In Pace Christi

P. Antonio Vignato è il missionario della ripresa missionaria in Sudan meridionale e in Uganda. Lo troviamo la prima volta sulla tolda del Redemptor nel 1904, mentre naviga verso Sud in compagnia di mons. Geyer e di altri missionari. Aveva 26 anni essendo nato a Gambellara, Vicenza, nel 1878.

Figlio di un facoltoso contadino e penultimo di 9 figli, tra i quali ci furono tre sacerdoti e tre suore, ebbe un’infanzia scapestrata. A 10 anni era ancora in seconda elementare; era impulsivo e collerico, ma anche tanto sensibile. La sua preoccupazione, andando a scuola, era quella di riempirsi le tasche di pane per darlo ai compagni poveri. Ad un certo punto, come il figlio prodigo, chiese al padre la sua parte perché voleva andarsene da casa. Il padre, a differenza di quello del Vangelo, prese lo scudiscio che usava per i buoi, e gli diede una “sostanziosa passata”, commentando: “Questa è la tua parte”. Poi lo chiuse in collegio.

Qui Antonio, per far dispetto al padre che lo aveva pronosticato contadino, comincia a studiare diventando uno dei primi della classe, riuscendo a ricuperare il tempo perduto.

Una visita di mons. Roveggio nel 1895 al Collegio, lo convince a dedicarsi all’Africa. È una passione travolgente. In famiglia scoppia la bufera, ma con un tipo come Antonio, il papà e tutto il parentado devono chinare la testa e lasciarlo andare. A 18 anni entra nell’Istituto comboniano di Verona. Per evitare il servizio militare, si fa volontario della Sanità a Castel San Pietro, vicino alla Casa madre dei Comboniani. Là impara l’arte di infermiere che in Africa gli attirerà non poche simpatie. Nel 1902 è ordinato sacerdote. Ha 24 anni. Parte immediatamente per l’Egitto e viene assegnato alla Gezira ad assistere gli ex schiavi. Sotto la direzione di due medici si perfeziona nell’assistenza sanitaria.

Imbarcatisi a Khartoum quando la stagione secca è ormai avanti, giungono a Mesra mentre il livello del fiume troppo basso per la navigazione. Allora sbarcano i missionari e anche i 21 asini trasportati in un barcone a rimorchio del battello. “Avevamo in testa tanta teologia, ma nessuno ci aveva insegnato a far marciare quegli asini caparbi e senza bardature”, scrive. Vignato percorse a piedi, attraverso la foresta, i 180 chilometri che lo separavano da Wau per avvertire il medico che fr. Alessandro era malato e aveva bisogno di lui.

Giunto a destinazione, venne assegnato con p. Bertola alla missione di Kayango. Cominciarono a costruire le prime capanne di paglia e fango. Nella regione c’erano ancora focolai di ribellione contro gli inglesi. Inoltre il capo del villaggio, per stancare i missionari, organizzava balli notturni con rullo di tamburi, che si protraevano fino al giorno dopo. Quando la gente era stanca, era lo stesso capo che saliva su un ramo e gridava in continuazione in modo che i missionari non potessero prendere sonno e se ne andassero. “Se non fossi un missionario – disse un giorno Vignato imbracciando il fucile - lo tirerei giù come un merlo”. Poi ci fu la siccità, la carestia, la fame e la morìa del bestiame. I missionari si ridussero a tirare i carretti a mano con il materiale da costruzione. Il capo attribuiva quelle disgrazie ai missionari che predicavano una religione diversa da quella dei loro antenati.

Il 13 giugno di quel 1904 un bambino di nome Morgian si presenta alla capanna del missionario. Questi gli mostra un sillabario italiano e gli indica le lettere dell’alfabeto. Il giorno dopo, Morgian torna e ripete l’alfabeto a memoria. Vignato scrive: “Quel giorno ebbe inizio la nostra scuola, la prima del Sudan, con un solo alunno”. In dicembre iniziò anche il catecumenato con una decina di ragazzi e un adulto. Dopo Kaiango fu la volta di Mbili e di Wau, anche queste missioni erano in zona infestata da zanzare e da malaria. Vignato tenne duro per sette anni in quella situazione disperata. Intanto sorgevano le prime case della missione e la chiesa, i ragazzi frequentavano il catechismo e perfino il fratello del perfido capo Kayango, prima di morire, chiese il battesimo.

Poi ci fu una discussione col suo vescovo, mons. Geyer. Questi era dell’opinione che, prima di far cristiani i Neri, bisognava farli uomini civili. Vignato diceva che l’africano diventa civile facendosi cristiano. La questione finì davanti alla Santa Sede che diede ragione a Vignato.

Intanto cominciarono a morire i missionari: una decina in pochi mesi. P. Colombaroli, superiore generale, voleva chiudere quelle missioni. A p. Vignato va il merito di aver insistito, sicuro - come Comboni - che Dio voleva la salvezza degli africani. Così sorsero le chiese, i seminari, gli ospedali, le scuole, le officine, le falegnamerie, la tipografia … I Neri impararono a lavorare la terra in modo razionale, divennero artigiani e, soprattutto, buoni cristiani. La missione, dunque, era destinata a continuare. Il capo Kayango ad un certo punto ordinò alla sua gente: “La nostra vecchia religione è finita; ora tutti devono andare in chiesa alla domenica perché la religione vera è quella portata dai missionari”.

Prefetto Apostolico e superiore generale

Nel 1911 troviamo p. Vignato in Uganda dove, un anno prima, era stata aperta le prima missione di Gulu. Intuisce l’importanza dei catechisti per evangelizzare la gente, e ne fa arrivare 32 chiedendoli in prestito ai Padri Bianchi che da anni si trovano al Sud d’Uganda.

Un giorno, trovandosi in piena foresta con due leoni che gli sbarrano il sentiero e gli ruggiscono in faccia, p. Vignato si mette a ruggire più forte di loro. Dopo sette ore di quella musica, riesce a stancarli e può proseguire il cammino. Quando il Governatore inglese gli nega il permesso di aprire una missione, egli percorre in bicicletta 150 chilometri per raggiungerlo, entra trafelato e sudato nel suo ufficio e gli dice. “Di qui non mi muovo finché non avrò il permesso”. Come negarglielo?

La Chiesa del nord Uganda intanto si sviluppava e le missioni si moltiplicavano. Nel 1923 venne eretta la Prefettura apostolica del Nilo Equatoriale e p. Vignato fu nominato primo Prefetto Apostolico. Iniziò, così, il periodo più glorioso, ma anche più doloroso della sua vita. periodo glorioso per l’aumento costante delle missioni e del numero di cristiani, per l’attività scolastica, il seminario per africani e le migliorate condizioni economiche… ma anche periodo doloroso per le incomprensioni che incontrò nelle autorità inglesi e in qualche confratello che non sopportava il suo carattere schietto, e per la salute. Ben 18 volte andò in fin di vita causa la malaria. Quando, nel 1934, si trattò di eleggere un vescovo per quel Vicariato, gli fu preferito p. Angelo Negri. Ma la Provvidenza aveva in serbo qualcosa di importante per p. Vignato. Infatti, nel VI Capitolo generale della Congregazione del 1937, venne eletto Superiore Generale. E fu un grandissime Generale che diede uno sviluppo determinante alla Congregazione. Infatti mandò i missionari in Inghilterra, in Mozambico e in Eritrea, aprì le case di Firenze, di Napoli, di Pesaro, di Como, di Bologna.

Ma p. Vignato è stato un campione della metodologia missionaria attingendo dall’esperienza sua, dei missionari del proprio Istituto e di altri istituti che operavano in Africa. Preparò i libri liturgici per l’Africa e indicò, in un Vademecum, le linee metodologiche per entrare in contatto con la gente allo scopo di suscitare simpatia e interesse per la fede. Insistette sull’importanza dello studio della lingua dei diversi popoli, sulla comprensione delle culture locali, sull’attenzione alle persone. Diede indicazioni chiare affinché i cristiani potessero vivere la loro fede e la loro morale in un mondo pagano, insegnò come seguire le comunità cristiane con poco personale. Da ciò l’istituzione delle visite ai villaggi. Promosse nel mondo africano il ministero sacerdotale, la vita religiosa maschile e femminile, diede grande importanza alla formazione dei catechisti. Ormai anziano e pieno di acciacchi, si ritirò a Verona e scrisse una documentata storia delle missioni comboniane, che costituisce ancor oggi la base di partenza per ogni studio sulle medesime. Amò appassionatamente Gesù Cristo, la Chiesa, il Papa e le anime. È stato un comboniano tra i più rappresentativi dello spirito dell’Istituto. Si è spento a Verona il 14 aprile 1954.                      P. Lorenzo Gaiga

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Antonio nasce a Gambellara (Vicenza) il 17.1.1878. È il penultimo di nove figli. Il padre è un agricoltore discretamente facoltoso, il suo metodo pedagogico è piuttosto rude e severo. La mamma è una donna di fede, moralmente forte e di una soavità tale che a un suo sguardo anche il piccolo monello Antonio cede.

Fino ai dieci anni Antonio è il più vivace di temperamento, refrattario a ogni disciplina, segue olimpicamente i suoi estri e tende a crescere senza arte né parte. E' un piccolo zingaro sempre pronto a combinarne una. A dieci anni è ancora in seconda elementare e non è stato neppure ammesso alla I Comunione. Non sembra davvero un membro della famiglia Vignato.

Una mattina di primo autunno il babbo Luigi conduce Antonio a Vicenza presso il collegio laico annesso al seminario vescovile dove già studiano tre fratelli di Antonio. Al rettore del collegio gli confida che sarebbe stato soddisfatto se durante quell'anno Antonio avesse imparato le preghiere. E come per infliggere una smentita alle previsioni paterne, Antonio s'inchioda sui libri e in due anni è iscritto alla prima ginnasiale. Ottima condotta, ottima applicazione, ottimi risultati. Il padre è strabiliato allor quando terminato il ginnasio, Antonio dice di voler intraprendere il liceo in seminario perché aspira al sacerdozio e alla vita missionaria.

Così a 19 anni, Antonio terminato il liceo, dal Seminario di Vicenza passa a Verona al giovanissimo istituto delle Missioni Africane. Vive il noviziato con serietà ed impegno, non indietreggia davanti alle prove e ai veri sacrifici, stringe i pugni ma guarda dritto in avanti.

E il 2 febbraio 1900 fa la Professione Religiosa: un momento culminante, un atto solenne che lo consacra irrevocabilmente alle missioni...

Ed ecco giunti al grande giorno dell'ordinazione sacerdotale; e il 2 agosto 1902, la prima Messa a Gambellara, con tutta la famiglia intorno. Alla mamma non pareva ancora vero che il suo discolo Toni avesse percorso con tanta fermezza la sua strada.

Nell'autunno dello stesso anno si imbarca per l'Africa. Una sosta di circa un anno a Gezira per apprendere la lingua araba e finalmente il 21.1.1904 con il Vicario Ap. Mons. Geyer è a bordo del Redemptor diretto a Wau; raggiunge Kayango il 7 marzo.

Qui ha inizio la sua prima grande esperienza di vita missionaria, P. Vignato è giovane, è inesperto, tuttavia fidando in Dio, inizia questa missione di Kayango, entra soprattutto in contatto con la gente, poi apre una scuoletta catecumenato e continua audacemente sulla sua via apostolica: catechismo coi piccoli, coi grandi, alla Missione, nei villaggi, all'ombra di una pianta, al guado di un fiume. Questo è il suo metodo di vero seminatore del vangelo.

Rimane a Kayango fino al 1911 quando rientra in Italia per ristabilirsi in salute; lascia Kayango con 4 cappelle, catechisti e 495 catecumeni.

Nell'autunno del 1913 l'indimenticabile P. Vianello, fondatore della Missione d'Uganda, destina P. Vignato a dirigere la missione di Omach. Una vita senza difficoltà non vale la pena di essere vissuta: i missionari autentici la pensano tutti così e P. Vignato si accinge ad imparare nuove lingue, ad adattarsi a costumi e usi di nuove tribù, a incominciare tutto da capo.

Come S. Paolo è sempre in moto, a piedi o in bicicletta. Non bada le distanze enormi, la mancanza di mezzi di trasporto, di rifornimento. La carità di Cristo lo spinge ... è una corsa agli ostacoli che la sua fede supera. E vediamo P. Vignato a Gulu, poi a Kitgum, a Palaro, a Moyo ad Arua... Percorre le regioni del Nilo orientale da un capo all'altro tra gli Alur, i Madi, i Lugbara, i Kakna ... è un succedersi di stazioni una dopo l'altra, le distanze si accorciano, cappele e scuole, chiese e ospedali si allineano sui colli, sui monti e nelle valli. Ma in mezzo alla sua vigna in fiore, P. Vignato, da sapiente operaio di Dio, vede necessario un giardino chiuso, una fonte sicura: il seminario dove trapiantare al sicuro i fiori della grazia. E ad Arua fra non poche difficoltà apre il suo primo seminario. E al seminario vi torna come a un nido di riposo dopo gli estenuanti e prolungati viaggi apostolici fino al lontanissimo Karamojia. E quando nel 1935 lascia il caro seminario l'ultimo suo monito ai chierici che sgorga dal suo cuore trafitto è "conservatevi nell'amore del Cuore di Gesù". Avrà però la grande gioia di presenziare all'ordinazione dei suoi primi sacerdoti il Natale del 1938 nella sua cattedrale di Gulu appena ultimata; era presente in qualità di superiore generale della congregazione.

Infatti nel 1937 è eletto superiore generale, carico che coprirà fino al 1949. Subito dopo la guerra apre nuovi campi di lavoro e case di formazione come in Mozambico, previa apertura in Portogallo e negli Stati Uniti d'America.

Finito il suo periodo di generalato, si ritira a Verona dove il 14 aprile 1954, mercoledì Santo, santamente si spegne come un cero che si consumi per Dio e il Suo Regno.

Che dire ancora di P. Vignato? Egli fu indubbiamente il seminatore instancabile della parola di Dio. Sempre e dovunque, con ogni persona egli era il seminatore.

Nei villaggi, nelle capanne, cappelle, scuole, catecumenati, prigioni, accampamenti di soldati, di rematori sul Nilo, egli doveva sempre parlare di Cristo. C'era in lui questa irresistibile urgenza: seminare la parola di Dio.

La vita di P. Vignato occupa una posizione chiave anche nella storia delle missioni comboniane in Africa.

Egli vide l'Istituto svilupparsi da piccola istituzione di Provincia a grande Istituto internazionale. Vide le Missione storiche del Comboni partire da zero nel 1904 e in 50 anni raggiungere il milione di convertiti divisi in 6 diocesi. Vide le prime cappelle in pali e fango divenire cattedrali. I poveri figli dell'Africa, usciti nudi dalla foresta, salire bianco vestiti l'altare, vestiti della suprema dignità di sacerdoti e di vescovi.

Questi sono i miracoli della grazia che Dio compie attraverso i suoi Apostoli.               P. Leonzio Bano

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Presentation of the model

“Fr. Antonio Vignato can be considered as the most representative figure of the Institute. If one adds that, with his fiery nature, he revived an accumulation of experiences in an eminently apostolic and religious spirit, filled with God’s love, we’ll have in short drawn his portrait”.

Fr. Vignato leads us to rediscover our Founder and to spiritually live with him.

From birth to priesthood (17 January 1878 – 2 August 1902)

Fr. Vignato was born in Gambellara on January 17, 1878, the eighth of nine children, of whom Pietro, Antonio and Agostino became priests, Maria, Pulcheria and Lucia embraced the religious life of the Sisters of the Visitation. Antonio stood out from all his brothers and sisters for a fiery temper, excessive vivacity and a lack of interest for his studies. Once he entered, aged 10, the diocesan college of Vicenza, he committed himself to the point that two years later he gave the exams of fifth grade and began junior school with excellent results. At the end of junior school, he wrote to his parents that he intended to attend senior school as a seminarian because he wanted to become a priest. In 1896, Mgr. Antonio Maria Roveggio, from Vicenza and the first Comboni religious of the area, at the invitation of the rector came to give a talk to the seminarians and spoke of his experience in Sudan. Antonio knew that this was his calling and decided to become a missionary. He made his religious profession on February 2, 1900. As a student of theology, in order not to lengthen the time of his preparation, he agreed through Fr. Antonio Voltolina to do his military service – one year – at the nearby barracks of Castel S. Pietro. He was ordained a priest by Mgr. Gaudenzio Bonfigli, Apostolic Vicar of Egypt and Arabia, on August 2, 1902.

A few weeks later, in his parish of Gambellara, surrounded by his family members and parishioners, not only celebrated the first Mass but said goodbye to everyone because he had already been appointed to Sudan.

First stay in Egypt (1902–1903)

Setting off from the port of Naples, Fr. Vignato landed at Alexandria. He was in Egypt, on the way to the community of Gezira. In Gezira had eventually been sheltered the staff of Khartoum and hundreds of Christians who in 1883 had fled the imminent danger of the arrival of the Mahdi and his followers. The colony was officially closed in 1901, while continuing to accommodate people in need of protection and assistance.

Fr. Vignato was welcomed into the large community of Gezira, made up of ten confreres, seven Bothers and three priests, of Italian and German nationality, who lived in great harmony and in a total commitment to the colony’s agricultural and technical schools. He had jumped at the chance to study the Arabic language, essential in that historical period, of which he acquired a fair knowledge; even if he used to say “my Arabic makes one laugh.” From the Brothers he also acquired a lot of knowledge about tropical medicine and became interested in the running of technical schools.

In December of 1903 it was the start of the first great missionary experience towards the south.

Bahr el Ghazal – Kayango (1904–1911)

As we begin to relate the experience of Fr. Vignato – which will grow from 1904 to 1935 – very illuminating is the portrait that Fr. Mario Cisternino makes of him: “Antonio Vignato is the personification of the ideal missionary: he is the first to arrive to a new place and the first to become superior at a young age, the first to overcome the difficulties which had stopped earlier generations of missionaries and the first to repeatedly recover from malaria, black fever and tensions. He becomes a young leader of the missionaries in the field, and then he becomes a group animator, rising to the ecclesiastical office of Prefect Apostolic and, finally, even if apparently written off socially and ecclesiastically, elected Superior General.”

With the Anglo-French treaty of March 21, 1899, the area of Bahr el Ghazal was re-annexed to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan which occupied it in 1901 and made it a province. The British authorities explained to Mgr. Antonio Roveggio that the missionaries could not return to Khartoum but that he would have to settle in the house he had in Omdurman. Which he did on January 6, 1900. Lord Reginald Wingate, who took over as governor-general, granted him permission to visit the south and to open some missions. Mgr. Roveggio made two trips, the first one (1900) had as its goal Fashoda, the residence of the king of the Shilluk, and the second (which began in November 1901) took him to the border with Uganda. Back in Omdurman very exhausted, he providentially met the British Governor of Bahr el Ghazal, Stack Pasha, who asked him to have Catholic missionaries in his province because they seemed to him the most suitable for the development of those populations. Mgr. Roveggio announced the exciting news to his superiors in Verona who were thrilled. But the Lord called the Monsignor to him on March 7, 1902.

Mgr. Francis Xavier Geyer was chosen as his successor. He was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Central Africa on August 28, 1903. In December, he showed up at the Gezira together with the Superior General, Fr. Angelo Colombaroli. They were ready to start the first expedition to the south and chose, from the community, four priests: Antonio Vignato, Gabriele Bertola, Stephan Vokenhuber and Carlo Tappi. They left together for Omdurman. Mgr. Geyer added four Brothers, indispensable for the new foundations, and set off by the Redemptor on January 21, 1904. After a brief stop at Lull, they went to Lake No, where the boat was blocked by the sudd (a barrage of herbs).

Writes Fr. Vignato: “Once we arrived at the appointed place, we chose a hill and began the construction of the huts. Monsignor dedicated the mission to St. Francis Xavier and left myself, Fr. Bertola and Fr. Augusto, setting off in search of a second place. Mbili was chosen as the second mission entrusted to Fr. Tappi and Bro. Giori. (...) To better understand our living conditions, I must point out that Fr. Bertola had been ordained a few months earlier, Fr. Augusto was a carpenter and I, as superior, was 26 years of age, without experience, without a practical orientation suggested by any missionary tradition. We were alone in the forest, 1300 km. away from Khartoum, about 50 km. from Wau, where the British officers resided, though none of us spoke their language.”

From the first day he was busy studying the Ndogo language, succeeding after a few months to translate and to print the first booklet for daily prayers and catechesis. He also had a brilliant and prophetic idea. He placed some mission land at the disposal of people who were rejected by their families, or sick and alone, or refugees from other places and this area he called the Village of freedom. Those who lived there were no longer under the authority of the chief Kayango, as Fr. Vignato became their guarantor and protector.

In 1907, the Apostolic Vicar wanted to know more about how the pastoral activity was organized in the three missions: Lull, Mbili and Kayango. On his return from the visit, he sent a lengthy report to Propaganda Fide asking for some specific instructions, because there was diversity of method and no missionary tradition available. The answer was not long in coming. The Apostolic Vicar sent to the three stations the substance of the answer: 1) the need to translate into the vernacular the text of prayers and catechism adopted by Catholics in England; 2) to step up the religious instruction to those who were coming in contact with the mission.

Third year in Bahr el Ghazal (1906) and the great ordeals

Two large ordeals were about to hit both the population and the missions. The first was the famine that in that year struck hard the population of Kayango and surrounding areas for a total lack of rain during the rainy season. This nation of farmers, consequently, lost its entire crop, and the poorest among them went into the forest in search of anything to eat, from animals to insects, to edible roots. Unfortunately there were many casualties, especially among children and elderly. To counter this contingency, the British governor decided to build in the capital (Wau) deposits for foodstuffs. In the absence of skilled workers in building construction, the governor asked the missions for some Brothers who knew how to build. They were given two Brothers, on condition that a priest could go with them to Wau, exclusively for their spiritual welfare. Permission was granted and the priest chosen was Fr. Ernesto Firisin. The work of the Brothers was much appreciated, and later it was possible to send also a second priest, the young Fr. Peter Kostner.

But then the second terrible ordeal of the year started, caused by the escalation of fevers among the missionaries, especially of black fever, which caused the death of several of them. Fr. Peter was the first to die on November 26, 1905. He was 27 years old. The epidemic of black fever did not stop and also Fr. Vignato and Fr. Tappi became ill. With the intervention of a British physician, they got over the worst and were transported by boat to Khartoum from where they continued their journey to Verona.

The Apostolic Vicar was grief-stricken and worried about all the deaths of the missionaries and even more so the superiors in Verona. It was decided to withdraw from Bahr el Ghazal. Fr. Vignato writes: “The Lord inspired us to continue to keep open the three stations already underway, and to support them as much as possible. In the meantime, we would have considered the possibilities of exploring other regions that were healthier and better ready to Christian penetration.”

Fr. Vignato had just returned to his mission when the rumour was started of an impending invasion of the Senussi Muslim group. One night their leader, Mahdi El Sayd, tried to set fire to the “Village of freedom” and then pointed his gun against Fr. Vignato who had rushed to the village. Fortunately the rifle misfired. Then Fr. Vignato took hold of Mahdi El Sayd, bound him and the next day took him to the British officer in Wau. That was the end of the Muslim danger in Kayango.

In the last years of his life Fr. Vignato described his work thus: “There are those who imagine that the life of a missionary is an unbroken succession of exciting and fantastic adventures like the pages of a novel. Instead, it is an undeniable fact that daily life in a remote mission station in the forest of a flat region, with the horizon limited by the branches of the trees, where the hours are from 4.30 am to 8.30 pm, with a rhythm made up of many small occupations repeated day after day for months and months without interesting variations, ends up becoming oppressive.” In August 1908 Mgr. Geyer administered the sacraments to some young people in the growing community of Kayango.

Fr. Antonio Vignato at the II General Chapter (Verona, 3–12 October 1909)

Chosen by the confreres to represent the Bahr el Ghazal, Fr. Vignato had to leave the mission and participate in this important General Chapter composed by only sixteen members. As Superior General was elected Fr. Federico Vianello who, remembering the desire of Comboni, persuaded the Chapter to start missionary work also in Uganda.

Fr. Vignato, back in Kayango, resumed his activities, intending to extend the presence of the missionaries also outside the mission itself. He had an unexpected help from the chief Kayango who issued an order in which he said: “Our Ndogo religion has had its day and is no longer valid. Everyone must accept that the Christian religion is the only true one.” Giving the example, every Sunday he attended Mass with his entourage and family, not excluding the smallest son. Five chapels were built outside the mission itself, which greatly widened the Christian community of Kayango area, with the participation of other ethnic groups that, after the departure of Fr. Vignato, were looked after by Fr. Paolo Tranquillo Silvestri. In order to approach and evangelize girls, women and families, Fr. Vignato asked for some Comboni sisters.

The physical condition of Fr. Vignato was getting worse. He had moments of discouragement and sadness because he realized that his forces were decreasing and wrote: “I’m feeble and I lack the energy I once possessed, so I spend some half a day doing little and some good half-hour in talking. However, I acknowledge that I have gained in prudence and moderation about myself.” He had become very thin, while heart problems and the frequent attacks of malaria further weakened him so that his superiors ordered him to return to Italy.

We quote a few sentences from Clemente Fusero about his seven-years’ experience in Bahr el Ghazal: “An artisan workshop capable of preparing a number of boys towards a peaceful working life; a small but fervent Christian community; four places to prepare catechists; half a thousand catechumens who represented a great promise. Fr. Vignato left an environmental condition very much changed for the better. A beehive of new ideas. And a number of years of his youth that he never regretted having spent in mission areas.”

First experience in Uganda (1913–1919)

After the break in Italy, where he visited his elderly mother, and in Gesira, Egypt (1911-1913), he was surprised to receive a note from Fr. Vianello who made him his representative in the new mission of Northern Uganda. For the sake of history, Fr. Vignato, in the years following his time as Superior General, at the insistence of the confreres and, in particular, of the scholastics, left us his experience in Uganda in the Mccj Bulletin n. 34, December 8, 1950, on which we base our chronicle.

At the beginning, after a survey of the area, on January 28, 1910, Mgr. Geyer had decided to settle among the Alur in the village of Omach. The first missionaries were Fr. Colombaroli, Fr. Cordone, Fr. Crazzolara and the Brothers Clemente and Benedetto.

Fr. Vignato points out that fortunately the population had not been affected by Muslim proselytism. “In addition, the influence of the Catholic missions from the south and the frequent passage of Christians government entourages, had already prepared the people to the novelty of the missionary work. No wonder, then, that from the reports of our first confreres we learn how from the very beginning the catechumens from several villages flocked to the mission and how it was possible to send to the main centres catechists who had been kindly obtained from the White Fathers.”

When Fr. Vignato arrived at Omach in 1913, the work of evangelization had already been regularly organized. “On 6 June of that year they had already administered baptism to the first twelve catechumens, shortly followed by another group that had been prepared for a good four months. Fr. Crazzolara, who had special skills for the study of indigenous languages, had translated the Catechism of Pius X and printed the first vocabulary booklet and a small reading book in Alur language. He had sufficient knowledge also of the language of the Baganda, so that he could do pastoral work even among them.”

In this regard, some pages of his diary describe the daily life of the missionaries as well as that of the catechumens and the Christians who had freely chosen to live in the “Christian village” adjacent to the houses of the missionaries. It is a very enlightening example which became valid for any mission that Fr. Vignato, as responsible superior, sought to organize.

New trials and sufferings

In January 1914, the government ordered all the Alur population to move across the river, while the missionaries had to stay where they were because the district west of the Nile, where the black people were moving to, had been declared a “closed district”. It was a very unfortunate government decision, but the Christians, with their boats, were regularly attending Sunday Mass and meetings of catechesis. “The trial – commented Fr. Vignato – lasted three years, but now the missions of Alur count 30,000 Christians.”

The missionaries heard of the outbreak of the Great War in Europe from the lips of Fr. Laane, a White Father who had returned from Congo. Fortunately, Italy remained neutral and only two confreres had to leave Uganda: Bro. Clemente Schrör and Bro. Simone Fanti.

As superior of the missions in Uganda, Fr. Vignato was asked to reside in Gulu, destined to become the centre of our presence in Northern Uganda. After completing that urgent trip, he commented: “For the sake of saving time and for lack of money, I imprudently decided to walk during the rainy season from Omach to Gulu, a hundred and thirty km., venturing to tackle the bush with all the uncertainties that it entails. They were six days of forced march with three porters who saved my life.” When the group arrived in Gulu, they were unrecognizable and were immediately assisted.

It was also urgently necessary to resolve the precarious situation of Omach and settle down to a healthier and less hot place. The local commissioner, perhaps in order to send farther away the Catholic missionaries, suggested they settled on the mountain Orussi. The place had a lovely view, but the humidity was causing severe rheumatic fever that affected also Fr. Vignato who could no longer walk. Then the bearers laid him on a network that was transformed into a stretcher. It was around Christmas 1916. Feverish, on trails often lashed by heavy downpours, he went from crisis to crisis and when, after Christmas, he arrived in Gulu, he began to doubt the goodness of the choice of Orussi. After serious consideration, it was agreed to make Angal as the new mission station.

“The poverty of the Comboni Missionaries in Uganda, in those years – observes Clement Fusero – was conspicuous as the mountains and did not allow for speculation. They neither enjoyed the sympathy of the government officials nor possessed the means to exert pressure on them. Their power to attract thus demands another explanation. The secret of their hold on the soul of the people should be sought in other reasons. All of which converge into one: their way of being missionaries.”

Catechists’ formation

A constant concern of Fr. Vignato was to have well-trained catechists. He took advantage of the visit of the new Prefect Apostolic, Fr. Antonio Stoppani (1915), to go with him to Rubaga Cathedral in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. During the Mass, Fr. Vignato went up the pulpit and, with the help of the translation of the parish priest, made an appeal for the new missions in Northern Uganda. He asked the catechists present in the church if someone was willing to leave Kampala and accept to go with him to Gulu. After Mass, thirty-two of them came forward. “We set off towards Gulu with the beautiful group of thirty-two youngsters willing to work as catechists in our still incipient missions.”

Rest and reflections at Gezira in 1918

In the spring of 1918, yet another severe attack of black fever forced Fr. Vignato to go to Gezira to recover his health. After a period to regain his strength he was able to have another period of rest, as he was waiting for the first group of five Comboni Sisters he was to accompany to Uganda.

During those long days of delay his mind retraced the history of his first experience in Uganda, starting from the Institute’s first presence back in 1910 till the time of his arrival in 1913, when four missions had already been established: Omach, among the Alur, Gulu, among the Acholi, Palaro, among the Madi, and Gondokoro. There were already twenty missionaries when Fr. Vianello sent eight more, including himself.

It had been also a time of intense activity. With the collaboration of the Brothers, he swapped the place of Omach with Angal and of Palaro with Mojo. In February 1915 he opened Kitgum and finally, in 1918, Arua, where he had sent a confrere of great ability: Fr. Giuseppe Zambonardi.

The tragedy of those early years was the extreme poverty: a shortage for which even the blacks made no secret and showed some disdain, while the British showed coldness and detachment, “colonially” convinced that a white person was never to lose his prestige and stateliness. We must also add a persistent action of disturbance and opposition from the Protestant missions. In addition to the relegation to the isolated place of Omach, there were fires in various missions, harassment in imposition of taxes, applied with rigor, just to induce the Catholic missionaries to abandon the field of work.

In August 1918, Fr. Vignato heard of shocking news: a large group of armed people were in revolt in the village of Paimol, Kitgum district. During the night they made their attack, spreading death and killing the Christians and catechumens. Particularly chilling was the fate that befell two catechists: Daudi Okelo, aged fifteen, and Gildo Irwa, aged fourteen, much loved by the Christian community for their zeal. Fr. Vignato felt from the first moment that they were true martyrs. These two youngsters would, in fact, be beatified in 2002.

Third General Chapter – Vicar General (Verona 1919–1923)

The Chapter elected Fr. Paolo Meroni as Superior General. There were three proposals that emerged from this brief Chapter: the first was to reduce from ten to six years the time as Superior General (adopted unanimously); the second was that the German-speaking communities became a province and, finally, a commission, made up of chapter members, was created to study the various mission problems.

Fr. Vignato was elected Vicar General. During the Chapter, he had made a specific request: to donate to the missions the “credit balance of the various communities” and therefore to assign to each missionary some outfit needed in the missions and to establish, for each mission, a fixed financial support. The very active Fr. Meroni concentrated his efforts in opening new communities in Italy for the formation of vocations. Fr. Vignato must have thought more of the dire needs of the missionaries working in the missions. In Verona he was able to organize the pastoral ministry. As his first realization he welcomed the offer made to the Comboni Missionaries of San Tomio, an almost abandoned church near the centre of the city. Located close to the famous Piazza Erbe, he realized that it could be transformed into a centre of spirituality, so he established perpetual adoration during the day and appointed priests to be available for confessions at any time. He also became an extraordinary mission animator among the students and, through the press, he managed to communicate to a wide audience his long experience in Africa. Another commitment of his was the care and treatment of sick and tired missionaries who were returning from the missions. From them he was kept informed about the situation, progress and difficulties in the missions.

Among the important events in the history of the Institute, in the year 1923 there was the division, approved by Rome, in the Institute into the Italian branch and the German-speaking branch. To the new German-speaking group Propaganda assigned the Prefecture Apostolic of Lydenburg in the Transvaal (South Africa) and later some territories in Peru.

While in Rome, Fr. Meroni was notified by Propaganda that, for a better development of the missions, Uganda had been detached from Bahr el Ghazal, erecting the Prefecture of the Equatorial Nile. Fr. Antonio Vignato was chosen as the first Prefect Apostolic.

Prefect Apostolic of Equatorial Nile (1923-1935)

Fr. Antonio Vignato, towards the beginning of summer 1923, left for the Prefecture of Equatorial Nile. He reached Rejaf, Torit, Opari and the other missions, finally arriving in Gulu. He had a triumphant welcome. On that occasion he remembered the taunts and insults that welcomed him when he arrived there the first time.

He wrote to Cardinal Van Rossum, Prefect of Propaganda Fide, completing the accounts of the reconstructions that took place after the Mahdia, accounts that up to then were simply confined to the historical events in Khartoum and Omdurman. The letter also spoke of slavery that was perpetrated by the Arabs and how in the beginning the people distrusted the missionaries, mistaking them with the slave traders.

To the bishop of Vicenza he wrote a long letter in which he illustrated his missionary methodology: “I met with almost all the superiors of the various mission stations. In these stations there is a sequence of occupations so well regulated which hold all the missionaries at work from five in the morning till half past eight in the evening. Every day there are two and a half hours of religious instruction to the catechumens and neophytes. The priests visit the district assigned to them 4 or 5 times a year, reaching all the villages. All Christians, even in the most remote areas, have the opportunity to receive the sacraments.

The works for which the Catholic mission is admired by the population and by the British government are the schools of arts and crafts run by our Brothers. They prepare carpenters, masons, etc., who are of great help to us, to the government and the people. Besides there are the works of charity: in every mission there is a dispensary, while in the three missions where the Sisters are present, we also have small hospitals. We even have seven orphanages-kindergartens for the children of the deceased Christians. The Sisters are gradually winning the confidence of the girls and women to give them dignity in these tribes where polygamy is the universal law.”

The inspiring story of the missionary experience was presented through articles in La Nigrizia, written both by the same Prefect Apostolic as well as by his missionaries. The strength of Fr. Vignato stemmed from a deep inner life that placed prayer at the core of his actions, from a boundless capacity for sacrifice and a huge love for the persons to be saved.

In La Nigrizia of September 1924 is described the solemn consecration of the Apostolic Prefecture of the Equatorial Nile to the Sacred Heart.

In 1929 Fr. Vignato was in Italy and had an audience with the Prefect of Propaganda, Cardinal Van Rossum, who told him point-blank: “You can now expect a great slackening in your Christian people if you do not strive with great commitment to prepare native clergy.”

Let’s us remember that one of the commitments which distinguished Fr. Vignato was his attention to priestly local vocations and the foundation of the first seminary of the Prefecture, starting in Arua and transferring it later to Gulu. Fr. Vignato will always be remembered as the father of the native clergy in northern Uganda.

At the end of the decade, in La Nigrizia of November 1934, the Prefect Apostolic made an evaluation of the ten years, which can be summed up in these essential data. “It is ten years since our Prefecture of the Equatorial Nile was solemnly consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus In those days, our field of evangelization appeared in its immense extension, plagued by difficulties and uncertainties. At that time there were about 7,000 Christians. The missionaries were few, we had few means, we had to urgently rebuild what had been poorly done in the provisional founding of the mission stations during the Great War. The formation of Christian families was then encountering enormous opposition due to tribal traditions, which the elders wanted to preserve at all cost.

In these ten years of briers and thorns our Christianity always treaded methodically ahead, month by month, so that we now have about 47,000 Christians, 16,000 catechumens and more than 640 catechists.

On April 11, 1934, as almost the final work, Fr. Vignato opened the Senior Girls School in Gulu, entrusted to the Comboni Sisters (Pie Madri).

On the afternoon of December 28, 1934, Fr. Vignato was given a letter with which card. Peter Biondi Fumasoni informed him that Propaganda Fide had elevated the Prefecture into an Apostolic Vicariate and had entrusted it to Fr. Angelo Negri, inviting Fr. Vignato to return as soon as possible to Italy to take care of his health. Fr. Vignato needed all his inner strength to be calm, all his faith not to rebel and all his capacity of self-denial to swallow the bitter pill. He called Fr. Emilio Spreafico, rector of the seminary, and said, “Let’s go to the chapel to say the Te Deum”, which he recited in a voice broken by sobs.

In Egypt to rest (January 1935-August 1936)

Fr. Vignato set off on the morning of January 5, 1935, to embark in Mombasa, accompanied by Fr. John Baptist Cesana. His companion says: “I still have imprinted in my mind the scene of his farewell to his beloved mission, catechists and Christians … Then he raised his arms as if for a greeting and a blessing, and entered into the car with his head bowed. We travelled in silence.”

In Egypt, Fr. Vignato went to Gezira, which he used to call “the isle of my years of youth (1902-1904).” It was by then in the middle of a new town. Fr. Vignato was celebrating his 57 years of age but it seemed as if a curtain had fallen on his future as far as his missionary activity was concerned.

During this stay in Egypt, with no prospects for the future, he devoted himself to the writing of two publications for a total of three hundred pages. Both are about his missionary experience: one presenting material that he considered fundamental to any permanent result in missionary work and the other dealing with the administration of the sacrament of baptism.

Published by the printing press of La Nigrizia in Verona in 1935 and 1936, they were for years the reference texts for our missionary activity. Now they are almost unknown even to those who do historical research on our missions.

Useful tips for the young missionary

The first of these two publications is entitled Raccolta di suggerimenti e dottrine per utilità pratica del giovane missionario (Collection of tips and practical teachings for the young missionary – Gezira December 8, 1935). Already in the Introduction, we have some very valuable items. Fr. Vignato quotes Pius XI’s Speech for the inauguration of the Vatican Missionary Exhibition: “We live in times where, more than in any other age, it is clear that all the heroism and the sacrifices inherent in the missionary life are insufficient to ensure the success of the apostolate. If one wants to reap the full fruit of all these sacrifices and work, we have to appeal to the disciplines of science for those lights that will indicate the most direct way and suggest the most effective methods to achieve it.”

The publication contains also relevant recommendations about the Risks to be avoided by the missionary in his ministry, visits to the villages, instruction to be given to the faithful, the Spirit of charity, missionaries’ co-operators and the zeal for God’s glory.

Study on the Sacrament of baptism

The second publication is entitled Raccolta di dottrine sul Sacramento del Battesimo utili al Missionario in Africa (Collection of teachings on the Sacrament of Baptism useful to Missionaries in Africa – Gezira, March 25, 1936). Also in this study are outlined the reasons for following such demanding guidelines in the administration of baptism. The text asks and gives answers to 174 questions.

Quotations from two authoritative testimonies

From the Writings of St. Daniel Comboni: “How many difficulties will we have to face before we can get these people used to the ideas and customs of the Gospel!… To insist on the practice of the moral law, to demand restitution and the renunciation of hatred… the inviolability of marriage, chastity and charity ...” (S 6661).

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps... The Council also gives permission that: In mission countries, in addition to what is furnished by the Christian tradition, those elements of initiation rites may be admitted which are already in use among some peoples insofar as they can be adapted to the Christian ritual.” (1232).

In April 1936 Fr. Vignato returned to Italy and spent several weeks in Gambellara, his home town. The most intense experience of that trip was the meeting at the Mother House with Fr Federico Vianello, almost unable to speak and understand. He felt bound to that man who had given him great confidence, had encouraged him, sent financial support and who, even in the most difficult situations, was able to see the design of Divine Providence.

Fr. Vignato returned to Egypt, no longer to Gezira but to Hélouan, where he was in charge of the students of the College of the Holy Family, providing a committed ministry in the adjoining church and studying Arabic.

For over one and a half year he lived in great uncertainty for his future. In August he was called to Verona to participate at the 6^th General Chapter which was to open on 1^st September 1937. He left as if he were going for a calling of brief duration. He ended up fulfilling his third great achievement after those of Bar el Ghazal and Uganda.

His last assignment: Superior General (Verona, 1937-1947)

On the morning of 1^st September 1937 the VI General Chapter was opened at the Mother House in Verona. This was attended by 17 chapter members, all priests, who represented the members of the Institute, that is, 5 bishops, 186 priests, 140 brothers, and 80 scholastics. Fr. Vignato was elected Superior General. “It was predictable the choice of a more experienced missionary and religious who, at the same time, was from the early years of the Institute’s life.” From the discussions ten “votes”, or suggestions, emerged. Seven “votes” related to rules of prudence about the conduct in the mission and three were particularly important because they have a permanent value in the transmission of the memory of the history of the Institute.

6^th vote – It recommended that brief biographies about our deceased members be prepared ad aedificationem.

7^th vote – It recommended that a detailed history of the mission stations be written down to commemorate the labours of our first missionaries, while the memory was still alive.

8^th vote – It recommended that ethnographic and linguistic manuscripts of the Institute be preserved, as evidence of the work done in this field and as a documentation of the importance of such works.

At the conclusion of the Chapter, the new Superior General said: “My job is not that of a reformer, because if there are any failings in the Congregation to be got rid of, it seems to me that the good qualities are even greater. So my responsibility will be that of a father who encourages to always go forward in the way of great courage, obedience and sacrifice.”

In his first circular letter as Superior General, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the profession of the first members, dated October 28, 1937, he says: “Anyone who knows the details and the history of our humble beginnings, our slow and thwarted development, our work ignored by the local peoples of Africa, will soon be convinced that our Institute has the obvious imprint of the divine works.”

On December 13, 1937, Fr. Vignato wrote another letter: “Parole in confidenza” (Words in confidence). “My dear confreres, first of all I give you welcomed news: I was recently in Rome and found an environment conducive to the advancement of the Cause of Beatification of our Servant of God Bishop Daniel Comboni.” At the end of the letter, he touched on three important aspects in the life of the missionary: “To talk less, to pray more and to live in poverty.”

Fr. Vignato’ time was characterized by attention to the persons, reference to the Institutes’ traditions on Religious Life and ongoing dialogue with the confreres.

1938: Official acts and visit to the missions in Africa

Fr. Vignato was staying in the Mother House in Verona, together with the General Council. The community was the most numerous of the Institute as it appears from the records. It was composed of a total of 98 people. In addition to the General Administration, there were 10 fathers, 73 scholastics and 15 brothers. The advice of the Superior General, transmitted through the superiors responsible for the various sectors of the house, bore the stamp of his missionary experience, like the birth of the scholastics’ magazine “Combonianum” that will become a journal of historical research of great insight. In September, Fr. Vignato animated the scholastics during their summer vacation at Fai and, already during the year of his election, the first Missionary Congress took place.

There are two circulars that Fr. Vignato wrote in that year, as official acts and deliberations of the council. The first, in June 1938, is primarily addressed to the authority of the Institute. He says: “The Consulta asks that we prepare our collaborators and that the superiors entrusts the works to capable brothers.”

The second official letter was sent out in November of the same year. He informs the confreres of the developments in mission territories: In 1938 Fr. P. A. Wall (Mill Hill) was made Prefect Apostolic of Kodok. In the same year Fr. Stephen Mlakic was nominated Prefect Apostolic of Bahr el Jebel.

Fr. Vignato organized his official visit to the missions in Africa. Departing from Brindisi on November 9, 1938, he visited his confreres in Khartoum. He met with the large community of Comboni College and congratulated them for a reality so fruitful which he had ignored in the past, as he lived and worked in a different missionary context. From Khartoum he moved to Gulu, Uganda, for a wonderful occasion. Fr. Vignato was very touched to meet the first two native deacons, Domenico Bala from the Madi tribe and John Ongom from the Acholi tribe. On the eve of their ordination he prepared them by preaching a spiritual retreat. The ordination ceremony took place on 24 December in Gulu Cathedral, officiated by Monsignor Negri.

1939: Fr. Vignato completes his visit and settles in the Mother House

After his visit to Uganda, Fr. Vignato entered the Bahr el Jebel, arriving at Juba. He then went by plane to Khartoum, where he again met the confreres before going to Egypt. He arrived in Venice in the first week of May and then returned to Verona. During his absence, the Pope of the mission, Pius XI, had died on 10 February. Two days later Fr. Paolo Meroni passed away.

In July, Fr. Vignato wrote a long article published in La Nigrizia called “Attraverso le nostre missioni” (Through our missions) addressed to benefactors and friends. It indicated a great sign of closeness not only to the confreres but also to the whole Comboni Family at large.

During the summer months he repeatedly suffered attacks from black fever, due in large part to the strenuous trip. The scholastics, who were at Fai for the summer holidays, were invited to pray that the scourge of war threatening Europe would not touch Italy, but on 1^st September Germany attacked Poland, marking the beginning of World War II. On the same day the scholastics were ordered to return to Verona.

In an official letter, written on 9 September, the feast of St. Peter Claver, the Superior General invited all to imitate our patron with these words: “I visited our missions and I have revised those works of charity which convert souls. I came upon the untiring zeal of our confreres in imitation of St. Peter Claver.”

In the same Bulletin (no. 18, October 1939), there is an Instruction from Propaganda Fide, 9 June, signed by Cardinal Fumasoni Biondi. Since the original is in Latin, most of us might miss the importance of this document, which is one of the few written by Propaganda on the correct behaviour of the missionaries when coming into contact with the people we evangelize. The Instruction deals with topics such as: 1. Propaganda Fide finds that not infrequently in magazines and periodicals about the missions there is a negative presentation of the customs and nature of the peoples we evangelise. 2. A behaviour of friendship and acceptance of the people and respectful attitude towards all forms of their culture pave the way to a dialogue that we ourselves wish to find in foreigners who visit our country. 3. It is also right to be fair and not to point at some occasions or some individuals who do not behave properly for a negative representation of an entire people. 4. Finally, the missionaries should keep in mind the teaching of St. Paul (2 Cor 6:3): “We do nothing that people may object to, so as not to bring discredit to our ministry. Instead we prove we are ministers of God by our purity, wisdom, patience and kindness.”

1940-1944: Years of war and fear, of vocations and growth in the Institute

On December 17, 1940, Pope Pius XII received in a private audience the Superior General and Fr Giocondo Bombieri, the procurator. They presented to the Pope the situation in Uganda, Sudan and Egypt. “He was pleased to hear that almost all our mission stations are still open and that the work goes on due to the generous zeal of some White Fathers and of our two native priests; that even four Fathers and one Brother were released from the concentration camp to resume the work of formation of our seminarians in Arua, while in Moyo five Sisters have also been released and they are carrying on the work at the Girls School. I also explained the favourable terms offered to our 115 Missionaries of the three major missions in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, where our confreres were let free to stay in their residences and continue their ministry, albeit with some restrictions, such as the closure of the Comboni College in Khartoum. The Pope was also interested in our missionaries interned on the Isle of Man (Britain) and was pleased in knowing how generous and active they became with the spiritual assistance of many of the Italian internees. And, finally, he was quite happy about our new work with the Blacks in the city of Cincinnati (USA), as a consequence of our response to the invitation of Archbishop Timothy Mc Nicholas, whom the Pope knew well.” (In La Nigrizia, n. 2, Year 59, February 1941).

In a ten-page-long article, published in the Bulletin no. 19, 1^st November, 1940, Fr. Vignato describes in detail the history of our Institute and his conviction to be in the Institute wanted by Comboni.

In Bulletin no. 20 of 8 December, 1942, Fr. Vignato wrote a letter to the confreres, the only one during the three years of war. “Our houses of formation, i.e., our junior seminaries, are on the rise, and all are having a good number of students. This year the houses of Crema, Carraia and Sulmona were opened. Our two novitiates continue to maintain the normal rate of novices, students for the priesthood and for the Brotherhood, while the scholastics’ house has reached almost its maximum capacity in the Mother House. We can rightly place confidence in the future and thank Divine Providence for looking after us and providing us with bounty and goodness.”

This Bulletin no. 20 contained a report on the Second Mission Congress held in Fai on the first four days of September, 1941.

The Scholastics in Verona in March 1938 started, through their own initiative and with the approval of their superiors, the publication of an internal magazine called Combonianum, which had two purposes: 1) To make known and imitate more and more our Founder in his life, his thoughts and his own method of conversion; 2) To acquire a set of personal knowledge that one day will keep us abreast in the mission field.

Fr. Vignato presented the topic on how to found a mission station. “Tomorrow, in the mission, the apostle will be one who has learned how to give and to offer, namely one who will have accumulated a treasure of holiness and knowledge ... When you, with your good works, your holy life, will have made sure that the indigenous people are bound to say that you are good, then they will do everything you wish.”

In the ten years of his time as superior general, Fr. Vignato – who, for this reason, remains almost unique in the history of our Institute – had always taken great care in the formation of the scholastics beyond the normal teaching subjects, arranging for them meetings, conferences, courses on medicine, etc., knowing well that the mission for which they were preparing required such additional knowledge.

1945: The end of the war

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