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Salesian Priest 1921-2008  Father Alfredo Picchioni Missionary (1951-1980)
Fr Alfredo gave his willingness to depart as missionary since the beginning of his Salesian life, but departure was delayed because of war. Now, having become a priest, nothing more could prevent his departure. He was sent to the Middle East Province and he carried out his first task in Egypt, in the house of Port Said, where ,then, was at work an Italian elementary School. He acted as catechist and responsible for oratory.
However, his Egyptian stay was brief, because the next year obedience brought him to the Holy Land, the community of Cremisan, near Bethlehem, then philosophy house-student, with the task of catechist and teacher of philosophy and pedagogy. He spent there two years, until 1954, creating among young students a climate of enthusiasm and joy typically Salesian , so the students and all the members of the community regretted his departure when in 1954 he was called to become the founder of the Salesian activity in Abadan (Iran), in the Persian Gulf. There he could display his zeal in an entirely new field.
That year in fact the Salesian Congregation agreed to take up the mission of Abadan from Carmelites and Fr Alfredo appeared to his superiors as the best person to shape the Salesian pastoral work in an endless field that stretched from the shores of the Gulf towards the northern hinterland , and up to the Pakistani borders to the east, with manifold commitments : the Latin parish, the care of other groups the faithful of the Eastern rite somewhat neglected for lack of priests, l’”apostolatus maris” the (apostolate at sea) with visits to the many ships that docked in that important seaport and first class oil terminal , visits to thousands of foreign employees working in oil fields or other development projects throughout the South of Iran. To reach them he had to resort even to the plane or helicopter. Although engaged at a brisk pace, in a weakening climate zone, began the study of Farsi too, which he managed to speak fluently.
His three-year experience as a pioneer in Abadan where he began to weave a close web of relationships, was the springboard launch into the capital, Tehran, and the beginning of an Iranian residence that lasted 26 years without interruption, until the Islamic revolution of Khomeini brought it to an end in 1980. He served alternating repeatedly the office of director of school community of the great Andisheh (Wisdom) boarding school and Director-parish-priest of the Latin cathedral “La Consolata” entrusted to the Salesians in 1937. He was, along with the Fr Flavio Fedeli the true founder and builder of the imposing new college built in the Iranian capital . On his impulse, the Andisheh became one of the leading and most sought after facilities School of the city, attended by over 1700 students of every social class and different faiths in the country: Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and Baha'is. The notoriety achieved through the teaching quality, the results obtained and the education offered was such that enrollments, both to the boarding school and day-students turned out in a real contest on who was to come in first, especially if fitted with a recommendation of some VIP and rather often coming from the very imperial court. Over twenty years passed before the forced shutdown of the school, one of many former students, from Paris, declares “indelible the memory of Andisheh and of its great men."
We owe also to Fr Alfredo the purchase of the land and opening of a summer camp on the shores of the Caspian sea, in Now Shahr, and the purchase of another ground, near Tehran in view of a vocational or agricultural school . And for his initiative the “Daughters of Mary Help of Christians” went to Iran to take over an important Catholic female school likely to close and personally prevented the Italian community school from closing, temporarily undertaking its direction. He did not hesitate to intervene where he thought it was at stake the good of young people , assuming consequent responsibilities and taking for granted, on such matters, tacit agreement of superiors, which not always became explicit.
From what was happening in Iran in the sixties and seventies you could forsee a very promising development of Salesian work, to the point that in the Province, Iran appeared as the country of the future. But all broke down rapidly and almost totally disappeared with the coming of the Islamic revolution, which still goes on. In 1979, after months of violence and repression, the Shah, now on his own, had to go into exile, opening the doors for return of his sworn enemy, the religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini. If at first, little seemed to have changed in the school management, the spread and consolidation of revolutionary spirit gradually affected the atmosphere and then the same existence of private schools, including catholic schools , especially those run by religious and foreign religious entities. The Salesian community college was involved in a campaign of accusations and infamous slander spread by various media, so the brothers one fine day found themselves to house arrest, with prospects of ending up in a revolutionary court . After repeated, vain, diplomatic level interventions , only the mediation of pro-palestinian Bishop , Msgr. Hilarion Capucci, allowed the solution of the thorny question with the expulsion, along with Salesians, of all foreign school staffs, residing in the country and most of Latin religious men and women , duly selected, headed by Archbishop, Dominican Irish Bishop William Barden, whose presence was deemed no longer necessary. At the moment of expulsion, Fr Alfredo no longer belonged to the Andisheh community, but was in “La Consolata” Parish. The expulsion was a real shock for those who, like him, had spent all their energies for the good of the population and, in particular, Iranian youth. "It was the worst moment of my life - he recalls in an interview with “Il Resto Del Carlino” of 200l. - When I was at the airport secretly reached us a child and a mother, both Muslims, who gave me a flower and said, thank you for everything you did for us”.The only consolations in those critical circumstances were the timid blooming of the first Iranian vocations and the private audience that Pope John Paul II granted to the ousted bishop and Salesians, receiving them in “Castel Gandolfo” at their arrival in Rome about the end of August 1980.
After a brief rest in the family next to his mother, over eighty, and the recovery from stress and suffered difficulties and far from easy readaptation, Fr Alfredo did not sit on his hands. Even though he was fooling himself with the dream of a hypothetical, but increasingly unrealistic return to Iran, and although in poor health, in agreement with superiors, he joined the Pontifical Salesian University refresher courses for pastoral care during the academic year 1980-81 in Rome. He was then appointed director and parish priest to Rimini for a unexpected return to his native region. In Rimini he spent three years full of fruitful apostolate activities and formed new relationships as testified by many letters written till the end of his life by his parishioners and friends known there. And there, in 1984 the news reached him he had been appointed Supervisor of Middle-East Province, so in September, a few months after his mother’s death, he resumed the way of the East, settling in the house of Bethlehem, provincial headquarters.
Supervisor (1984-1996)
With the enthusiasm and resolve he always had, despite his 63 years of age, he assumed power as Supervisor and began to travel all over the province to encourage community and brotherhood in fidelity to Don Bosco, his charm and mission. Few brothers, including some in northern Ethiopia, which was then part of the Middle East Province, were unknown to him. Although for many years he dwelled in Iran, a decentralized country in regard to others of the Province, got to know them, at least indirectly, as the Supervisor’s adviser for several years, and then personally, as a member of the usual Provincial Chapters. Moreover, the Provincial Chapter of 1978, proof of the esteem he enjoyed, had elected him a delegate of the Province to the XXI General Chapter . Now, as Supervisor, he took problems of people and activities on himself with the warm-heartedness of his rich humanity, his experience, the authenticity of his Salesian identity. He gave priority to research and care of local vocations. With a view to them, but not exclusively, despite the lack of brothers and the reluctance of those who feared a risky widening of the Province and the charge of recklessness, he multiplied new admissions, mostly in small communities. In Egypt he fulfilled the practices already under way for the activity of Zeitun, in Cairo, as a host-community for vocations, oratory youth-center and public church; in Syria he set up three new activities: in Damascus, Kamishli, in the Upper Mesopotamia, and Kafroun; in Turkey he accepted from the Apostolic Vicariate to run the Latin cathedral of Istanbul ; in Ethiopia three activities have the mark of his resourcefulness which never failed: the training community of Adigrat, whose setting-up was already planned, Adua and Addis Ababa, in Eritrea a professional school in Dekernhare; in Lebanon the technical school in Al Fidar. In 12 years of service as Supervisor, since in 1990 Fr Alfredo was reappointed for a second six-year term, activities of the Middle East Province stepped up significantly, although, as expected, the houses of Ethiopia and Eritrea would soon become autonomous Province, joining the communities set up during the same years by the Lombard – Emilian Province in the south. Unfortunately the shortage of brothers remained alarming.
As for local vocations, their number grew effectively, particularly in Syria, Egypt and Ethiopia, although in subsequent years the number of withdrawals increased, possibly for excessive haste in moving them ahead with inadequate basic training.
His Last Years (1997-2008)
At 75 years Don Alfredo had completed his Supervisor’s mandate, but certainly did not retire. "Missionaries never retire! ", he will declare in an interview in 2003. He firmly declined repeated calls from relatives and friends to move permanently in Italy. "Until the Lord will give me strength I'll stay to work in the lands where I lived for 52 years," he will declare in the same interview.
In 1997 he was asked to move in Lebanon where was under way the setting-up of a formation community (Novitiate and post-novitiate) in the house of El Houssoun. With the greatest willingness he held simultaneously or in succession various positions: treasurer, vicar, Italian-language teacher, educator and confessor. In these last two functions he was particularly appreciated by trainees, more so, since the community represented a clear point of reference. As treasurer , in 1999 presided over works of renovation of the accommodations of novices and Pre-novitiate, even while maintaining contacts with benefactors who made them possible. He had not yet completed this process, when obedience, relying on his strong shoulders and his slogan: "forever young" asked him to take over the implementation of Fidar project, which he strongly desired since Supervisor, and consistent in building an important and impressive technical school in the area of Jbeil-Byblos, on the Lebanese coast. He was now about eighty and works lasted as much as three years, including a variety of typical difficulties , which only his dedication, order, accuracy, steadfastness, calm and skill in dealing with other people allowed him to carry out the essential facilities. He moved in the morning with the car from this house to go to El Fidar and several times came home in the evening without dinner and without any afternoon break.
Although shy of praise and compliments, great was his satisfaction when he saw, at the inauguration, the presence of the Maronite Patriarch, the Education-Minister and many other dignitaries and friends who paid homage. His merits in this enterprise as well as in others of his past activity, were appreciated and recognized, with honours by the Italian, Iranian, and Lebanese authorities and the Church itself: almost ten awards, including a medal from the Iranian government for achievements in culture and Social Action, the knighthood Order of the Cedar, awarded to him in Lebanon in 1986, and, finally, after the knighthood and commendation for outstanding merit from the Italian Republic , the degree of Grand Officer of the Order of Star of Italian Solidarity, bestowed by President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2004.Of all these awards he left no trace except for the last one.It was not surprising, then, a few months after his disappearance, on his 87th birthday, September 27, 2008,that the hometown, Gabba, attending neo-Supervisor Middle East Province, Fr Maurizio Spreafico, opened in the name of Don Alfredo Picchioni the on-ramp to the old church where he used to celebrate when in his hometown among family members.
In 2001, the celebration of 50 years of priesthood was for him the opportunity to express a message sent to relatives and friends around the world “His heartfelt thanks to the Lord, the Blessed Virgin, Don Bosco and the Patrons for protecting and guiding him in the past fifty years, for helping him in difficult times leading him by hand up to the present day". He extended his heartfelt thanks to those too who had followed him with fraternal affection, generously sharing with him joys and pains as well. "How many times - he writes - I felt you close, with your prayers, your words of comfort and your unselfish help. "Friends and admirers surrounded him on this occasion solemnly celebrated both in this Community and in Italy, home country, where local press, to which he had given some interviews, wrote editorials about him. Here are some titles: "Father courage", "Don Alfredo of Arabia "(Il Resto del Carlino). Another publication calls him a "courageous and tireless priest who dedicated his life to the mission of faith in faraway lands"(Gente di Gaggio).
He spent his last years in the quiet mountains of El Houssoun; despite the progressive decline with partial loss of memory of recent events and difficulty to concentrate, read and write, the brothers saw him always attending Community acts and present in the courtyard when there were boys. They surrounded him, appreciated him and cheered him up as a grandfather. For his part, always peaceful and jovial, he loved playing with them.In other moments he was engaged in menial jobs, such as the sweeping of leaves in fall or pruning hedges. Most of his time was dedicated to prayer and he never missed the daily rosary.
Weakened by a particularly harsh winter in this rather uncomfortable mountain house, his cardio-pulmonary ailments got worse thus requiring admission to a hospital where he spent the last weeks in a semi-comatose state, even though giving sometimes tactile signs of appreciation to those who visited him and shook his hand.
The corpse was carried to EI Houssoun and the funerals took place on the 26th, acting as chairman the apostolic vicar of Latins in Lebanon, H.E. Msgr. Paul Dahdah, O.C.D:, and concelebrating with H.E. Mgr Bechara Rai, Maronite Bishop of Jbeil-Byblos, and many priests, Salesian brothers of the nearby house of Al Fidar and others arrived from Syria, in addition to various diocesan and religious priests from the local area. In front of a moved crowd, including Italy's ambassador in Lebanon, H.E. Gabriele Checchia, civil authorities, a large group of “Daughters of Mary Help of Christians”, particularly fond of him, and many friends, Fr Vittorio Pozzo, his predecessor in the office of the Middle East Province Supervisor, outlined his profile, highlighting the authenticity of his Salesian vocation, generous and model follower of the Lord Jesus. His constant physical presence among young people, his serenity and optimism until the end, shown by his constant and sincere smile, made him particularly attractive and charming to those who approached him.
His body now rests in the small Salesian cemetery at El Houssoun, along with the brothers who preceded him, working in Lebanon.
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Dear brothers and friends, for Fr Alfredo's time is ripe to cross the last threshold and to present himself to the Father after a life full of good deeds, in which, as a Salesian missionary, sought to model his life to Christ and to be one of his faithful witnesses , conveying to everyone, but especially the young, love. We thank for the gift of having known him and enjoyed his presence, but also for all the benefits that, in him and through him, the Lord has bestowed on all the other people who knew him. As we continue to beg for our brother the maternal intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we entrust his soul to the Father of life, sure He has already accepted him in his kingdom of light and peace.With this letter we want to perpetuate his memory.
Finally, we ask for a memento for Lebanon, a country worn-out by a, too many years, war, where Fr Alfredo spent the recent years devoting his last forces, and a prayer for the Salesian Middle East Province, which for over 50 years benefited from his active and fruitful presence.
The Salesian community of EI Houssoun
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Sac. PICCHIONI Alfredo
Born in Gabba di Lizzano in Belvedere (BO) on September 27 1921, died in Jbeil-Byblos (Lebanon) on February 24, 2008, at 86 years of age, 65 of Religious Profession and 56 of priesthood.
He was a Supervisor for 12 years.
- Note: " Faculty Biography - The information on the fathers was requested and received by Robert Dabaghian from Salesian archives in Rome, Mr. Stefano Muro kindly undertook the task of translation from Italian to English."
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