“Happy Easter to All”, Father Gian Paolo Pezzi

Dearest,
Peace and Goodness to you in the blossoming of spring and in the joy of Easter. For months now in Butembo we have looked to tomorrow with uncertainty, we live the present with insecurity, we remember the recent past with fear, anguish at times, often with suspicion towards the people around us, and always with so much frustration and anger for the corrupt and incompetent conduct of those who manage the country.

And yet, people work, sing, laugh, pray, argue, get married and make plans. As if nothing had happened? Carefree, careless, superficial, an effort to escape the present, resilience? Perhaps a bit of everything. But lately a reflection by Cardinal Martini on Psalm 6 suggested a different vision to me. He says: “Praise in the Bible is an expression of life; today we would say that praise is an expression of being, it is wonder at being, at the fact of existing. The prophet Isaiah says: ‘The living praises you, O God, as I do today.’“

It is life that praises God, it is the living that praises. I remember the surprise of my first days in Burundi, when people explained to me that the morning greeting, our “good morning,” is Bwakeye , which literally means “The sun still shines for you.” Perhaps unconsciously our people, in the joy of existing, express a response of hope to the temptation of despair, a response of life to the threat of death.

Of course, in the exultation of praise in churches there is much of externality, almost theatricality, but when this stage of life and history has passed, today’s children and young people will remember religious celebrations as moments of joy and not of boredom, of happiness and not of sadness, if not of high spirituality.

And what about my missionary activity?

The missionary prayer booklet in Swahili, with Christian prayers in Kinande, has already been published (here is the photo of the cover). The book you know, Heshimu mwili wako ni hekalu la Bwana, has already been translated and corrected in Kinande and is in its second reading: after Easter it will go to print. Of the four texts planned in our program, the third – a sort of AM manual – is already halfway through its preparation.

The best news is the opening of the School-Atelier of carpentry for children in difficulty. The date, always postponed due to insecurity, is now set for the Tuesday after Easter. The image that identifies this school (reproduced below) is of a Comboni, brother Duilio, who with father Eliseo had started the project about ten years ago. It is an important commitment that our province has taken on and of which, for now, I am the administrator awaiting the arrival of a Congolese Comboni brother who will take over its management.

The visit to the parishes continues, even if intermittently due to the insecurity. Despite the power and internet outages, I continue to publish the monthly newsletter on justice and peace in four languages, thanks also to the collaboration of two former teaching colleagues at the seminary of Kanyosha (Burundi, 1969-70) and a former student of the University of Esmeraldas. From time to time I also write articles or projects for Cuore Amico, which supports our initiatives, and for other institutions.

A nice thing: a “lost” friendship from the time of Esmeraldas (Ecuador), with whom I had lived a very beautiful spiritual moment, managed to find me thanks to the current means of communication. A great joy! I hope that before the final farewell the same can happen for two other people, because it depends only on them to look for me.

This year there was a pleasant coincidence: Holy Saturday falls on the day of my priestly ordination, and Easter Sunday coincides with the anniversary of the first Mass in my country, in April 1968.

Thanks to the good health of my body and soul, I am able to maintain almost the same pace as always, which surprises many, as well as myself! This is also why I was entrusted with a conference for religious men and women on the occasion of the feast of Consecrated Life, on February 2, on the theme of the Holy Year: Pilgrims of Hope. And we are so in two senses: because we walk in this world full of hope, despite everything, and because, in a world so prone to anguish, anxiety and doubt, we bring with us that wealth so rare in the world market: hope. A hope that, for those who believe in the Resurrection, is none other than the Lord Jesus himself.

Happy Easter to all!
Gian Paolo,
Butembo, April 2025