In Pace Christi

Bro. Mario Pariani was born on 18 June 1925 at Magnago, Milan, the son of Antonio e Rosa Luigia who had eight sons. When Mario left home for the novitiate he also left his work in a hardware shop and was well on the way to becoming a good mechanic.

A form, which he filled in when he joined the novitiate, reveals the motivation behind his vocation: “To save my soul and the souls of the pagans.” “For six months, his parish priest wrote, Mario has been coming to daily Mass before going to work. His behaviour is faultless and his companions are among those who frequent the ‘Oratorio’. I trust he will be accepted, also because he was born in 1925 and could be called up for military service at any moment.”

On 14 February 1944 Mario entered the novitiate at Venegono where Fr. Antonio Todesco was novice master.

On 19 March 1946 he took his first vows and was immediately sent to Thiene as a cook. He stayed there for six months before being sent to Brescia as general “factotum”.

In those days, the Brothers in the minor seminaries used to go around the farms and ask the peasants for some food donations for the seminarians. Bro. Mario was so successful in this work that Fr. Emilio Ceccarini, responsible for all the junior seminaries in Italy, wrote in 1950: “Bro. Mario is indeed a likeable person. He has many skills, is generous and intelligent. His way of dealing with people endears him to others. He behaves well with externs, is esteemed by all, and is given everything he asks for. During the past four years he has been collecting food with true self-denial, sacrifice and success. He is suitable for the missionary life, and is skilled in mechanics, gardening and woodwork.”

In August 1950 the gateway to Africa was opened for Bro. Mario. His first appointment was to Mupoi mission in Southern Sudan. It was an impressive mission with schools, laboratories and workshops and a propensity to expand. Bro. Mario thrived on it all, especially in the carpentry department.

In 1955 he went to Maringindo mission, again as a carpenter. In 1957 the government nationalised the schools and placed severe restrictions on the construction of churches. At Kpaile there was as yet no church. One day in 1956 a committee went to Wau to propose a suitable spot for the new church on a small hill, but the attempt came to nothing. A severe drought struck the area resulting in hunger and poverty. Chief Dakon gathered the witch doctors to consult them. Their explanation was: “The cause of the drought is due to the fact that people are not listening to the abuna (the missionaries) and do not attend church.” On the following Sunday the church was packed to overflowing with Christians, pagans and chiefs. The following night abundant rain fell and the missionaries were allowed to build the church.

A year later, in 1956, we find Bro. Mario at Rimenze, where there was another church yet to be built. By making bricks, keeping the carpentry shop in full swing and digging wells, Bro. Mario tried to keep up with the requirements of the apostolic work of his priests confreres.

In 1959, after nine years of missionary work, Fr. Mario returned to Italy for his holidays and to rest a while. He wanted to get back as soon as possible to the missions he had been working, but things were changing fast in Sudan. It was the beginning of the expulsion of the missionaries from Southern Sudan.

So Bro. Mario had to remain in Brescia for four years (1959-1963), taking up where he had left off when he went to Sudan. Looking ahead to the mass expulsions, the superiors had accepted new missions in Burundi and in Congo. Bro. Mario asked to be sent to Congo. His request was backed up with two reasons: Congo shared a border with the Zande people and Bro. Mario knew their language as well as their customs; the second reason was that many Christians from southern Sudan had sought refuge in Congo.

Bro. Mario left for his new appointment with the second group of confreres made up of Fr. Remo Armani, Fr. Evaristo Migotti and Fr. Ferdinando Colombo. They sailed from Venice on 13 February 1964 and reached Congo via Uganda. Bro. Mario was appointed to Ndedu.

The community of Ndedu comprised Fr. Pasquale Merloni, Fr. Remo Armani, Fr. Ferdinando Colombo and Bro. Mario. The latter wrote to Fr. General on 5 July 1964: “Allow me, most reverend Father, to thank you once more for having chosen me for this mission to work for the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and his glory. We are working flat out: making bricks, getting firewood for the brick ovens as well as collecting stones. The sawyers fall mahogany trees and saw them by hand to provide wood for the new buildings. The forest is full of timber and we have every necessary permit to cut what we need.”

Meanwhile, things were getting bad in Congo. The new People’s Republic of Stanleyville put a stop to everything. The ranks of Simba hordes were growing and becoming evermore threatening. There was severe persecution throughout the region with many deaths. Bro. Mario succeeded in reaching home in one piece together with his mission companion, Fr. Pasquale Merloni.

Back in Italy after such a traumatic experience, he was sent to the peaceful house of Gozzano, home of the novitiate. There, in an atmosphere of prayer and silence, enlivened by the presence of so many young novices, he managed to regain his health and strength.

Then peace returned to Congo and, in 1968, Bro. Mario could return and was sent to Rungu as director of the technical school.

One of the first things he did was to visit the place (the bridge over the Bomokandi river) where his confreres Fr. Lorenzo Piazza, Fr. Evaristo Migotti and Fr. Antonio Zuccali had been killed. On that same occasion, Bro. Carlo Mosca, director of the technical school, had survived, as he was believed by the Simba to be dead.

In a letter dated August 1969, Bro. Mario wrote: “Here all is well. The situation is very peaceful and allows us to carry on our apostolic work untroubled. I have already been to see the spot where I ought to have died on 29 November 1964...” He would work hard for another 35 years at Rungu, Dakwa, Bomokandi and in other missions where they needed a Brother who was available, capable, always smiling, always happy and always ready to help anyone in need.

In 2002 Bro. Mario’s health had become precarious and he had to go home to Italy. He went to Milan and then to Rebbio. In 2003 he tried the missionary life one last time and went to Kinshasa-Kingabwa and to Duru, as a member of the community and a “praying Brother”. In 2005 he returned for good to Milan where he waited for the reward which the Lord reserves for his faithful workers. He died of pneumonia on 18 July 2006 and was buried in his hometown.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 232 suppl. In Memoriam, ottobre 2006, pp. 95-106