Louis BIRA sx
March 22, 2020- March 22, 2021: One year has passed since father Gerardo Caglioni died due to the scourge of Covid-19. He was 73. In Sierra Leone, he will always be remembered for his missionary work and his academic contribution to the archives of the church history.
1. A missionary and a paramount chief
From 1984, father G. Caglioni worked 12 years here in Sierra Leone as a missionary (1984-1991) and 2002-2007. He was involved in parish ministry in Kamalu, Lungi, Bubumba and Conforti/Makeni Diocese, Holy Cross parish/ archdiocese of Freetown. Interested to announce the gospel with a local flavour, he learnt the local culture. He wanted to announce contextualized gospel. His effort was recognized by the traditional authorities of Mabonto chiefdom who crowned him as a honorary paramount chief. He was then given the name of Paramount Chief Alimamy Gerry Bangura III. This honorific name became part of this signature until his death.
2. A missionary and a scholar
After his first missionary service in Sierra Leone (1984-1991), father G. Caglioni went back to Italy for further studies. His contact with Islam in Sierra Leone motivated him to deepen his Islamic knowledge. In 1993, he got a diploma in Islamic studies at PISAI (Pontificio Instituto di Studi Arabi e d’Islamico) in Rome. From 1993 to 2001, he studied missiology at Gregorian University in Rome. He finished with a doctorate in missiology on: “Quattro secoli di evangelizzazione nella Sierra Leone. Enucleazione ed analisi di alcuni metodi strumenti per l’annuncio del Vangelo”. The text was published in italian as: Sierra Leone: Quattro secoli di evangelizzazione, Bologna/ EMI, 2002.- Four hundred years of evangelization in Sierra Leone. In 2005, he summarized the book under the title of: Sierra Leone 1605-2005: Four Centuries of Evangelisation. The English translation was done by fathers Ivaldo Casula and Piero Lazzarini. In the academic field, this book is the greatest legacy of father Caglioni for the church in Sierra Leone. As far as I know, until now, it is the only book of missiology available about the history of evangelization in Sierra Leone. That is why it is considered as father G. Caglioni’s greatest legacy for the catholic church of Sierra Leone.
Even as a scholar, father Caglioni never lost his missionary zeal and his love for the people of Sierra Leone. When his death was announced, father Salifu Suma, a priest of Makedi diocese who knew him wrote on his Facebook profile: “Father G. Caglioni was a committed and an accomplished academic with a knack for precision and fine details. He was very supportive to sierra Leonean priests and lay faithful studying in Rome and Italy in general. He never lost an opportunity to give a conducted tour of his former university-The Gregorian University, Fontana Trevi and the Vatican”.
Father Gerardo Caglioni sx, PC. Alimamy Gerry Bangura III, hon. Citizen of Mabonto (SL) has gone. But his memory is still alive through his legacy to the catholic church of Sierra Leone, a church he served with love and a church that loves him.
March 22, 2020- March 22, 2021: One year has passed since father Gerardo Caglioni died due to the scourge of Covid-19. He was 73. In Sierra Leone, he will always be remembered for his missionary work and his academic contribution to the archives of the church history.
1. A missionary and a paramount chief
From 1984, father G. Caglioni worked 12 years here in Sierra Leone as a missionary (1984-1991) and 2002-2007. He was involved in parish ministry in Kamalu, Lungi, Bubumba and Conforti/Makeni Diocese, Holy Cross parish/ archdiocese of Freetown. Interested to announce the gospel with a local flavour, he learnt the local culture. He wanted to announce contextualized gospel. His effort was recognized by the traditional authorities of Mabonto chiefdom who crowned him as a honorary paramount chief. He was then given the name of Paramount Chief Alimamy Gerry Bangura III. This honorific name became part of this signature until his death.
2. A missionary and a scholar
After his first missionary service in Sierra Leone (1984-1991), father G. Caglioni went back to Italy for further studies. His contact with Islam in Sierra Leone motivated him to deepen his Islamic knowledge. In 1993, he got a diploma in Islamic studies at PISAI (Pontificio Instituto di Studi Arabi e d’Islamico) in Rome. From 1993 to 2001, he studied missiology at Gregorian University in Rome. He finished with a doctorate in missiology on: “Quattro secoli di evangelizzazione nella Sierra Leone. Enucleazione ed analisi di alcuni metodi strumenti per l’annuncio del Vangelo”. The text was published in italian as: Sierra Leone: Quattro secoli di evangelizzazione, Bologna/ EMI, 2002.- Four hundred years of evangelization in Sierra Leone. In 2005, he summarized the book under the title of: Sierra Leone 1605-2005: Four Centuries of Evangelisation. The English translation was done by fathers Ivaldo Casula and Piero Lazzarini. In the academic field, this book is the greatest legacy of father Caglioni for the church in Sierra Leone. As far as I know, until now, it is the only book of missiology available about the history of evangelization in Sierra Leone. That is why it is considered as father G. Caglioni’s greatest legacy for the catholic church of Sierra Leone.
Even as a scholar, father Caglioni never lost his missionary zeal and his love for the people of Sierra Leone. When his death was announced, father Salifu Suma, a priest of Makedi diocese who knew him wrote on his Facebook profile: “Father G. Caglioni was a committed and an accomplished academic with a knack for precision and fine details. He was very supportive to sierra Leonean priests and lay faithful studying in Rome and Italy in general. He never lost an opportunity to give a conducted tour of his former university-The Gregorian University, Fontana Trevi and the Vatican”.
Father Gerardo Caglioni sx, PC. Alimamy Gerry Bangura III, hon. Citizen of Mabonto (SL) has gone. But his memory is still alive through his legacy to the catholic church of Sierra Leone, a church he served with love and a church that loves him.