In Pace Christi

Fr. Aladino was born at Vigasio (Verona). This is how he himself tells in what way his vocation began: “From my boyhood I used to serve Mass and the Sisters at the pre-school used to tell me I would grow up to be a priest... I used to get very angry! I thought nothing of the sort! For some years I took part in Catholic Action but then I left it to follow the passion of my youth - dancing.

One Sunday I was standing outside the parish hall where a comedy was being staged; I hadn’t the price of a ticket. The sacristan sent me to the presbytery to get some chairs (promising me free entry) and there I met the man who made me become a religious, the new curate who invited me to a meeting of CA. I cannot understand how but that evening I found myself at the CA meeting where I was received with open arms. I was confused. The following Sunday, I went back to the dance hall but just stood there watching. That was the last time I went dancing. Little by little my vocation grew... I was reading Nigrizia and something was moving within me ... I wanted to be a Comboni”.

In 1951, after the novitiate in Sunningdale (UK), Aladino took vows as a Comboni Brother and, in 1954, after three years in England, he was appointed to Uganda. There he carried out his missionary ministry, especially in teaching, until 2014, with a break of six years in Rome (1970-1976) for philosophical and theological studies with a view to being ordained priest (1976). In fact, after his ordination he returned to Uganda to exercise his ministry in West Nile for thirty-eight years.

Then he started having health problems. In 2015 he returned to Italy, first to Verona and then to Castel D’Azzano. His progressively serious condition of suffering and immobility, especially in his final months, weighed heavily upon his morale, causing him to become somewhat taciturn: before his illness he would enjoy going out and helping in ministry, as much as his health allowed, in the nearby parishes he knew so well. His family and friends often called on him for a chat and a word of advice. He died at Negrar hospital (Verona) on 9 December 2018.

These are the words Fr. Renzo Piazza, superior of the community of Castel d’Azzano, addressed to Fr. Aladino by way of a final goodbye, at the start of the Eucharist presided over by Fr. Giovanni Munari, Provincial Superior. “Fr. Aladino, this community where you lived for the past three and a half years wishes to thank you and greet you for the last time. When you came to Castel d’Azzano, right from the start you began a practice in which we soon became experts: that of falling! Under the scorching sun on the third day of June, perhaps recalling your first vocation as a Brother, you went out to check the asphalting work being done by the workers. You left some drops of blood on the new surface. You had a few scratches and forgot about it.

Many others followed your example … You often bore witness to your life entirely dedicated to the missionary cause and of your “monogamic” love for Uganda where you worked for 16 years as a Brother and 38 as a priest, preaching and teaching. A total of 54 years! You gave us lessons in its geography as you recalled the missions where you worked: Moyo, Pakwach, Koboko and Ombaci; and in its politics as you recalled your friends in high places such as President Idi Amin.

You supported missionary projects of human promotion, gaining the help of friends (including the Chievo football team!), always mindful that “without money, the works of God are not established”, as Comboni said. You were happy to see the fruits of your work and were proud of one of your altar servers who, now a Comboni Missionary, is working in South Sudan.

You knew how to grow old gracefully in the community of Castel d’Azzano. Always faithful to community prayer, you would fix your eyes on the tabernacle and would always notice if the Blessed Sacrament lamp had gone out … You were available for ministry as long as your health allowed and you kept in touch with your family and the town where you were born, grew up and where you used to go dancing as a youth … and where, most important of all, you were educated in the faith and in the love for all. With a pinch of nostalgia, you showed us the ruined church where you used to say the Rosary as a boy”.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 278 Suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2019, pp. 148-157.