Daniel Comboni
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10th Anniversary of the Death of Bishop Franco Masserdotti
Monday, August 1, 2016
Comboni Missionary Bishop Franco Masserdotti died in Balsas, Brazil on September 17, 2006 after having been hit by a car while riding his bicycle. He was 65. To remember him, the Comboni province of Brazil, in dialogue with the diocese of Balsas, is preparing a special celebration due to take place on the weekend of September 16-18, 2016. For the occasion the missionaries have also prepared a leaflet that will be distributed by the Christian communities of Balsas, where the Comboni missionaries are serving, and by pastoral youth groups.
On the left, in the picture:
Bishop Franco Masserdotti
in Balsas, Brazil.
After the accident, Bishop Pedro Casaldáliga said: “Bishop Franco Masserdotti succeeded in being bishop and brother, coordinator and a brotherly coworker. He was always a priest worthy of his ministry without ever falling into a form of rigid and formal clericalism. He was at home with everybody, especially with the young and with unsettled souls and dreamers. Franco was a Comboni Missionary in the true sense of these two words. Africa was his horizon and always filled his heart. He was faithful to the option for the poor and to the Church of the Good News, totally committed to the Gospel, but at the same time fully ecumenical.” In Brazil the Comboni Missionaries keep alive the inheritance of Bishop Masserdotti and of many other missionaries who were faithful to God and to the poor. Today, they serve in various areas of the country and, in their evangelizing activity, they take as priorities the Amazon, the indigenous people and the Afro population, the human rights of the people living in the urban peripheries, mission and vocation promotion.
A Brief Biography
of Bishop Gianfranco Masserdotti
1941: He is born in Italy.
1966: Ordination to the priesthood and beginning of sociology studies.
1971: Arrival in Brazil and assignment to Pastos Bons, MA.
1975: Nominated episcopal vicar of Balsas, MA and pastoral diocesan coordinator.
1979: Assistant general of the Comboni Institute in Rome, Italy.
1986: Elected provincial superior of the Comboni Missionaries in Brazil North-East.
1992: He founds, together with other missionaries, the Center of Documentation and Political Formation (CEDOC).
1996: Episcopal ordination as auxiliary of Balsas, with the motto “That they may have life”.
1998: Diocesan bishop with the poor and the Basic Christian Communities as his priorities.
1998: He sends the first missionaries from his diocese to Lixinga, Mozambique.
1999: He is elected president of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).
2002: He opens a two-year diocesan synod, promotes the sending out of Itinerant Lay Missionaries and opens the School of Political Formation.
2004: Opening of the diocesan radio “Boa Notícia” (“Good News”) covering a 300 miles radius.
2006: Dies in Balsas after being hit by a car while riding his bicycle.
