 years, first in Viseu and then in Maia, Famalicão and at the parish of Paço de Arcos. In 1979, he returned to Brazil where he stayed until the end.

The provincial superior of Brazil, Fr. Dario Bossi, communicating the news of the death of Fr. Candido, said: “He had a hard-headedness that he must have inherited from our Founder, Saint Daniel Comboni. However, when he realised that this caused some difficulty or unease, he knew well how to regain friendships by sharing some of his memories, all of which were very human and beautiful, of his family, of some stages or episodes of the mission or of the funniest events of his life”.

A few years ago, he wrote: “For two years now, I have been in the Comboni House for the Sick and Elderly, with six others. I am the first in years (93 but – and I am not ashamed to admit it – also the biggest joker. From time to time I have to tell a few jokes; all of them clean, of course! My slogan is: happiness is the best therapy! Good humour keeps the doctor away! Those who come to confession do so with bowed heads and a hard face; they go away with heads high and smiling, ready for another battle!”

Fr. Candido often spoke of the great pastoral challenges during the beginnings of the mission in the “sertão” of North East Brazil. For example, the time of the “desobrigas” (Lenten confessions): the long journeys and visits, how hard it was to find water and the joy when it was at last found.

Speaking of the time when he was bursar of the Pesaro community, he said: “Few in number and with many limits, the Apostolic School in Pesaro was due to close due to the water supply from the city which only rarely reached Villa Baratoff. A monk once prophesied that water would be found behind the chapel but, having dug down ten metres they found nothing and stopped digging. Even though we had a bit of a debt of eight hundred thousand lire, I asked the bank for a loan and we drilled a further twenty metres through solid rock. We found plenty of water! My mouth waters to think of the missionary pastoral now being done in that house! In Brazil, too, there is the problem of water and so we have to dig a well; I dug it myself and found water 17 metres down! But I found abundant faith, especially among people who saw a priest perhaps once a year”.

A few days before he died, Fr. Candido tested positive for the Covid-19 and so his funeral was celebrated with a reduced number attending. On that occasion, Fr. Dario thanked the confreres – especially Frs. Francesco Lenzi and Sandoval da Luz – who accompanied Fr. Candido during his final years, always making him feel cared for and loved”.