In Pace Christi

Fr. Luigi Moser sr. (12.12.1934 – 13.01.2007)
Fr. Luigi Moser was born on 12 December 1934 at Palù di Giovo, in the diocese of Trent. There were twelve children in the family which earned its living by cultivating the land and the vineyards. Having finished primary school, Luigi entered the junior seminary at Trent, wanting to become a missionary. Two sisters also chose the religious life, one with the Daughters of St. Paul and the other with the Comboni Sisters.
He did his novitiate in Florence, taking his first vows on 9 September 1954, and his scholasticate in Verona and Venegono. He was ordained priest on 18 March 1961. He was first involved in missionary animation and vocations promotion in Trent until 1965, when he was assigned to Uganda.
His first missionary experience was among the Madi of Pakele and later at Moyo. After only five years he was asked to return to Italy to work in formation in the junior seminaries. Fr. Luigi explained to his superiors the difficult personnel situation among the Madi and also his lack of enthusiasm for the job of formation. However, he affirmed his availability for whatever service the Institute might ask of him. So it was that he worked in the junior seminary in Trent from 1971 to 1975.
In July 1975 he returned to Uganda and, apart from short holidays, he never again left the mission. On his return to Uganda he was assigned parish priest of Lodonga. There followed a period, lasting many years, of intense work marked also by increasing difficulties and problems such as the disturbances and insecurity after the fall of Amin and his flight to the Congo together with the people. Once back from the Congo he worked at Olovo mission. He again went to Moyo as parish priest, dean and episcopal vicar until 1996, when he returned to Lodonga till his death.
During his final years, Fr. Luigi knew his heart was not very strong, but he never seriously considered leaving the mission and going back to Italy where could get professional help when needed. He took his daily prescribed medicine and was happy to remain and work among his people.
The death of Fr. Luigi, which took place around 9 am on 13 January 2007 at Lodonga, was for our community and for me in particular a time and an experience we lived with deep emotions. The funeral took place at 1 pm on 15 January. His remains now rest in Lodonga cemetery, next to those of other missionaries who died here.
As I look back on this experience I think I can say that the death of Fr. Luigi was a meaningful event for the entire community and an important missionary witness. By “event” I mean something which deeply affected the community and brought to light values and aspects which are not easily understood; by “witness” I wish to emphasise the powerful message which we learnt from all this.
On the morning of 13 January we gathered in church at 6 am for community and personal prayer. We prayed Lauds and celebrated Mass at 7 am. Fr. Luigi, as the main celebrant and with the participation of Fr. Mario Casella, Fr. David Baltz and Fr. Torquato Paolucci, had chosen the votive Mass of Our Lady. He celebrated with enthusiasm, singing and preaching a homily to the congregation. Everything seemed normal. Immediately after breakfast the Lord called him with a “massive heart attack” (the words of a doctor). Immediately assisted by Sr. Teresa, our nurse, he was taken to the nearest hospital of Maraca, where a doctor declared him dead on his arrival.
The news of his death spread rapidly, due to the diocesan radio (Radio Pacis) which immediately broadcast it and then devoted the afternoon to a long programme on Fr. Luigi.
Hundreds of people gathered at Lodonga and received the remains brought back from Maraca. A truly moving sight. The bells, so dear to Fr. Luigi, continued to ring out as if to say: “Fr. Luigi is still alive; he has come back to us”. There were unceasing scenes of mourning and tears. The body, lovingly prepared by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, was placed in the church and Mass was immediately celebrated. From then on, for the next two days and two nights, the people never left it alone. During the funeral vigil there were at least a hundred people present all the time. The love of the people for Fr. Luigi was expressed in prayers, hymns, the beating of drums, speeches and moments of silence.
On Sunday 14 January two Masses were celebrated in the packed church. The presence of so many children who had come to greet Fr. Luigi was also very moving – the children and Fr. Luigi were very fond of each other.
As a sign of esteem and affection many Moslems and also a group of Protestants joined us in prayer.
The funeral was scheduled for Monday in order to allow the bishop of Arua, Mgr. Frederick Drandua, to return from Kampala and to allow the priests engaged in Sunday ministry to reach Lodonga. There were two bishops present at the funeral as well as the vicar general of the diocese and 70 priests. One of them told me “I have never seen so many priests
Attend a funeral. Fr. Luigi truly had a place in the hearts of all of us”. The Sisters, too, were there in numbers, especially the Sisters of the Sacred Heart from Moyo, where Fr. Luigi had worked. The Comboni confreres, the Comboni Sisters of Arua and the Lay Comboni Missionaries were all present. There were even people from Gulu, 300 km away. The Christians of Lodonga and the various missions where Fr. Luigi worked numbered several thousand.
The parish of Lodonga experienced this event very deeply and felt very involved. A welcoming committee was immediately formed to welcome those coming and even the children played their part. Such a show of affection was never before seen at Lodonga. There seemed to be a mysterious force moving the people to bring to the fore the event of the death of Fr. Luigi. People spontaneously set to work, without any confusion, bringing food, chairs, utensils and whatever might be useful as if in one long silent hymn of love for Fr. Luigi. All the people at the funeral were provided with food after the Mass and burial, which lasted approximately four hours, before taking the road for home.
As I already said, the death of Fr. Luigi was an important missionary testimony. He loved to preach and never missed an opportunity to proclaim the word of God to encourage his faithful to hope. To many, his most beautiful homily was that of his death.
In the course of the speeches and messages, some aspects of this witness were emphasised. Fr. Luigi always spread devotion to Our Lady, carefully preparing her feasts with beautiful novenas and especially by enthusiastically organising the annual diocesan pilgrimage. In this regard a Sister said: “I think Our Lady calls the priests she loves always on Saturday, her favourite day”.
Fr. Luigi also left us a practical lesson in ecumenism. The presence of Moslems and Protestants paying their respects to his remains and during the funeral showed how his life was an outstretched hand: he placed the educational and medical services of the mission at the disposition of all and this brought about more closeness and union than any amount of meetings.
By his commitment and lifestyle, Fr. Luigi contributed to making the dream of Comboni come true. Thank you, Fr. Luigi, for your beautiful witness and your life among us. (Fr. Torquato Paolucci)

Burial of Fr. Luigi Moser sr. - 07-02-2007)
Dear Family and Friends:
Two very busy weeks have passed since that sudden death by heart-attack of Fr. Luigi on Saturday morning, January 13. One of my priorities during this time has been to notify the family and friends of Fr. Luigi, and to keep a close contact with them. I have written several long, descriptive email letters in Italian, as well as other shorter messages, to people so far away who are still struggling-as I am myself-to believe and to accept such shocking news about someone very dear to them. Now I would like to update all of you who have had to wait patiently for my news.
After 5 years in neighboring Odravu parish, I arrived in Lodonga mission on July 1, 2004, so for two and one-half years Fr. Luigi and I have shared our Comboni missionary life and ministry in this parish. His quick departure has touched me deeply and intimately, and has left me with many challenges, especially since there was no handing over at all of a variety of responsibilities. One of his unfinished tasks was fixing the wick (which burns with kerosene-in place of electricity!) at the bottom of our refrigerator. That wick, together with a pliers and screwdriver, fell to the floor along with Fr. Luigi as he sat on a chair at our dining room table when his heart stopped beating. It was time for Fr. Luigi to stop struggling with a smoldering earthly wick and to start enjoying an eternal heavenly flame of love. Just this morning I challenged our cook to see if he-in memory of Fr. Luigi-could get that wick burning properly, as the ice in our faulty refrigerator all melted last night during another warm night!
During the 56 hours that passed before Fr. Luigi's body could be buried in our Lodonga cemetery, hundreds of people stayed with him there before the altar of our basilica, for two days and two nights. All that time they were singing and praying. I got very little sleep myself. The native Sisters here in the mission had bathed and clothed his body for burial. Comboni Brother Joseph and his carpenters built a nice mahogany casket. I presided at the first Mass on that Saturday afternoon after the body was carried into the basilica full of crying and wailing Christians.
That Sunday I went out on my bicycle-a safari of 26 miles-to a chapel which Fr. Luigi had assigned for me. Along the way I stopped in several of the small trading centers and approached the Moslem fellows, gathered as usual in the shade of the trees to chat or to play cards. I informed them of the death of Fr. Luigi, whom they would all have seen pass by there many times on his motorcycle, and I asked them to remember on Friday, when they gathered in their little mosques, to pay also for him.
Once back in Lodonga mission I hardly had time to eat... or even to breathe. The mission was filling up with our Christians who wanted to be present on this unique occasion. Of course, they all needed food and shelter. Meanwhile the funeral service was being planned. The response of our Christians was impressive as all of them tried generously to do their part in a fitting tribute to their beloved Fr. Luigi, their shepherd for more than 10 years.
Although many people had spent that second night in song and prayer (and some sleeping!) inside the basilica, the day of burial began on that Monday morning, Jan. 15, at 6:30 a.m. when all three of our big church bells rang long and loud. At 7:00 a.m. I led all the people in another Mass, with Fr. Luigi present in the mahogany casket in front of the altar. After the Mass, as the many people came up to bid him farewell, I stood there with my arm extended for a long time, holding up a flashlight so that our Christians could look thru the glass window and see Fr. Luigi's face for the last time. It was a sad and touching scene for all of them... and for me! Even Protestants and Moslems came to the basilica to say good-bye to Fr. Luigi. So I guess he had already begun from heaven his missionary work of calling us all to live together in peace!
We decided to have the solemn funeral Mass inside our beautiful basilica, even though much of the immense crowd had to remain outside. So a lengthy shelter was built along side the church to protect the people from the hot sun. My outside thermometer registered 91 degrees that day in the shade. During that busy morning, in between welcoming many priests and other visitors, I managed to write in the Logbara language a brief two-page biography of Fr. Luigi. Some of our Comboni confreres drove over that morning all the way from Gulu on the other side of the Nile river, at least 5 hours of sometimes very bumpy and dusty roads. Simultaneous with the funeral Mass and burial in Lodonga, a Mass in Fr. Luigi’s hometown near Trento in northern Italy was also celebrated, during which some of my email writing in Italian to his family was read for all the people.
It was almost 1 p.m. on that warm Monday afternoon when the long procession of some 70 concelebrating priests moved slowly into the very packed basilica of Lodonga, followed by two Bishops, from Arua and Nebbi dioceses. After the first words of welcoming, I was then invited to read out in Logbara the little biography of Fr. Luigi which I had prepared. Bishop Frederick of Arua, who presided at the Mass, also gave a 25-minute homily, using both English and Logbara. Altogether the funeral Mass lasted two and one-half hours! Then the procession to the cemetery and the burial lasted another one hour.
All of us priests took turns carrying the heavy casket on our shoulders out of the basilica and down the lengthy lane in Lodonga mission to reach our cemetery. The Bishop of Arua led all the prayers at the grave site. Finally all the common people, many of them crying and wailing in the local custom, came up to the grave for a final farewell. There are several other Comboni missionaries buried around the tomb of Fr. Luigi. Of course, if I die here, this is also the place where I would be buried. And since I won't be able to describe it for you then, you can recall what you are now reading and be able to imagine what would be happening to me!
I have shortened considerably for you what I shared by email with Fr. Luigi's family. Fr. Luigi is one of 12 sisters and brothers, most of whom are still alive. His two nun-sisters both died in the past year or so. Their mother died 10 years ago this Friday at the age of 96! The story of Luigi is one of being ready to leave family and country to share the Good News of Jesus as a missionary priest. It is also the story of a family being willing to let go of a dear brother for most of his life. I write this letter for all of you, very aware that these same noble sentiments are shared by you and me. How wonderful and how consoling! God bless you all.
From Africa, with love, Fr. David Baltz
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 236 suppl. In Memoriam, ottobre 2007, pp. 7-14.