In Pace Christi

“With the death of Fr. Pietro – writes the Superior General Fr. Enrique Sánchez G. in his message to the Province of Italy and Fr. Chiochetta’s relatives – the Institute has lost not only a missionary but a confrere who, all through his life, helped us to live our charism, our missionary vocation and, especially, our Comboni vocation, one of the figures who enabled us to approach, to know and to love our Founder”.

Fr. Pietro was born on 18 November, 1920, to Lamberto and Ester Montuldo, in Verona where he attended the high school. On 20 June, 1944, he joined the Comboni novitiate, just as the war was drawing to a close. He studied theology first at Venegono and then in Rome, at the Pontifical Urbanian University. On 16 April, 1949, he was ordained priest and, two months later, he was awarded a degree in Letters and Philosophy at the University of Padova.

Having passed the exams for a licentiate in theology (28 June, 1949), He was called by the Superior General to teach Church History and Patristics at the theological scholasticate of Venegono Superiore, becoming Dean of Studies (1951-1953). Meanwhile, he was studying for a doctorate at the Pontifical faculty of Theology of Milan and was called to lecture at the Free School of Historical Sciences “L. A. Muratori” in Verona and at the Ambrosian in Milan.

In 1954, having received a doctorate in theology with the thesis The significance of history and the sense of history in the light of the mystery of Christ, he was sent to Lebanon to prepare for the mission in Sudan. However, soon after there came a request from the Faculty of the Urbanian to have him lecture there: he went there to teach the History and Theology of Protestantism. In 1955 he was appointed to the chair of Church History, becoming the “ordinary” lecturer in 1962. In 1967, he was also placed in charge of the teaching of General Scientific Methodology in all the faculties of the Urbanian, as well as being made a member of the Council of Faculties.

Fr. Chiochetta’s curriculum vitae is indeed full and long; we will confine ourselves to mentioning just a few of his posts: President of Studium Combonianum (1965-1991), Magnificent rector of the Pontifical Urbanian University (1971-1974 and 1983-1986); Consultor of the Secretariat for Non-Christians, of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints (1971-2013), of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (since 1979) and of the Theological Commission. He was also Postulator of the Institute from 1986 to 1996. All these posts in the decasteries and in the service of the Institute show the vastness of his knowledge and the confidence placed in him.

Fr. Francesco Pierli, speaking of his experience as a student of Fr. Chiochetta, says: When he was Professor of History at the Urbanian, his lectures were very much appreciated by all the students for their brilliance and his vivacious delivery, quite apart from their content.

Also Fr. Pietro Ravasio, an old disciple and friend of Fr. Chiocchetta up to his final days, states that what remain most impressed upon his memory are the history lectures he gave: every single matter that he explained he made come alive with the aid of some expressions of his own to help the students to understand better.

As regards his somewhat surly character, we know and this was affirmed by some that, beneath his apparent disagreeableness, a deep shyness and desire for affection laid hidden.

One aspect of his life that must not be forgotten is the part he played in the process of the canonisation of Comboni which had been halted due to two pontifical Reponatur. Fr. Chiocchetta, together with Fr. Aldo Gilli and Fr. Luciano Franceschini, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of Comboni in 1991, succeeded in reopening the cause, due largely to the expertise he had acquired regarding the history of Comboni and to his friendship with Cardinal Pietro Palazzini, a friend and supporter of many Comboni Missionaries and, at that time, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. After the beatification of Comboni, as affirmed in his testimony by Fr. Chiochetta’s successor as Postulator of the Institute: Fr. Arnaldo Baritussio, we had the beatification of the martyrs of Paimol, the canonisation of Comboni, the opening of the causes of Fr. Sartori and Fr. Ambrosoli, the resumption of the cause of Mgr. Roveggio and, perhaps, those of Bro. Giosuè dei Cas and Fr. Ezechiele Ramin.

Fr. Chiocchetta was a prolific writer: he wrote numerous publications, essays, articles and letters exchanged with various persons and confreres. Among his books we wish to mention Tra il Benaco e il Nilo, published in 2000, which covers the entire human and spiritual life of Comboni, placing it idealistically between these two rivers, keeping at the centre the inspiration received in St. Peter’s for the drafting of the Plan for the Regeneration of Africa.

Fr. Chiochetta speaks much of Comboni in his letters, of the richness of his charism, of his joy in living and working in the light of his intuitions, of sharing in missionary service and in the love for the confreres, towards whom he often expressed his sentiments of esteem and respect.

Just two months before he died, on 18 June, 2014, he sent Fr. Ravasio some of his “unedited” works on the Eucharist and the mystery of the death of Our Lord which, besides re-echoing the themes of his favourite authors, seem to conclude his existence in the contemplation of the deepest mysteries of the faith.

Fr. Pietro Chiocchetta passed away on 24 August, 2014, in Verona, where he is buried. His funeral was attended by confreres of the Curia who had known him and regarded him with esteem. Fr. Enrique Sanchez wrote: “He was a conferee who made available to the Institute and the Mission his talents and his professionalism. We remember him as an expert in the history of the Church and even more as an enthusiast of missionary spirituality who was capable of communicating, not only in his university lectures but whenever he was called upon to share his experience and knowledge”.
Da Mccj Bulletin n. 262 suppl. In Memoriam, gennaio 2015, pp. 76-84.