In Pace Christi

Francesco Cazzaniga was born on 30 March 1925 in Mariano Comense, in the province of Como, in the archdiocese of Milan. After a few years in the diocesan seminary of Milan, he decided to join the Comboni Missionaries because he wanted to be a pastor of souls rather than go and teach in a seminary. He made his novitiate in Venegono; he took his first vows on 7 October 1943 and perpetual vows five years later, on 24 September 1948. On 16 April 1949, he was ordained a priest and immediately assigned to the mission of Sudan, which was to be his province for the next 62 years.

After studying Arabic at the Colonial Course in London and then in Zahle, Lebanon, for a year, he arrived in Khartoum, where he worked as a teacher at Comboni College (CCK) from 1950 to 1965, with a two-year break (1957-1959), during which he returned to London for major degrees in religious studies and Islam.

In 1965 he was assigned to El Obeid, firstly to work in the Comboni school as director and then to help in pastoral ministry in the parishes of Kadugli and at the cathedral. From 1969 to 1975 he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Apostolic Vicariate of El Obeid (before Fr Paulino Lukudu Loro, who would later become the first bishop of El Obeid as a diocese). It seems that Fr Francesco refused to be appointed bishop of El Obeid.

The confreres remember him as one who did not like being the centre of attention and who carried out his tasks to the best of his ability. In the early seventies, he financially supported some young people from Kadugli by having them study in Nahoud; from that group of young people, some vocations to the priesthood were born.

In 1975, Fr Francesco was sent to Ethiopia to specialize in nursing for lepers. He thus spent two years in Awasa, Sidamo (Ethiopia). Upon his return, he resumed his work in the parish of Kadugli, again contacting the people suffering from leprosy and working alongside local health workers in the distribution of medicine.

With the exception of another two years at the CCK Chapel of the Holy Family, he carried out his mission entirely between El Obeid and Kadugli until 1993. Fr Francesco is remembered for his precious work in the formation of catechists in the Nuba mountains and in the places where the Catholic presence needed to be strengthened.

In 1993 he was assigned to Port Sudan, where he spent the remaining 18 years of his service in the province, mainly teaching religion in Comboni and other schools.

Fr Benito Buzzacarin, who spent twelve years with him, remembers his precision and dedication in teaching and his generosity in giving extra lessons to Shahada Sudaniya candidates. He also paid particular attention to the teaching of religion to Eritrean students. He is fondly remembered by both former students and teachers who greatly admired him.

He was a gentle and quiet sort of person: "I never once heard him raise his voice," recalls Fr Benito. The younger confreres, such as Fr Natal António Manganhe, greatly appreciated his wisdom and his tireless dedication to his work despite his advanced age, as well as his willingness to help young missionaries to "clean up" the Arabic of their Sunday homilies; he is also remembered for his good command of the language.

Father Luigi Cignolini recalls that Father Francesco taught until the day he left Port Sudan at the age of 86. His only complaint, towards the end, concerned the difficulties he had in hearing: for this reason, he asked his students to write down their questions. During his time in Port Sudan, he raised funds for Comboni primary schools with the "Adopt a school" program.

In 2012 he returned to Italy, first in the Rebbio community and then in Milan. He passed away on Saturday 12 March, of heart complications related to diabetes.

Fr Francesco will be remembered as "a Comboni missionary for the Sudanese people", intelligent, humble, unpretentious, organized and deeply human. Those who knew him met a man at peace with everyone because he was at peace with himself. (Fr. Diego Dalle Carbonare, mccj)