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Novelli Bruno
Date of birth :
28/07/1936
Place of birth :
Verona
Temporary Vows :
09/09/1957
Perpetual Vows :
09/09/1963
Date of ordination :
28/06/1964
Date of death :
14/01/2003
Place of death :
Negrar/I
Fr. Bruno Novelli (28.07.1936 –14.01.2003)
Fr. Bruno Novelli was born in Verona in 1936. He joined the Comboni Missionaries in 1957 and was ordained a priest in 1964. From 1964 to 1970 he studied humanities at the Catholic University of Milan and obtained his degree with a thesis on Social Anthropology entitled “Ergologia e Etnosociologia Lotuho” (South Sudan), 3 volumes, 726 pages. In 1971 he was sent to West Nile in the diocese of Arua among the Kakwa. From 1972 to 1980 he was at Naoi, diocese of Moroto in Karamoja. In 1980 we find him in Rome as secretary general for evangelisation. He returned to Karamoja in 1983 where he was parish priest in Matany for some years. In 1989 he established the Diocesan Cultural Centre on Karimojong language and culture that included giving courses to new comers. He also started a Documentation Centre on the Karimojong and on nomadic people. In 1992 he was in Nairobi at the provincial centre. Also there he established a Documentation Centre on the pastoralist people of Kenya. For reasons of health he went to Verona in 1995 to be in charge of the Nigrizia Library. He returned to Uganda in May 1999, but again for health reasons he returned to Italy in April 2002.
Fr. Bruno published several books on the Karimojong and on Karamoja: Pastorale Missionaria Nuova (1980); A Grammar of the Karimojong Language (Berlin, 1985); an abridged form of the same, Small Grammar of the Karimojong Language (Verona 1987); Aspects of Karimojong Ethnosociology (Verona 1988); A man went out to sow his seed (Lk 8:5). Moroto Diocese Silver Jubilee (1965-1990) on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Moroto diocese; The Karimojong: a resilient people? (1995); Karimojong Traditional Religion (Verona 1999). Fr. Bruno also published several articles on various magazines on the Karimojong and on missionary activity.
From his bibliography we detect his interest, his great passion and his competence in the Karimojong world. He was an expert in the Karimojong language. It was Fr. Pasquale Crazzolara, a distinguished linguist who wrote several grammars (Logbara, Acholi, Pokot, etc.), who introduced him to linguistic studies and to the Karimojong language in particular. At the time of his death Fr. Bruno was working on his Karimojong dictionary. His death leaves a great emptiness not only in the Comboni family, but also in the area of study of the Karimojong world.
Fr. Bruno was very identified with Comboni, his charism and the Comboni Missionaries. He was a man of studies, a scholar and a little bit of an idealist. He was blessed with cheerful and hospitable character. He loved Verona, not only as his city, but also for its football team. He used to say that he was doing “fioretti” to make Verona win. He was very close to his family. His parents had died young and he had the premonition that he would die before getting too old. Some years back while still in Moroto, he had confided to his confreres that, if he died, he would have liked to be buried in Verona near his parents. He had constant health problems connected with blood circulation and anaemia. He often had headaches and periods of weakness.
His most meaningful missionary experience, to which he often referred, was the time he spent with Fr. Antonio La Braca in Naoi, on the outskirts of Moroto. He often spoke of those days with a bit of idealism and romanticism, as a pilot experience among the Karimojong. Fundamentally, he never went beyond that experience. He wrote a book (Pastorale Missionaria Nuova, 1980) to defend Fr. La Braca’s new pastoral approach, challenging the traditional approach which he considered too paternalistic and too much based on the administration of the sacraments. Because of his poor health, however, and because he was a man of studies, he spent more time at home than in the Karimojong villages. His love for the Karimojong was a bit idealistic. Being an intellectual, he wanted to find a rationale in everything that concerned the Karimojong. Others thought that reality was more complex and ambivalent, not only capable of being easily organized in clear and distinct categories, as he would have liked to. Because of this, he encountered times of discouragement when, during his last stay in Karamoja, he could see the precarious and dangerous situations concerning security and other aspects of the life of the missionaries and of the Church in Karamoja.
His great ability to spotlight in clear and distinct ideas the various situations of mission, eliminating or reducing what he could not easily fit into a system, was his great gift and probably also his limitation. It was impossible not to agree with him in theory over some methodological principles. But, looking at the reality of mission and of the Institute, always rather complex because of the ambivalence of problems and people, it appeared that his points of view were a little on the ideological side, and did not have a direct impact on reality, also because he himself was only involved to a point. However, because of his cheerful and open character, he was satisfied when he could express his thinking. He used to say: “I have always said what I thought,” and seemed to hint: “Now it’s up to you, superiors and confreres, to put it into practice.” He considered himself an expert on Karimojong culture and language. He did not get involved in other projects, such as liturgical and biblical translations, which seemed to be beyond his sphere of interest.
At Christmas time last year he sent an e-mail to his provincial to say that he was not feeling well and lacked the energy to continue his work. A few days before his death he sent another message to Fr. Damiano Guzzetti in Matany. Among other things he mentioned that he missed the Karimojong taaba (tobacco), which he liked to sniff. He asked him to send up some by means of confreres travelling to Italy.
By the death of Fr. Bruno we have lost a linguist and an anthropologist, a man of studies and of missionary challenges, a man with a passion for Comboni, identified with the Comboni Institute, a man who knew how to laugh and enjoy the little joys of conviviality and friendship.
As a province, in Uganda we think hat the best way to honour his precious memory is to ensure that his last work, the Karimojong dictionary on which he had been busy for years, is continued and completed by someone. Now Fr. Bruno rests in the “great village” in which he had envisioned the Karimojong’s faith in the afterlife. (Fr. Guido Oliana)
Fr. Bruno Novelli was born in Verona in 1936. He joined the Comboni Missionaries in 1957 and was ordained a priest in 1964. From 1964 to 1970 he studied humanities at the Catholic University of Milan and obtained his degree with a thesis on Social Anthropology entitled “Ergologia e Etnosociologia Lotuho” (South Sudan), 3 volumes, 726 pages. In 1971 he was sent to West Nile in the diocese of Arua among the Kakwa. From 1972 to 1980 he was at Naoi, diocese of Moroto in Karamoja. In 1980 we find him in Rome as secretary general for evangelisation. He returned to Karamoja in 1983 where he was parish priest in Matany for some years. In 1989 he established the Diocesan Cultural Centre on Karimojong language and culture that included giving courses to new comers. He also started a Documentation Centre on the Karimojong and on nomadic people. In 1992 he was in Nairobi at the provincial centre. Also there he established a Documentation Centre on the pastoralist people of Kenya. For reasons of health he went to Verona in 1995 to be in charge of the Nigrizia Library. He returned to Uganda in May 1999, but again for health reasons he returned to Italy in April 2002.
Fr. Bruno published several books on the Karimojong and on Karamoja: Pastorale Missionaria Nuova (1980); A Grammar of the Karimojong Language (Berlin, 1985); an abridged form of the same, Small Grammar of the Karimojong Language (Verona 1987); Aspects of Karimojong Ethnosociology (Verona 1988); A man went out to sow his seed (Lk 8:5). Moroto Diocese Silver Jubilee (1965-1990) on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Moroto diocese; The Karimojong: a resilient people? (1995); Karimojong Traditional Religion (Verona 1999). Fr. Bruno also published several articles on various magazines on the Karimojong and on missionary activity.
From his bibliography we detect his interest, his great passion and his competence in the Karimojong world. He was an expert in the Karimojong language. It was Fr. Pasquale Crazzolara, a distinguished linguist who wrote several grammars (Logbara, Acholi, Pokot, etc.), who introduced him to linguistic studies and to the Karimojong language in particular. At the time of his death Fr. Bruno was working on his Karimojong dictionary. His death leaves a great emptiness not only in the Comboni family, but also in the area of study of the Karimojong world.
Fr. Bruno was very identified with Comboni, his charism and the Comboni Missionaries. He was a man of studies, a scholar and a little bit of an idealist. He was blessed with cheerful and hospitable character. He loved Verona, not only as his city, but also for its football team. He used to say that he was doing “fioretti” to make Verona win. He was very close to his family. His parents had died young and he had the premonition that he would die before getting too old. Some years back while still in Moroto, he had confided to his confreres that, if he died, he would have liked to be buried in Verona near his parents. He had constant health problems connected with blood circulation and anaemia. He often had headaches and periods of weakness.
His most meaningful missionary experience, to which he often referred, was the time he spent with Fr. Antonio La Braca in Naoi, on the outskirts of Moroto. He often spoke of those days with a bit of idealism and romanticism, as a pilot experience among the Karimojong. Fundamentally, he never went beyond that experience. He wrote a book (Pastorale Missionaria Nuova, 1980) to defend Fr. La Braca’s new pastoral approach, challenging the traditional approach which he considered too paternalistic and too much based on the administration of the sacraments. Because of his poor health, however, and because he was a man of studies, he spent more time at home than in the Karimojong villages. His love for the Karimojong was a bit idealistic. Being an intellectual, he wanted to find a rationale in everything that concerned the Karimojong. Others thought that reality was more complex and ambivalent, not only capable of being easily organized in clear and distinct categories, as he would have liked to. Because of this, he encountered times of discouragement when, during his last stay in Karamoja, he could see the precarious and dangerous situations concerning security and other aspects of the life of the missionaries and of the Church in Karamoja.
His great ability to spotlight in clear and distinct ideas the various situations of mission, eliminating or reducing what he could not easily fit into a system, was his great gift and probably also his limitation. It was impossible not to agree with him in theory over some methodological principles. But, looking at the reality of mission and of the Institute, always rather complex because of the ambivalence of problems and people, it appeared that his points of view were a little on the ideological side, and did not have a direct impact on reality, also because he himself was only involved to a point. However, because of his cheerful and open character, he was satisfied when he could express his thinking. He used to say: “I have always said what I thought,” and seemed to hint: “Now it’s up to you, superiors and confreres, to put it into practice.” He considered himself an expert on Karimojong culture and language. He did not get involved in other projects, such as liturgical and biblical translations, which seemed to be beyond his sphere of interest.
At Christmas time last year he sent an e-mail to his provincial to say that he was not feeling well and lacked the energy to continue his work. A few days before his death he sent another message to Fr. Damiano Guzzetti in Matany. Among other things he mentioned that he missed the Karimojong taaba (tobacco), which he liked to sniff. He asked him to send up some by means of confreres travelling to Italy.
By the death of Fr. Bruno we have lost a linguist and an anthropologist, a man of studies and of missionary challenges, a man with a passion for Comboni, identified with the Comboni Institute, a man who knew how to laugh and enjoy the little joys of conviviality and friendship.
As a province, in Uganda we think hat the best way to honour his precious memory is to ensure that his last work, the Karimojong dictionary on which he had been busy for years, is continued and completed by someone. Now Fr. Bruno rests in the “great village” in which he had envisioned the Karimojong’s faith in the afterlife. (Fr. Guido Oliana)