Requiem Eucharist in memory of Fr Nicolino Di Iorio and Sr Maria Sarina Nici

Sr Sarina passed away in Verona, Italy, on October 1, 2024, aged 92. Fr Nicola died in Addis Ababa on October 6, 2024. He had returned from a five-week holiday with his parents in Italy and was resting from the flight when sister death called him. He was 66.

The Eucharist was presided by Capuchin Bishop Dejene Hidoto, Apostolic Vicar of Sodo. Bishop Seyoum Franso, Apostolic Vicar of Hosanna, Fr Juan Núñez, Apostolic Administrator of Hawassa and Fr Asfaha Yohannes, Provincial Superior of the Comboni Missionaries in Ethiopia, concelebrated together with some 50 priests, diocesans and missionaries. Fr Juan, the Apostolic Administrator, welcomed the participants at the beginning of the mass. He thanked Fr Nicola for his tireless work in Hawassa. “Now, he is resting in heaven”, he said.

The cathedral was packed with many religious sisters from different congregations serving the Hawassa Vicariate and other faithful. The liturgy was conducted in Amharic and Sidamo languages.

Fr Tsegaye Getahun, Hawassa Vicariate Secretary General, delivered the homily, making memory of Fr Nicola’s ministry. At the end of the memorial celebration, Sr Weynshet Tadesse Haile, the leader of the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Ethiopia, and Fr Asfaha presented the life histories of the two deceased missionaries.

Sr Sarina joined the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Eritrea. After her formation, she began her missionary service in Bahrein and South Yemen for 16 years. Then, she was transferred to Ethiopia and served in the missions of Dilla, Dongora, Hawassa, Meki and Addis Ababa for 28 years. She did formation work in the Minor Seminaries of Hawassa and Meki.

Women’s promotion was her great love. Hawassa’s Comboni College for Women stands as a monument to her pioneer work. Four years ago, she was transferred to the Comboni Sisters’ Mother House in Verona, Italy, due to her age and health.

“Sr Sarina was a truly spiritual person who valued her vocation as a religious sister about everything. Her life had its influence and continue to have its impact on so many people. Her generosity, kindness and care for others were an example and witness of her deep love of God and of her faith which flowed from a kind and gentle humanity”, Sr Weynshet underlined.

Fr Nicola was ordained in 1986 and worked in Italy until he came to the Vicariate of Hawassa in 1995. He remained in the land of the origins until his untimely death, except for a period of four years in Italy between 2012 and 2016. He served the missions of Tullo, Fullasa, Teticha and Daye among the Sidama people. He was also rector of Hawassa Major Seminary in Addis Ababa and Provincial bursar of the Comboni Missionaries in Ethiopia. During the last four years he was deputy Apostolic Administrator of Hawassa, assisting Fr Núñez, the Apostolic Administrator.

Fr Nicola was also involved in the ongoing formation of religious sisters, especially through a monthly retreat, and in the English Sunday Mass for the international community in Hawassa. He was celebrated as a generous, friendly, dedicated and outstanding administrator and missionary. “I can imagine Fr Nicola repeating the words of St Daniel Comboni: ‘I will die but my work will not die’”, Fr Asfaha said.

Fr Tesfaye Tadesse, General Superior of the Comboni Missionaries and a radical member of the Ethiopian Province, sent his message of condolences to the Province and to the Vicariate of Hawassa. “We all thank God for the gift of Abba Nicola, a capable, spiritually rich and humanly generous great Comboni Missionary”, Fr Tesfaye wrote. He thanked Fr Nicola for his human and spiritual qualities, for his sharing of faith, for being simple, for his gift of creating friendship, for his gestures of charity.

Some representatives of Church groups, including a catechist from Daye, also celebrated the two missionaries and their legacy.

The memorial Eucharist concluded with a fraternal lunch.

Hawassa’s female and male Comboni communities together with missionaries from Addis Ababa, Haro Wato, Daye and Qillenso, concluded St Daniel Comboni Day with an hour of adoration around one of his last letters from Khartoum.

Fr Joe Vieira, mccj