In Pace Christi

Fr Antonio was born on 25 June 1930, at Lacedonia, in the province of Avellino (Italy). Three years after completing secondary school, he entered the Comboni novitiate in Gozzano where he took first vows on 5 August 1955. He was then sent for the scholasticate to the seminary of Viseu: “I had to attend the Diocesan Theological Seminary – he writes – work as a prefect, study theology … and, of course, learn the language. For four years that was my life!”. On 5 August 1958, he took final vows and, on 29 June 1959, he was ordained priest in Viseu Cathedral. After his ordination, he remained in Portugal for eighteen years in different posts: Vice-rector, spiritual director, superior, formator and mission appeals organiser.

“I was sorry to receive the news of the death of Fr Antonio –

Fr. Jeremias dos Santos Martins wrote: he was a personal friend of mine and of my family and I greatly esteemed him. My father used to be very pleased to welcome him and offer him hospitality as his presence was always pleasant and full of wisdom.

I first met him when he was the superior of the Maia community (junior seminary) when I was about sixteen. There were many of us and he, on Sunday mornings, used to give us a meditation. It was always very concrete as it touched upon the problems of adolescence and responded to the disquiet we were going through at that particular time. We all found him interesting and we happily took part in those meetings because Fr Antonio was not only very concrete but also entertaining when he illustrated with examples what he was explaining. He was a good communicator. He used to say: ‘I make be short on ideas but never on words!’”.

In 1973, Fr Antonio was appointed to Mozambique where he remained – apart from a year he spent in Rome doing the Renewal Course – until 2003. We may say that his name left its mark on the missionary history of evangelisation in this country where he worked for about 30 years.

He spent the first ten years in Buzi, in Beira diocese where he experienced “The independence of Mozambique. Those were unforgettable days of joy, happiness … and freedom (25 June 1975). In 1977, the terrible civil war began. Attacks, destruction, massacres, robberies, escapes by night, kidnappings, hunger … nationalisation. Up until 1984, I lived alone in the sacristy. Fortunately, there was a group of four Comboni Sisters who rented a house among the people after the nationalisation”. From 1984 to 1988, I worked in Beira to start the middle diocesan seminary. In 1988, I returned to Italy for a year “To pull myself together and prepare for the formation of Mozambican Comboni postulants”. He worked there from 1990 to1994.

From that period until 2003, he was the spiritual director in the major seminary of St Augustine (philosophical diocesan seminary), at Matola: “In those days – he wrote – there was a multitude of diocesan seminarians!” Most of the Mozambican bishops and priests knew him very well from his time in that role which lasted many years.

Fr Antonio was later re-assigned to Viseu in Portugal, where he remained for the rest of his life, devoting himself especially to the ministry of the confessional. Many priests, bishops and laypeople would come to him; they especially appreciated his counsel.

“He was a cheerful man – Fr Jeremias again writes – generous, attentive and always well-disposed, a confrere and a genuine Comboni Missionary. In my case, he was a travelling companion, a friend, a counsellor at the more difficult times in my ministry, especially during the years following the peace accord and national reconstruction in Mozambique. Those were times of great uncertainty when it was necessary to take decisions with an eye on the future”.

Fr Antonio died at 8.30 am on 2 June, at the Comboni community of Viseu. He would have celebrated his 91^st birthday on 25 June.