In Pace Christi

Love for the mountains and nature, love for the people of the Sierra, and a big and generous heart: I think this is how we can sum up the life of Father Pepe (I will call him that, as did the people of Peru) who spent 35 years of his life in the central Andes and died tragically in an accident during a mountain hike at 4,500 meters above sea level, in the area of ??the parish of ‘Santo Domingo’, in Palca, where he worked. Giuseppe was born in Caprino Veronese (Verona) into a family where trust in God was in the air. From an early age, he welcomed the call to the priesthood in his heart. He entered the diocesan seminary while still a boy. On 18^th June 1978, he was ordained a priest and assigned as curate to a parish in the diocese of Verona. However, a missionary vocation arose in him in a strong way and in October 1982 he entered the Comboni novitiate of Venegono Superiore. He made his first religious profession on 25^th May 1984, and immediately left for the mission in Peru, where he remained until his death, with some brief interludes: vocation promotion-GIM in Lecce (1989-1990), missionary animation in Thiene (1990-1993), a sabbatical with two months of spirituality spent in Bethany in Israel, with the Comboni Sisters (January-May 2010), and the renewal course in Rome (2019).

In Peru, except for a ‘tiring’ year spent as a formator of postulants in Lima (2001), all his ministry took place in the Sierra: in the parishes of S. Miguel Chaupimarca and San Juan Pampa, in Cerro de Pasco, an insertion experience in the district of Chaulán, the parish of San Pedro in Huánuco, the parish of San Pedro in Yanahuanca, the parish of the Santísima Cruz in Baños, again the parish of San Pedro in Huánuco and, finally, the parish of San Domingo de Guzmán, in Palca. Pepe was a simple, austere, essential man. He easily related to people and was able to cultivate friendships over the years. For many, he was a good friend, a counsellor, a father or an elder brother. The celebrations that accompanied his death were an eloquent sign of the abundant sowing of the Gospel and goodness that he made in his life. We have all seen the fruit of this sowing firsthand.

Father Pepe had good friends in Italy who helped him with their possessions. Thanks to them, he carried out important works, always thinking of the little ones, the poor, and the humble. I will mention only the latest: the construction of the ‘Giuseppe Gariggio Educational Rehabilitation Center for the Blind’ (CERCI-HCO), the foundation of the ‘CREVAL, a physical rehabilitation centre’ of Caritas-Huánuco, and a great effort to build an oxygen plant, very important during the harsh experience of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The silence of the immense Andean spaces, the mountain trails, the search for the path where no one had passed, the peaks and lagoons with their names, were the common thread of his life, not only in a physical sense but also spiritually. All this gave oxygen not only to his lungs but also to his friendship with God and his relationships with people.

Father Pepe was a true encyclopaedia of that part of the central Sierra where he worked and which he knew better than anyone else. He loved to show his friends the thousands of photos he had taken during his long walks. Very often he went alone to climb this or that peak: he liked it that way. And he also ventured alone on his last excursion, on August 29, 2024. He slipped and fell onto some rocks, suffering brain and chest injuries. Perhaps he died immediately, or the cold of the night, at over 4,500 meters, and the humidity of the lagoon led to fatal hypothermia. He was found lifeless on the morning of the 31st. According to the doctors, he must have died during the night between August 29 and 30. The circumstances of his death shocked everyone who knew and appreciated him, in Italy and Peru. All we can do is bow our heads before the mystery of life and death and, without asking ourselves too many questions, thank the Lord for the gift he has given us in his person. In the Sierra, especially in the afternoon, a strong wind often blows. Today, the wind that blows over the mountains of the Sierra Tarmeña whispers to us – and will whisper for a long time – the legacy of Father Pepe: faith, service and solidarity are the only important things.

Thank you, Father Pepe! We remain immensely grateful for the good you have given us. Hasta luego, querido cura andino, as you liked to sign yourself. (Father Sergio Agustoni, mccj)