In Pace Christi

Rodolfo was born in Cese di Avezzano, in the province of L’Aquila, on 27^th January 1941. In 1952 he entered the Apostolic School of the Com­boni missionaries of Troia and then attended high school in Sulmona. In October 1957 he began the novitiate in Gozzano and attended the sec­ond year in Sunningdale (England), where he took his first vows on 9^th September 1959. Immediately afterwards, he returned to Italy to start high school in Carraia (Lucca). In 1962, he began his scholasticate in Verona, but was immediately assigned as ‘prefect’ to the Apostolic School of Padua. On 9^th September 1965, he made his final profession and on 26^th March 1966, he was ordained a priest in the Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua, at the hands of Bishop Girolamo Bartolomeo Bortignon.

His superiors assigned him to the Apostolic School of Sulmona as a formator and vocation promoter. In 1969 he was sent to Ethiopia. In July, Father Rodolfo was already in Addis Ababa to start the Amharic course. The following year, he was assigned to Teticha mission, as director of the mission schools. Two years later, he was appointed parish priest there. In 1977 he went to Hawassa as parish priest. From July 1983 to June 1984, he stayed in Arramo to study a new local language: he learned to speak Amharic, Sidamo and Gedeo perfectly. From 1984 to 1986 he was parish priest of the mission parish of Fullasa.

However, the time also came for him to rotate and, in July 1986, he was in Bari where he was in charge of missionary animation and, the following year, he was appointed superior of the Missionary Animation Centre.

In Ethiopia the confreres were constantly asking for him and the superiors agreed that Father Rodolfo should return to Ethiopia: in July 1990, in fact, he was already engaged in pastoral ministry in Arramo. Two years later, he returned to Shafinna. In 1993 he was again in Hawassa as parish priest, remaining there until 1999, when he was appointed local superior of Fullasa.

In 2005, he moved to Arosa. In 2007, he returned to Fullasa. In 2013, he went to Dongora for two years. He never ceased moving. Being a master of the local languages, he never refused any appointment: once again he went to Teticha (2014-15), to Daye (2015) and to Hawassa (2016-18).

In October 2018, he was forced to return to Italy for treatment and on 8^th December he was assigned to the Italian province.

In September 2023 Father Rodolfo was transferred to the ‘Fr. Alfredo Fi­orini Centre’ in Castel d’Azzano. On 29^th December, after a brief spell in hospital for heart failure and a general worsening of his condition, he passed away peacefully at the Borgo Roma hospital in Verona, cared for by hospital staff, the community of Castel d’Azzano and his family.

On 2^nd January 2024, Father Renzo Piazza, superior of the Castel d’Az­zano Centre, presided over the funeral mass and, during the homily, re­called the testimonies of Father Rodolfo’s mission companions who pre­sented him as a man much loved by all. “Even here in Castel d’Azzano, in the few months that he spent with us, he made us love him”.

The funeral was celebrated on Wednesday 3^rd January in his hometown, in the presence of the superior general, Father Tesfaye Tadesse, and the assistant general, Father Luigi Codianni. From the testimonies received from Ethiopia, gratitude emerged for his great commitment, his total ded­ication to pastoral work, his affability and tolerance, his affectionate ap­proach to people, his sense of humour...”. (Father Franco Moretti, mccj)