In Pace Christi

Giampiero Pini was ten when he told his parents that he wanted to enter the seminary to be a priest. The curate gave an assurance that he had a vocation - insofar as one can talk of a vocation at the age of 10, although God does call people from their mother's womb - because he had kept an eye on the boy since he had started school, and knew him as an able and confident altar-boy, who would dash between the sacristy and the presbytery, although he knew how to be quiet and devout on the important occasions.

Although he was a bit small and skinny physically, he had great determination. And his companions all looked up to him!

In the family the son's choice was welcomed with joy; their Catholicism was lived and practised openly and unashamedly. Rinaldo, the father, who worked in a bank, would go to the first Mass on the way to work; and the mother Giovanna Chiodo gave her whole time to the family; it was at her knee that the two children the Lord gave her learned their prayers.

And so, in 1936, Giampiero entered the Junior Seminary of St Peter Martyr, where he started secondary school. Then he moved on to the seminary of Seveso, only a few hundred yards away, for grammar school. After that he continued to Venegono Inferiore to complete his studies of Philosophy and Theology.

And here the Lord was in wait. Very soon he got to know the Comboni Missionaries who came down from the Novitiate at Venegono Superiore to talk to the seminarians of the Milan Archdiocese. Giampiero went with his classmates to visit the Novitiate. If he had been impressed by the stories of life in the missions told by those who had worked in Africa, he was highly edified by the way of life of the novice, who seemed to him to be a group of Aloysius Gonzagas! Besides, a number of missionary magazines came into the seminary, and he read them avidly.

"To be - or not to be - a missionary?" This question began to pester him. He discussed it with the Rector and the Spiritual Director, both of whom concluded, after careful consideration, that he had a true vocation. Then he talked to his father. Talk about the cat among the pigeons...!

"During the past weeks," he wrote on 1st August 1942, "I have had a tremendous struggle with my father. He says I'm mad, and that the Rector has put me up to it. I am sure that the prayers of the novices will find me the words to say to Dad, and that he will become, if not happy, then resigned."

But if his father was proud to have a son a priest, he did not have the slightest desire to see him a missionary. Giampiero turned all his efforts towards his mother, and won her over to his side, despite the pain she felt. And she, with the able support of Mgr. Bernasconi, the Parish Priest, was able to work her husband round until finally he said that he was happy with his son's choice.

In the letter expressing their consent, on 30th May 1943, the parents put a proviso: they gave their permission only if "his superiors find that he is truly called to the missionary life."

It has to be said that, in later years, the father was enthusiastic about his missionary son, and became a fervent supporter; so much so that he would have allowed his second son to follow the same path, had he wanted.

Novice

On 6th June 1943, Giampiero wrote to the Cardinal of Milan: "Most Eminent Prince, I am a cleric in the 5th Form, and I have heard clearly in my heart the voice of the Lord calling me to the state of a religious and missionary. So I beg your Most Illustrious and Reverend Eminence for the faculty to leave the seminary and enter the Novitiate of the Comboni Missionaries at Venegono Superiore at the start of the next academic year.

I assure Your Eminence that I have prayed a lot over this matter, have given it much thought, and have asked the advice of my spiritual director and the permission of my parents, who are looking forward to the joy of having a son a missionary.

While thanking Your Eminence for all the good things I have received in your seminaries, I feel certain that this petition will be granted...."

Mgr. Giovanni Colombo, Rector of the Seminary, gave his assurance that "the soundness of this missionary vocation is borne out by the excellent behaviour of the young man, by his exquisitely Marian piety, and by his meek and docile character."

But there was a veil of sadness in Giampiero's heart. He expressed it in a letter at the beginning of August:

"The thought of giving myself wholly to the Lord for the salvation of Africa fills me with great joy; but it is slightly obscured by the thought that I must leave my parents. Nevertheless, I want to be absolutely generous towards Jesus, who has been so generous with me."

On 23rd August 1943, Giampiero entered the Novitiate at Venegono Superiore, and immediately set out to imitate the fervour of the novices.

The Novice Master, Fr. Antonio Todesco, wrote: "At first he found it a bit difficult, but he got down to work, calmly and with generous good will. He has made good progress. His piety is not exaggerated, but carries sincere conviction. In character he is generous, quiet, adaptable, although beneath all that he is rather lively and restless. His desire to make progress in virtue is strong.

He is obedient and quite fit for community life, since he is cheerful and able to get on with everybody. During his second year in the Novitiate he has attended the first year of Sixth Form."

Cabbages, not flowers

He made his First Profession on 15th August 1945, and went to Rebbio (Como) to complete Sixth Form. Fr Villotti writes: "We met at Rebbio, both newly-professed. He came from Venegono, and I from Florence. I was immediately struck by the serenity and cordiality that shone in him. He was always able to add a note of joy to conversations, and in other circumstances."

Fr. Villotti recalls an amusing episode from this period: "Pini had been appointed vice-gardener; the head was Pons. One day, as I passed by, he winked at me and said, the poetic feeling, and no romance whatsoever!»" The episode does shed light on Giampiero's character, that tended towards concrete and practical things.

The superior, Fr. Cesana, wrote about him: "He is a good scholastic, obedient, with a good religious spirit, open and tractable.

Sometimes he gets annoyed, but it passes quickly. He has the temperament of a leader. He does quite well at school. Good health. Very promising; he should succeed."

A true educator

The following year he went to Brescia to be "Brother Assistant" of the boys in the missionary seminary. The superior was Fr. Parodi. What he has to say is very similar to Cesana's views: "Good as an educator, full of initiatives in this field. He has a clear aptitude for spiritual guidance, and is keen on organising little talks and other community activities. He has a lot of good qualities, and I am very happy to support his application to renew his Vows."

In 1948 we find Giampiero in Trento, again as Assistant of the seminarians there. There were three other "prefects" with him: Parolini, Belli and Villotti.

The writer was a young seminarian at Trento at that time. The first thing that has to be said about the four Assistants is that they gave great example to the boys through the harmony, the kindness and the serene friendship that existed among them. They had formed a kind of band, called "PI.PA.BE.VI." from the first syllables of their names (and three of them have already gone to the House of the Father). The way they laughed together gave the boys a spontaneous feeling of belonging to a family, with an atmosphere of cordiality and joy; hence community life and discipline, which are essential for the good running of a seminary, were not a burden at all.

The ideas the four thought up to keep the group of about 100 boys happy, busy and contented were marvellous. Comedies, operettas, sing-alongs, hikes, games in the open air - but work in the fields and the gardens too - fill one's mind with a certain nostalgia for the years of the junior seminary. We were really content, and our Assistants made us enjoy our missionary vocation, and made the commitments to study, school and discipline much easier to bear.

A hard life

They themselves studied at the diocesan seminary. It was quite a walk every morning, leaving Muralta to go down into the city, and come back up towards 13.00 to take the seminarians in to lunch when they came out of classes. We would see them at night, behind the curtain that separated their beds from those of the boys in the dormitory, studying by the light of a little torch.

Fr Villotti writes: "In Trento, as prefects, we founded the PIPABEVI GROUP of which, alas, I am the sole survivor. Its aim was to tidy up around the house, which had just been rebuilt after the bombing during the War, and make it look decent. Our poster declared, but what it amounted to was filling the craters left by American bombs in all the area destined to be a meadow, a garden and a playing field. And we and the seminarians worked with enthusiasm.

PIPABEVI also became a secret brewery, to give joy to the hearts of the Fathers and Brothers, among whom was dear Fr. Bernardo Sartori, who came to Trento to preach the Triduum and World Mission Day in 1949. Pini was always the one who started off our initiatives. It was a real pleasure to collaborate with him in anything that could make the community life of the junior seminary more pleasant."

Giampiero received Minor Orders at Trento. He wrote to the Superior General, who was leaving for a visit to Africa: "Be so kind as to prepare a little place for me, because in three to four years I hope to be ready to leave myself" (26th October 1948).

There was also a very good relationship between the Assistants and the Superior, Fr. Giorgio Canestrari, and the other fathers and brothers. All in all, they taught the students by their example how wonderful community life is, when lived as it should be by future missionaries.

Fr. Canestrari made his comments too: "I can vouch for the good behaviour of Bro. Pini, and his serious commitment to his office of prefect. He really knows how to deal with the boys. He is a true educator and formator of young missionaries. He is effective in helping them to be generous in facing the sacrifices that daily life brings, as a preparation for the big sacrifices in the missions. And he leads by example.

As regards piety, too, I have always found him careful to carry out all his duties. Trento, 6th July 1950."

For the final year of Theology Giampiero joined his classmates at Venegono Superiore (the Novitiate had been transferred to Gozzano in 1948). Fr. Villotti recalls: "In the fourth year, although we were Deacons, we were asked to take charge of the cleaning of the house (which previously had not been asked of the Deacons, to leave them free to say their Office), and some made a real song and dance over it. But Pini took it all calmly, and even tried to bring in a note of joyful obedience to win over the "rebels". The superior, Fr Medeghini, noticed this; he said: t never left the scholasticate.»"

Fr. Pini was ordained priest in Milan by Cardinal Idelfonso Schuster on 19th May 1951.

Go to pay the debts

The aim of an immediate departure for the missions was killed off by the assignment that detoured Pini to Carraia (Lucca), where there was another Comboni junior seminary, as bursar.

In assigning him there, Fr. General told him: "Go to pay the debts at Carraia for a few years, then I'll send you to the missions."

He did not feel he fitted the job, but he carried it out competently and with enthusiasm. The Bursar, before managing the money of the house, had to go out first and earn it through Mission Appeals. Fr. Pini became an "itinerant missionary", making the rounds of the parishes in the Lucca area. It must be said that they were hard years, because all travelling had to be done by public transport or bicycle - taking along the heavy projector, books and various promotion materials.

"He's a bit rough and ready, but very adaptable," wrote Fr. Pietro Albertini, the superior. "He is kind and understanding, used to making sacrifices, good company. Courteous towards people, and kind to everybody. An intense interior life. After a bit of training and practice, would make a good superior; he has the qualities of mind and heart for it."

Mexico

At last, after four years of that life, Fr. Pini wrote to the General: "With the help of Providence the debts are paid and there is something in the safe. So I am writing to remind you of the promise you made, and beg the great favour of being sent to the missions. I have been making Mission Appeals every Sunday for the past three years, presenting myself as a missionary; but when asked where I had been in the Missions, I had to retreat in disarray... and besides, I left the Milan seminary to go to the Missions. I am ready to go anywhere. Up to now I have always been told: and I am always ready to do it. But I hope that this holy Will sends me off towards the Missions!"

"I have received your letter, a welcome sample of super-missionary impertinence. I congratulate you on your missionary ardour. Pray a bit more. Maybe Our Lady will obtain this grace for you."

And the grace came immediately. Indeed, by October 1954 Fr Pini was already in Mexico, at Sahuayo, with the tasks of teacher, bursar and assistant - with promotion work and spiritual direction thrown in for good measure. Fr. Turchetti wrote: "He can do anything, and does it well."

Being very active and always optimistic, he soon won everybody's goodwill and esteem.

Following the period at Sahuayo he went to La Paz as Principal of the college, and discovered a calling towards journalism, thus becoming the first editor of the resurrected missionary magazine, "Esquila Missional", and also national director of the Pontifical Missionary Works in Mexico. In 1976 he was elected Provincial Superior, and served out his mandate in Mexico.

Costa Rica

At the end of the three years, in 1979, he moved to San José in Costa Rica, where he founded a Comboni seminary.

"It has been a privilege to have him among us," wrote his confreres. "Committed, always content and generous, rich in humanity, guided by the Holy Spirit, he was a model and a stimulus for confreres, collaborators, priests and laity."

Writing to Fr Franco Masserdotti in 1981, he alluded to "This new adventure for the Kingdom of God, in Bishop Comboni's Centenary year.... On Sunday 8th March, the Provincial, the two fathers who work at Limón and we from San José, have had a visit from Archbishop Roman Arrieta Villalobos, who presided at Mass in the Holy Family church, with a crowd of people, and inaugurated the Comboni Postulancy in Costa Rica. There are 10 postulants."

Fr. Pini did good work in Costa Rica, but he was already looking ahead. He had realised that Central America could give many good vocations.

Guatemala

Ten years later, in 1989, he started Comboni Missionary activities in Guatemala, along with Fr. Vincenzo Turri and Bro. Jesus Perez. He founded the parish of Our Lady of Miracles and then started the Missionary Animation Centre.

In a letter to his brother Adriano, he described the beginnings in Guatemala. "I am in a new world, the real Central America, where the differences between the very rich and tremendous poverty are much more noticeable than in Mexico. I live in a parish on the outskirts, in a small, modest house; but I have all I need. There is a brother with me who is a great help. the people are good, and bring us beans, eggs, tortillas, cake, etc.

We keep coming across tremendous cases of hardship and delinquency. Drunks, drug-addicts, criminals... who must be brought back to the Father's house. They all live along a stream that practically marks the city boundary, in dreadful hovels. I cannot make out how they live, or put something in their stomachs each day. Yet in those shacks they have TV, that takes them out of their miserable world. On Sundays I go over to them and celebrate two Masses, and during the week I celebrate another at night. You should see how they make me welcome!

Our chief task is to found a Centre for Missionary Animation, and we are taking the first steps to find a site in the city. As you see, it is a difficult job, but the Lord is helping us. I need a lot of prayers, because the one who does the real work is the Lord; we are just poor devils.

But there is a lot of optimism in our missionary work, and that gives a good taste to everything."

Renewal in the Spirit

It is a mark that stands out frequently in Fr. Pini's activities: the optimism, the youthful enthusiasm even in the face of difficulties (and he met with many, as can easily be imagined). What was the secret of this optimism? Well, it was simply... the Holy Spirit.

Fr. Villotti writes: "In Mexico, when he discovered the Movement for Renewal in the Spirit, his priestly life underwent a change in quality. Let us be clear: he was always an excellent priest, a man of prayer, of sacrifice, of exemplary zeal. But his priesthood gained immensely from the encounter with this Movement. The Holy Spirit became the main actor in his ministry. He made every effort not to get in the way of the Spirit blowing in him. Only the Lord knows all the good he was able to do in Mexico, in Costa Rica and in Guatemala. While belonging to the Movement, he still kept a wonderful spiritual and moral balance, without falling into the forms of fanaticism that, unfortunately, capture lesser-equipped souls. In a word, Fr. Pini brought the wonders of the early Church back to life in his priestly ministry - the Church of the Acts of the Apostles. This, and only this, can explain the success of his serenity and the abundant fruits of his missionary ministry."

And his convictions still allowed him to animate, direct, guide with a firm hand and... correct. In the true style of St Paul.

Fr. Piu remembers that once Fr. Pini told him: "Father, let us put Jesus Christ at the centre of our work, of our life; let us not stop the Holy Spirit from blowing, and you will see that Pentecost is not over yet". And facts have proved him right.

Returning home

Four months before his death, Fr. Pini went into hospital to have some kidney stones removed by closed surgery. The operation went well, and the father went back to his normal activities. But a tendency to high blood-pressure had remained. Then other stones were found in the liver, and the blood-pressure began to climb to  worrying levels. It was too dangerous to attempt an operation in those conditions.

The continual ups and downs in pressure caused a series of slight strokes, which led to a paralysis down the left side. He spent a fortnight in hospital, then was able to return home, though he needed a wheelchair to get around.

Fr. Pini could see that things were getting worse, but with his usual optimism and his will-power, he felt he could get the better of his troubles. However, one day he had an internal haemorrhage, which caused a complete collapse. He was rushed to hospital, where every effort was made to save him.

Fr. Piu narrates: "Three days before he died, after assuring us that he would soon have overcome the crisis, he began to feel worse. He told one of his friends from the Charismatic Movement that he wanted to return home. Returning home was the expression we heard most often from him on our frequent visits to the hospital. It is the wish of every patient, but God changed the words to a cry of hope of one who is looking forward to the eternal dwellings in the House of the Father. He reached it in the early afternoon of Thursday, 8th June 1995, the liturgical feast of Christ, the Eternal High Priest.

Like St Francis Xavier

Death took him at the height of his activities. His diary was full of appointments and commitments. He intended to go to Honduras for an ECLA meeting and, maybe, for another Comboni foundation. Like St Francis Xavier, he was left with the desire in his eyes and in his heart.

Fr. Pini was a missionary who was able to grasp all the problems of the Church in Latin America. His intelligence and intuition enabled him to choose the time and the method for an efficient evangelisation and promotion, depending a lot on lay people: he had great faith in the laity.

Of his 44 years as a priest, he spent 40 in Latin America. His confreres called him "a good collaborator of the Holy Spirit", because of his ability to grasp the importance of the charismatic movements, in which the main action is precisely that of the Holy Spirit who works in the souls of men and women, transforms hearts, and thus "renews the face of the earth". His body lies in the land where he worked, as the seed for other missionary successes.

Though there is regret at having lost a valid collaborator - indeed more often the engine that drove many initiatives for the human, social and religious progress of the people - we are sure that we have a valid protector in heaven. (Fr. Lorenzo Gaiga)