Fr. Luigi Brioni sx
If you are a world traveller and you happen to visit the City of Makeni in the Northern part of Sierra Leone, you will soon find out that the main road crossing the City from East to West is called Azzolini Highway. You will want to inquire from the Makeni people: “Who is this Azzolini?” for the name is certainly strange to the local languages. And they will tell you, Muslims and Christians alike, that Azzolini was the first Catholic Bishop of Makeni, that he loved the Country very much, and that his body is buried in front of the Catholic Cathedral. But I am sure that you, my 10 readers, would like to know more about this Bishop who has changed and still challenges Sierra Leone with Christian faith and love! So, after reading this short, and very incomplete, summary of his multifaceted life, mission and achievements, you should come to Makeni, for it is here – from where I write too – that you will know him better and appreciate him much more. In a way we can truly say that he is still very much alive among us!
Augustus Azzolini was born in the province of Parma, Italy, on December 15th, 1908, the third child of a family of five boys. Under the strong discipline of his father Massimiliano and the Christian gentleness of his mother Dirce, little Augustus could not but grow well in good attitude and behaviour. So it was not surprising that, at the end of his primary school, aged 11years, the boy asked his parents for permission to enter the minor seminary of Parma. (11)
At that time, the now Saint Guido Maria Conforti was not only Bishop of the Parma Diocese but also the Founder of the Saint Francis Xavier Institute for the Foreign Missions. The young Augustus, deeply impressed by Bishop Conforti’s holiness and the universal purpose of his Institute, felt compelled to join his Institute. In practice, he needed only to cross the road from the seminary. And so he did, being accepted there on October 13th, 1924. (11) That day was really for Azzolini the beginning of an ever-growing relationship of love with the Xaverian Family and its Founder, a relationship that sustained him throughout the rest of his life, as all of us, his Xaverian Confreres, could easily testify.
In the very words of Azzolini, written in 1965, he would admit that: “If there was a person that had a determining impact on my life … that person is without doubt Mgr. Conforti. Before he died, his presence, his word, and his example were for me stimulus and inspiration during my years of formation … Later his fatherly image accompanied me everywhere and was for me a source of strength, courage, and decision in overcoming the many difficulties encountered in the activities of my priestly and missionary life.” (232)
On October 14th, 1925, Azzolini made his first religious profession and became officially a member of the Xaverian Congregation. Six years later, after his successful studies of philosophy and theology at the Xaverian Mother House, he was ordained priest by Bishop Conforti on Holy Saturday, April 4th, 1931, with two other classmates. This would be the last Holy Order given by the Founder to his beloved “sons”, for that very year he would return to the Father.
From 1931 to 1947 Azzolini was doing his mission in Italy mostly as formator of future Xaverians. He was sent first to the Xaverian house of Vicenza as vice rector to the famous Father Pietro Uccelli. It was there that Azzolini himself had to communicate to all in the house the sorrowful news of the Founder’s death on November 5th. After managing to do so, he burst into tears. (36)
Yes, the tears of Azzolini were frequent occurrences in his life, either an expression of personal pain or, more often, of deep participation in the sufferings of others.
From the very beginning of his Xaverian ministry Azzolini proved to be a successful teacher, relying on prayer, hard work, and a joyful sense of belonging to the Family. With his students he was a disciplinarian, but not without an affectionate understanding, and always encouraging them to strive for perfection. One of those students (Fr. Rabito) would later write of Azzolini that he was “with them assiduously in their activities, classes, and spiritual practices. While teaching Italian and Latin, he would never forget that we were aspirants to the missionary life. He was also participating frequently at our recreation. … In his preaching he would show all his conviction of loving and receiving the Eucharist and of loving Our Lady. … These two devotions became ever more rooted in him over the years and he never ceased to pass them on to others till the end of his life. … The Eucharist and Our Lady were all his spirituality.” (45)
From Vicenza Azzolini was sent to the newly opened Xaverian house of Grumone, near Cremona, to be the vice-rector of senior Xaverian aspirants. As well as the normal duties of his formative community, he also helped out in the parishes nearby out of his sincere and constant love for the whole Church, wherever it was!
Upon the recommendation of many, in June 1936, the Superior General of the Xaverians assigned Azzolini to be rector of the Xaverian students’ community at Poggio San Marcello, near Ancona. Azzolini was then not even 28 years old, but, just as he was used to obeying to the Founder, he put himself in the hands of Mary and went to his new destination.
He remained at Poggio till 1943 with the task of preparing young boys for commitment to a missionary vocation. He did this with both zeal, dedication and prayer, but also with considerable intelligence, knowledge and prudence. There, as elsewhere throughout his life, Azzolini remained a first class worker, never tiring of doing good, intervening, organizing, encouraging … to the point that those around him found it difficult to keep up with his pace.
In September 1943, while World War II was raging over the Italian Peninsula with all the sufferings and difficulties and confusions of any war, Azzolini was nominated Rector to the Grumone House with its 50 student-aspirants and four fathers. But life was not easy there: communications were difficult; food was scarce; travelling was dangerous. All this made Azzolini even more important to the community, and to everyone, with his extra attention, care, and assistance, and making prayer and liturgy essential to all. He also effectively intervened more than once to bring opposite political factions together for dialogue and reconciliation. Yes, undoubtedly, Azzolini remained always a man of peace at all costs, for he could never rejoice in any confrontation and opposition.
Finally the War came to an end in April 1945 to the great relief of all, including Rector Azzolini and his Xaverian community. Now it was the time for the whole of Europe to heal its wounds of division and to work for a new Europe united in solidarity and growth of all kinds.
The Xaverian Family was also expecting the end of the war to see more missionaries sent to their missions in China and elsewhere. In Italy the Xaverian seminaries were full to capacity with young priests and seminarians ready to fly to the very ends of the world and to convert them all to Christ.
Azzolini was now 37 and had no other desire but to leave Italy and be a missionary of Christ with the blessed charism of Bishop Conforti. And so, after much prayer and fretting, and not without the pain of departing from all his loved ones in Italy, he and three other younger Xaverian priests were ‘missioned’ to Scotland in October 1947 to start learning English as an essential prerequisite for the final mission of Sierra Leone. For it was in Sierra Leone that the Xaverian General Direction –under the invitation of the Holy See - had accepted to open its first mission in Africa. As soon as he arrived on British soil, Azzolini, always a good reporter of events and feelings throughout his life, would gratefully write to his Superior General that Africa had already become “his second homeland”! (110).
NB:Most information is taken from the book Augusto Azzolini, authored by Amedeo Ghizzo, in 2008. The number in brackets refers to the page quoted. With the permission of the autor of this article, the text which was thought as one paper, will be published three times.
If you are a world traveller and you happen to visit the City of Makeni in the Northern part of Sierra Leone, you will soon find out that the main road crossing the City from East to West is called Azzolini Highway. You will want to inquire from the Makeni people: “Who is this Azzolini?” for the name is certainly strange to the local languages. And they will tell you, Muslims and Christians alike, that Azzolini was the first Catholic Bishop of Makeni, that he loved the Country very much, and that his body is buried in front of the Catholic Cathedral. But I am sure that you, my 10 readers, would like to know more about this Bishop who has changed and still challenges Sierra Leone with Christian faith and love! So, after reading this short, and very incomplete, summary of his multifaceted life, mission and achievements, you should come to Makeni, for it is here – from where I write too – that you will know him better and appreciate him much more. In a way we can truly say that he is still very much alive among us!
Augustus Azzolini was born in the province of Parma, Italy, on December 15th, 1908, the third child of a family of five boys. Under the strong discipline of his father Massimiliano and the Christian gentleness of his mother Dirce, little Augustus could not but grow well in good attitude and behaviour. So it was not surprising that, at the end of his primary school, aged 11years, the boy asked his parents for permission to enter the minor seminary of Parma. (11)
At that time, the now Saint Guido Maria Conforti was not only Bishop of the Parma Diocese but also the Founder of the Saint Francis Xavier Institute for the Foreign Missions. The young Augustus, deeply impressed by Bishop Conforti’s holiness and the universal purpose of his Institute, felt compelled to join his Institute. In practice, he needed only to cross the road from the seminary. And so he did, being accepted there on October 13th, 1924. (11) That day was really for Azzolini the beginning of an ever-growing relationship of love with the Xaverian Family and its Founder, a relationship that sustained him throughout the rest of his life, as all of us, his Xaverian Confreres, could easily testify.
In the very words of Azzolini, written in 1965, he would admit that: “If there was a person that had a determining impact on my life … that person is without doubt Mgr. Conforti. Before he died, his presence, his word, and his example were for me stimulus and inspiration during my years of formation … Later his fatherly image accompanied me everywhere and was for me a source of strength, courage, and decision in overcoming the many difficulties encountered in the activities of my priestly and missionary life.” (232)
On October 14th, 1925, Azzolini made his first religious profession and became officially a member of the Xaverian Congregation. Six years later, after his successful studies of philosophy and theology at the Xaverian Mother House, he was ordained priest by Bishop Conforti on Holy Saturday, April 4th, 1931, with two other classmates. This would be the last Holy Order given by the Founder to his beloved “sons”, for that very year he would return to the Father.
From 1931 to 1947 Azzolini was doing his mission in Italy mostly as formator of future Xaverians. He was sent first to the Xaverian house of Vicenza as vice rector to the famous Father Pietro Uccelli. It was there that Azzolini himself had to communicate to all in the house the sorrowful news of the Founder’s death on November 5th. After managing to do so, he burst into tears. (36)
Yes, the tears of Azzolini were frequent occurrences in his life, either an expression of personal pain or, more often, of deep participation in the sufferings of others.
From the very beginning of his Xaverian ministry Azzolini proved to be a successful teacher, relying on prayer, hard work, and a joyful sense of belonging to the Family. With his students he was a disciplinarian, but not without an affectionate understanding, and always encouraging them to strive for perfection. One of those students (Fr. Rabito) would later write of Azzolini that he was “with them assiduously in their activities, classes, and spiritual practices. While teaching Italian and Latin, he would never forget that we were aspirants to the missionary life. He was also participating frequently at our recreation. … In his preaching he would show all his conviction of loving and receiving the Eucharist and of loving Our Lady. … These two devotions became ever more rooted in him over the years and he never ceased to pass them on to others till the end of his life. … The Eucharist and Our Lady were all his spirituality.” (45)
From Vicenza Azzolini was sent to the newly opened Xaverian house of Grumone, near Cremona, to be the vice-rector of senior Xaverian aspirants. As well as the normal duties of his formative community, he also helped out in the parishes nearby out of his sincere and constant love for the whole Church, wherever it was!
Upon the recommendation of many, in June 1936, the Superior General of the Xaverians assigned Azzolini to be rector of the Xaverian students’ community at Poggio San Marcello, near Ancona. Azzolini was then not even 28 years old, but, just as he was used to obeying to the Founder, he put himself in the hands of Mary and went to his new destination.
He remained at Poggio till 1943 with the task of preparing young boys for commitment to a missionary vocation. He did this with both zeal, dedication and prayer, but also with considerable intelligence, knowledge and prudence. There, as elsewhere throughout his life, Azzolini remained a first class worker, never tiring of doing good, intervening, organizing, encouraging … to the point that those around him found it difficult to keep up with his pace.
In September 1943, while World War II was raging over the Italian Peninsula with all the sufferings and difficulties and confusions of any war, Azzolini was nominated Rector to the Grumone House with its 50 student-aspirants and four fathers. But life was not easy there: communications were difficult; food was scarce; travelling was dangerous. All this made Azzolini even more important to the community, and to everyone, with his extra attention, care, and assistance, and making prayer and liturgy essential to all. He also effectively intervened more than once to bring opposite political factions together for dialogue and reconciliation. Yes, undoubtedly, Azzolini remained always a man of peace at all costs, for he could never rejoice in any confrontation and opposition.
Finally the War came to an end in April 1945 to the great relief of all, including Rector Azzolini and his Xaverian community. Now it was the time for the whole of Europe to heal its wounds of division and to work for a new Europe united in solidarity and growth of all kinds.
The Xaverian Family was also expecting the end of the war to see more missionaries sent to their missions in China and elsewhere. In Italy the Xaverian seminaries were full to capacity with young priests and seminarians ready to fly to the very ends of the world and to convert them all to Christ.
Azzolini was now 37 and had no other desire but to leave Italy and be a missionary of Christ with the blessed charism of Bishop Conforti. And so, after much prayer and fretting, and not without the pain of departing from all his loved ones in Italy, he and three other younger Xaverian priests were ‘missioned’ to Scotland in October 1947 to start learning English as an essential prerequisite for the final mission of Sierra Leone. For it was in Sierra Leone that the Xaverian General Direction –under the invitation of the Holy See - had accepted to open its first mission in Africa. As soon as he arrived on British soil, Azzolini, always a good reporter of events and feelings throughout his life, would gratefully write to his Superior General that Africa had already become “his second homeland”! (110).
NB:Most information is taken from the book Augusto Azzolini, authored by Amedeo Ghizzo, in 2008. The number in brackets refers to the page quoted. With the permission of the autor of this article, the text which was thought as one paper, will be published three times.