Christ which makes some of us participants through the imposition of the hands
and as rule of life within the complex grid of our daily fidelity.
It is an emotion which makes all the more intense the gratitude to Father
Ampelio and to all his confreres Servants of Charity working in our territory, in
the living fabric of the Church and her mission.”
Father U
MBERTO
B
RUGNONI
7. Father Paolo Saltarini
Born in Canda (RO) on August 31, 1914
Entered at Fara Novarese on October 19, 1927
Novitiate at Fara Novarese on September 5, 1931
First Profession at Fara Novarese on September 18, 1933
Final Profession at Fara Novarese on September 18 1936
Priestly Ordination at Novara on June 29, 1939
Died at Casa S. Giuseppe in Rome, on October 11, 2007
Rests in the cemetery of Bagnolo di Po (RO)
He was born at Canda, a small town in Rovigo province, from Livia
Sacchetto and Giuseppe, on August 31, 1914. He received the Baptism the
following day at the town church of St. Michael. He received the confirmation
also in the same church on March 8, 1923.
In 1927, following the call of the Lord to priestly and religious life, he
contacted the Institute of Father Guanella and entered the Seminary of Fara
Novarese (Novara), where he completed high school. He entered the Novitiate of
the Servants of Charity, always at Fara Novarese on September 5, 1931. Here he
made his first religious profession on September 18, 1933, and three years later,
in 1936, the Final Profession in the same Institute.
He was consecrated priest on the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul on
June 29, 1939, and received the obedience of prefect of studies at the S.
Girolamo house in Fara Novarese. He remained in this house until the end of the
war in 1947, holding various offices as formator, assistant in the formation
program, director and superior of the community.
On September 1947, he went to Amalfi as Superior and director of the
Institute Anna and Natalia. In 1952, he was superior of the Sacred Heart Institute
in Fasano from until 1958, when the superiors asked him to prepare himself to
go to United States, where he was present in Springfield, PA, from 1960 and in
Chelsea, MI, from 1966.
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He returned to Italy in 1968, as superior of the Institute St. Clement in
Velletri. Next he carried out his ministry for two years at St. Elena di Marciano
(Perugia). Next he went to Rome, Via Aurelia Antica, on September 1974 as
collaborator in the activities of the St. Joseph’s ward.
From 1976 to 1979, he was treasurer of the house of Gaeta and then
responsible for the house of Velletri, for seven years (1979-1986). A brief period
of one year at the Casa S. Giuseppe in Rome and then back to Gaeta where I he
remainded until the house was closed on December 2003.
He lived peacefully in the community of St Joseph, Rome, from 2003, to a
surprising old age. His health began to deteriorate in the month of June 2007. A
cerebral stroke suffered on 16 August complicated his condition. He was
admitted to the Aurelia Hospital, where the doctors confirmed the impossibility
of recovery. He returned to the house of the Father on October 11, 2007, at 9.40
am. The 19 October 19, he would have celebrated with gratitude his eightieth
anniversary in the institute of Blessed Louis Guanella.
The body of Father Paolo rests close to his dear ones in the cemetery of
Bagnolo di Po, awaiting the final Resurrection.
I found in the archives of the Generalate some letters, in truth only three,
which Father Paolo wrote to the Superior general in a particular moment of his
life. It was the period between1966 and 1968, when Father Paolo was
transferred, after 7 years, from Springfield, Pennsylvania, to Chelsea, Michigan,
as Superior of that Community.
Those two years were very difficult for Father Paolo, causing his definite
return to Italy. In one of these letters, he tried to explain to Father General some
situations of particular difficulties. “They made me suffer very much and for a
long time. I do not carry any grudge toward any one and I wish my best to all...
Certainly, I would not like it if everything is attributed to my lack of
condescendence and permissiveness. If I wanted, I could be also capable of
manipulation and show two faces. But that disgusts me, even when I have to deal
with persons who can hurt me.”
Dear confreres and friends of father Paolo; this is his figure. If we want to
find in the life of Father Paolo a particular message for us, almost a testament to
be followed in our history, I believe that we have to search it in this direction. He
was an honest man, solid, who did not allow compromises or bending of the
truth even for prudent reasons. He was the religious, son of Father Guanella,
who was ready to withdraw, to step aside, to be silent, rather than to quarrel and
defend his position.
This characteristic would distinguish his whole life. He was conscious of
his strong personality, firm and without hesitation in his beliefs. For this reason,
he led a life of solitude for many years, almost a life of a hermit, especially in
our houses of Velletri and Gaeta.
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However, father Paolo was also a man faithful to Jesus Christ, lover of
poverty, coherent regardless of the consequences, a great worker in the vineyard
of the Lord. Available for pastoral ministry in the nearby parishes or for the
religious sisters. He enjoyed working in the fields, the fruit garden, the vineyard,
the vegetable garden.
When Cardinal Ratzinger appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s
Basilica, as new pope with the name of Benedict XVI, and wanted to describe
his past life at the service of the Church, he identified himself as a simple worker
in the vineyard of the Lord. Here is the best definition we can apply to
summarize the life of Father Paolo: a simple worker in the Vineyard of the Lord.
He was a Guanellian who knew how to balance, like the Founder, the time
dedicated to God and neighbor, and the time dedicated to work, to nature, to the
gifts of the earth, which help us to get closer to God.
How can we forget the enthusiastic joy on the face of Father Paolo, in his
working clothes, dealing with lemon trees, vines heavy with grapes and the
orange trees full of tasteful fruits. He enjoyed the satisfaction of one who had
dedicated time, energy, patience, and now collects the abundant fruits.
I think that those who have known him and met him during these long 93
years could summarize in this description the whole distinction and gentleness of
this Servant of Charity.
Dear Father Paolo, today we are gathered here, not as in that distant 1927,
to welcome you to our religious family, but to accompany you to God, in the
mysterious plan of death.
He is the One who occupied a relevant and significant place in your life.
Father Paolo, we say it with pride of confreres and relatives, you lived these 93
years of earthly pilgrimage always in the direction of God.
Like St. Augustine, how many times did your lips say these words of filial
faith and love to the Creator: “ You have made us for you, o Lord, and our heart
is restless, until it finds peace in you.”
We thank you, father Paolo, for all that goodness and greatness that you
transmitted to us, as man and as religious.
In your memory, we set about to take the firm decision of unifying our life
under the one flag of the Risen Christ.
And with you, already living in the presence of the Risen Christ, we pray:
“ Come, Lord Jesus, live in our heart. We do not want to loose that gift of
freedom that comes to us from your cross. May our daily work, in faithfulness, in
coherence, in the sacrifice for love, in the service of the least and perhaps, if you
like, also in the suffering, show clearly to the world our will of belonging to you
and of constructing with you the Kingdom of the Loving Father. Amen”.
From the eulogy given by Father Umberto Brugnoni
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