Martyr in Congo

Chapter 6. A Golden Easter

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Fr. John, shepherd of a very joy-filled and vibrant Church community

In the late spring of 1962 Father Didonè was sent to Fizi to build a church for his community. Bishop Catarzi supported him in this enterprise through his concrete help: almost all the material for the church came from Uvira, the town where the bishop resided. The church was consecrated on February 11, 1963. It was a simple but decorous building capable of holding about 500 people.

Father Didonè did not want to build an imposing structure because the local people themselves lived in modest huts made of mud and straw. The Holy Week celebrations in 1963 gave him some of the greatest satisfactions in his missionary apostolate.

Writing to his family on April 28, 1963, he commented: “I have spent a golden and wonderful Easter. I don’t believe there has ever been a more tired, nor a happier, priest at an Easter Vigil. For three weeks I prepared a group of about seventy catechumens for baptism, with two lessons each day; on Holy Saturday night, 86 new Christians were baptized. Our new little church was spectacular on that occasion: it was full of people, the candidates in ten rows, anxiously awaiting baptism. It was a truly beautiful and moving experience to see their example of faith. If you would have only been present! The ceremony began at 10 pm, with the blessing of the fire, the Easter candle, the Exultet, litany of the saints, blessing of the baptismal water and, finally, the solemn baptisms themselves. By then it was midnight.

We then blessed two marriages and celebrated the solemn Mass of resurrection. At 1:30 am everything seemed to be over, but there was a surprise in store. Our new Christians took advantage of a full moon to begin a feast of song and dance in the mission square to the accompaniment of tens of drums. On Easter morning, the church was filled once again on two occasions by the faithful.  

I have spent a golden and wonderful Easter. I don’t believe there has ever been a more tired, nor a happier, priest at an Easter Vigil.
Fr. John Didone'

On Easter Monday the bishop made his first pastoral visit to the new church and it was a very enthusiastic experience for our Christians”.

Father Didonè showed an astonishing and disarming spiritual strength and candor in this letter. Though he was well aware of the unstable social and political situation, he was completely taken up by his evangelizing activity, sowing the seeds of hope for the future.

In a letter from Fizi to his sister Amabile, he wrote: “Things would be so much easier here if we had some sisters to help us, though I mustn’t complain too much. The political situation has touched rock bottom and we live in a state of inertia. In the absence of an established legitimate authority everyone tries to take charge. The soldiers – thank God – are beginning to behave better and this gives us hope and some measure of serenity. The majority of people are on our side, especially because they see how we take care of their children. The Christian community is recovering again. Though not everyone comes to Mass or the sacraments, things are improving and this causes anger among the Protestants and our enemies”. 

Abbe' Fr. Atanasio Joubert, killed right after Fr. Didone'. He was professor of French and Kiswahili in the minor seminary of Mungombe, in the diocese of Uvira

Mission, witness and martyrdom

In order to understand the legacy left by Father Didonè (the common legacy of all martyrs of the faith), we must briefly consider the meaning martyrdom itself. It was through the experience of Pentecost, the sending of the Holy Spirit, that the apostles were “happy, because God had considered them worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of Jesus.” (Acts 5:41) With the light and the strength of the Spirit, Peter encourages his Christians to “be glad that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may be full of joy when his glory is revealed. Happy are you if you are insulted because you are Christ’s followers.” (1 Peter 4:13-14)

Martyrdom is a natural component of Christian existence. Though its form may be exceptional, its substance is part and parcel of the life of Christ’s followers. Though not every Christian life ends in martyrdom, every authentic follower of Christ must contemplate its possibility. In any case, the decision to follow Christ always demands self-denial, acceptance of the cross and the upheaval of earthly values, and total self-giving, rather than an anxious self-preservation.

Blessed Guido Maria Conforti, founder of the Xaverians, understood this, especially as he reflected as a young boy in front of the huge Crucifix of the Church of Peace in Parma, which “was the seed of my vocation.” “The Crucifix has shown us the way with his example, and we cannot go any other way, but follow the cross of the Lord himself” he wrote in 1919. “Be imitators of God, my dear ones – writes St. Paul -. Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.” (Eph. 5:1-2)

Bishop Conforti reminded his missionaries: “Your mission and your project of life are beautifully drawn up in the Crucifix, which I have just handed over to you and you have placed with joy on your hearts. It seems to me that through this image, He is speaking to you in those same words he addressed to his Apostles and to the crowds two thousand years ago, as proof of the divinity of his mission: ‘When I am lifted up from the earth, on the Cross, I will draw everyone to myself.’ In these few words – continues the founder of the Xaverians – we find the reason of His mission and the secret of its victories must be the secret of your own successes: the Cross, the sacrifice of yourselves.”

This explains why so many missionaries are found among the martyrs. Father Didonè was not a fanatic who aspired to heroism. He was a Catholic priest who had responded to God’s call with great conviction and determination. During his formation and study years in Parma, no one had concealed from him the difficulties of the apostolate that awaited him. He was well aware of the connection between the mission and martyrdom. Father John’s writings also bear eloquent witness to the calm and inner serenity he showed in judging events and making decisions. We believe that he was a man possessed by the Holy Spirit, an impression backed up by the words he wrote to his family a few months before his death: “I had been looking forward to hearing from you, but nothing has arrived yet. Perhaps someone forgot to post the letters. I want you to know that the newspaper and radio reports on the current situation in Uvira are very exaggerated. There have been some demonstrations, but things so far in Fizi are calm and we hope this lasts for a long time. I embrace you all and ask you to pray for me”.

Father Didonè wanted to set their minds at rest, but in his heart he knew that the situation was not a promising one, especially as far as the missionaries were concerned. The Holy Spirit grants the persecuted disciple the intimate certainty that the Crucified Lord will triumph. This does not necessarily free him from anxiety and fear, but fills him with serenity in the face of fear and danger. This helps us to understand that martyrdom is a gift of the Spirit, that same Spirit which possessed Father John Didonè.

The Church announces the death of the Lord through proclaiming the truth and by virtue of its concrete activities. Martyrdom is the most visible memory of the Crucified Lord, the closest possible resemblance to the historical Jesus.

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