In Pace Christi

Nicolino was born on 19th July 1958, in Celenza Valfortore, in the province of Foggia (Italy), in the diocese of Lucera-Troia, to Luigi Di Iorio and Antonietta Montagano, in a deeply Catholic and traditional family.
After graduating from the “Enrico Fermi” Scientific High School in Bari in July 1977, in October of the same year he entered the Comboni postulate in Florence for the first two years of theology at the Florentine Theological Institute, where he obtained his diploma. On 10th October 1979, he entered the Comboni novitiate in Venegono Superiore (Varese), where he made his first religious profession on 6th June 1981. He attended the third year of theology in the Comboni scholasticate in Chicago (1981-1982), and then went to Elstree, England, to complete the theology courses at the Missionary Institute of London (MIL). On 21st June 1985, he obtained a Diploma in Missiology at the Mil, and on 3rd December, he made his perpetual religious profession. On 11th January 1986, he was ordained a deacon in the parish of Saint Teresa in Borehamwood, by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal George Basil Hume. On 17th June 1986, he obtained a Bachelor of Theology and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies, awarded by the University of Louvain (Belgium). On 9th August 1986, he was ordained a priest in the parish of Celenza Valfortore, by the Bishop of Lucera, Msgr. Carmelo Cassati.
Assigned to the province of Italy, in September 1986 he was sent to the minor seminary of Brescia as a formator and teacher. The following year, he was superior of the minor seminary of Troia and vocations promoter; he also taught religion in the local middle school. During his free time from teaching, he attended a course for seminary educators in Rome, at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Salesian University, and on 25th June 1991, he obtained the document of "certification of professional qualification as an educator".
On 1st July 1993, Father Nicola was assigned to the Province of Ethiopia. His first pastoral commitment was in the mission of Tullo, among the Sidamo ethnic group, in the Vicariate of Hawassa, where he remained until the end of November 1994. The following month he was in Fullasa, as vice superior and bursar of the community. He remained here for four years, until September 19, 1998, when he was called to Addis Ababa by the outgoing provincial superior, Father Carlo Giana, to prepare to become rector of the Major Seminary of Hawassa, located in Gulele-Addis Ababa, replacing Father Sisto Agostini.
On 1st January 1999, Father Nicola began his service as rector of the seminary. That same day, Father Corrado Masini began his provincialate, and Father Nicola was one of the four provincial councillors elected. In October, for pastoral needs, he had to leave for Teticcia, where he was appointed parish priest (15th February 2000) and then also superior of the community (January 2001). At the end of February 2003, he was appointed provincial secretary of evangelisation and coordinator of ongoing formation.
On 1st October 2005, the new provincial superior, Father Tesfaye Tadesse, assigned him to the provincial house in Addis Ababa as bursar and provincial attorney and superior of the community of the provincial house.
Even though the administrative work was more than abundant, and he loved his priestly and missionary vocation, Father Nicola dedicated himself body and soul to the Italian Catholic community of Addis Ababa and the “San Giuseppe” Charitable Aid Center.
On 1st July 2012, Father Enrique Sánchez, Superior General, assigned him to the Province of Italy.
On 1st January 2013, he was in Rome to begin a sabbatical year, with the community of student confreres hosted in the General House. In August, he was assigned to the community of Bari, assigned to the missionary animation centre. In December, he was appointed superior of the community and on 1st January 2014, elected provincial councillor.
In October 2016, he was again assigned to the Province of Ethiopia. In the provincial headquarters of Addis Ababa, Father Nicola also served as superior and local treasurer of the community. On 31st December, his term as provincial treasurer ended, and he could at last throw himself back into the pastoral ministry that he so long awaited.
But his mastery in managing economic and administrative matters forced him to say yes to the new Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate, Father Juan Antonio González Núñez, who asked him to be the diocesan administrator to help him in the arduous tasks of finances, relations with the local clergy and diocesan pastoral care. He was also very involved in the ongoing formation of the religious women present in the diocese, especially through monthly retreats, and was responsible for celebrating a Mass in English every Sunday for the international community of Hawassa.
In September 2024, Father Nicola took a short vacation in Italy. After five weeks, he returned on 5th October. Father Corrado Masini went to meet him at the airport in Addis Ababa. It was late in the evening. Apart from being tired from the journey, Father Nicola seemed to be in good health. The medical tests done at the “Sollievo della Sofferenza” Nursing Home in San Giovanni Rotondo were good. “I just need to rest,” he said and went to his room. At six in the morning, he got up but immediately went back to bed. He did not turn up for lunch. Someone went up to call him and found him dead in his bed.
The next morning, a funeral mass was celebrated in the chapel of the provincial headquarters. Then the body was taken to the hospital for an autopsy. On the 10th, the memorial of Saint Daniel Comboni, a requiem mass was celebrated in the cathedral of Hawassa for Father Nicola and Sister Maria Sarina Nici, a Comboni missionary who died in Italy on 1st Octobert, well known and loved in Ethiopia, where she served for 28 years. The Eucharist was led by the Capuchin Bishop Dejene Hidoto, Apostolic Vicar of Sodo, and concelebrated by Msgr. Seyoum Franso, Apostolic Vicar of Osanna, Father Juan Núñez, Father Asfaha Yohannes, Provincial Superior of the Comboni missionaries in Ethiopia, and over fifty priests, both diocesan and missionary. The cathedral was packed with Sisters from various congregations present in the vicariate and many faithful.
The family members from Italy let it be known that they wished to have the body of their dear Father Nicola returned to Italy and the funeral was celebrated on 16th October, in the mother church of Celenza Valfortore.
Father Nicola was a generous person, with a huge heart. He was a capable and upright administrator of the finances of the Province of Ethiopia as well as of the Vicariate of Hawassa, managing to remedy deficit situations and reviving the finances to serve the mission. Always interested and ready to listen to anyone who needed a word of encouragement or comfort, he never relented. Indeed, he accompanied people for a considerable time, with his physical and spiritual closeness. Elderly or sick brothers who lived in the Provincial House of Addis Ababa or passed through there for a short period were personally accompanied and assisted by him.
The premature passing of Father Nicola is a great loss for the Sidamo population, whom he loved immeasurably; for the Italian community of Addis Ababa, of which he was a charismatic leader; for the Vicariate of Hawassa, whose many commitments weighed heavily on him in this long phase of transition, awaiting the appointment of a bishop for the vacant see; for the Comboni Institute; for his family, especially for his parents in their nineties, for whom he cared immensely. (Father Marco Innocenti, mcc,j and Father Franco Moretti, mccj)