Martyr in Burundi

Chapter 2. In Burundi amidst Conflicts

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Fr. Ottorino, a Bearer of Good News and Hope

In May 1970, he was assigned to Burundi, in the heart of Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world. He arrived on December 3, fresh from the French language course in Paris. He was 28 years old and was bursting with the enthusiasm, cheerfulness and optimism typical of the young. He immediately began to work hard. He was always willing to do the most humble tasks that are a necessary part of daily life in community. In the building projects, he willingly carried the stones, earth and the bricks that were needed by the workers.

He learned the Kirundi language and, in 1971, he was sent to Rumeza for one year as an introduction to direct missionary work. The following year, in January 1972, he was on the move once more, this time to Minago, where he teamed up with Fathers Pedrotti and Marchetto; they were later joined by Father Corrado Marangone, a diocesan priest from Udine, Italy. Just three months after his arrival, all hell broke loose. The two main ethnic groups of Burundi, eternal enemies, took up arms and a massacre followed.

Father Gabriele Ferrari explains: “Burundi, a country of six million inhabitants, is in the throes of an ethnic conflict that came to a head shortly after it obtained independence in 1962. In Burundi there are two ethnic groups, the Hutu and Tutsi, as in nearby Rwanda. The Hutu are the majority group (85%) but, until 1993, they had never governed the country and every attempt they had made to reach power had been quashed by the Tutsi (15%); the latter group had always dominated in the administrative fields and it now had control of the army. In 1972, a first great wave of oppression left 300,000 dead; this was followed by other massacres that, though less extensive, were by no means less ferocious”.

Prayer and Hope

That war, like all wars, left destruction, horror and hatred in its wake. The missionaries set about rebuilding houses, cultivations, relationships. Father Corrado Marangone recalls: “Father Ottorino Maule was a bearer of good news and hope in what was a desperate situation. During the slaughter, when nothing could be done, his proverbial calm helped him deal with the tension; he even relaxed by reading comics! He also refused to listen to any conversation that was of a discouraging nature. He was always looking for a ray of hope in the dark. Right from the beginning, he looked for any positive thing he could do to contrast the death and destruction. He was always available to transport injured or sick people; whenever possible, he would join the community to play cards. Of course, prayer and the Word of God were always the most important things to him”.

We wanted to make our school more than just a place of instruction: we wanted to prepare the children for life. Four groups of children frequent the school: two groups of boys and two groups of girls, divided according to their age. Every group is composed of a hundred children divided into three classes. They are taught religion, reading, writing, arithmetic, hygiene, and receive a moral, civil and social formation. Our goal is to form future Christian adults through cultivating personal contact and friendship with the children during the four-five years they attend the school.
Fr. Ottorino Maule

Father Ottorino did not give in to anxiety; he prayed and worked hard. When it was time to relax, he did that too. He worked hard to give back life, hope and dignity to his poor people. He knew that, in order to improve their lot, he had to start from material things. He therefore founded a cooperative in order to get people back to work and restore to them the control of their own lives.

The initiative was a huge success and people joined. The number of cooperatives increased, and Father Maule turned his attention to the problem of the school. Education had been halted by the war and fear because, when the violence started, those who had professional qualifications and belonged to the wrong ethnic group, were among the first to be killed.

Father Marangone recalls: “Minago badly needed a school to provide at least some basic education for the children. The mission organized a school for the children of the Christians. For one week each month, a different group of children took up residence in the school where they could play, pray, watch some films, all in a very joyful atmosphere. Father Ottorino looked after the school with the help of a sister; he was very happy and would go there to wind down whenever he needed to relax. The school had a lasting effect on the people: today, it is still a bond of unity among them”.

Father Maule spoke about the school in an interview in the Xaverian bulletin “Missionari Saveriani”, in April 1974: “We wanted to make our school more than just a place of instruction: we wanted to prepare the children for life. Four groups of children frequent the school: two groups of boys and two groups of girls, divided according to their age. Every group is composed of a hundred children divided into three classes. They are taught religion, reading, writing, arithmetic, hygiene, and receive a moral, civil and social formation.

Our goal is to form future Christian adults through cultivating personal contact and friendship with the children during the four-five years they attend the school. The fact that they reside here for one week each month helps us to create a mutual sense of belonging among the children. At the moment we have a four year cycle along the lines of the traditional catechumenate formula. Later, we hope to extend this to five years.

When they come to us, the children are about 8 years old. Their total time of residence in any one year is about 9-10 weeks; the school is closed during July and August. We would like to offer everyone a basic Christian education, consisting in religious instruction, alphabetization, human formation, development and progress. Each one of these three activities has common elements, though they have different specializations.

On reflection, we would like to achieve a certain fusion in order to simplify the work, since each one of these elements is necessary for a global formation of our young people. But we are still at the planning stage. There is plenty of work to be done and it is a pity that we are hindered somewhat by the uncertain political situation and by Xaverians being assigned to other services!”. 

Children, full of energy and hope

The Help of the Poor

In the same article, Father Maule spoke of the other activities that were being carried out in Minago, as well as the risks involved: “The present political climate makes it impossible to reorganize the various activity groups. Such a move would immediately be interpreted as a political statement. We regularly visit the out-stations of the mission, we look after the catechumens and encourage the people to join Caritas, the only organization we have managed to keep open.

It is doing a great job and it helps our Christians get used to helping each other. Each member puts his offering into a common fund. Though all of them are very poor, they accept a monthly tax of 5 or 10 francs to go towards helping others. On the second Sunday of each month, they get together and allot the money to the most needy among the poor, independently of race or religion. We also have a formation program directed at young adolescent girls, to give them a suitable preparation for adult life. It is run by the sisters and comprises four teaching days each week for two different groups.

They are taught how to read and write, there are classes on religion, hygiene, sewing, cooking and washing. We also plan to introduce a short course in agriculture that will help them look after a family vegetable garden. Unfortunately, we have not been able to accept all those who asked to join the school because of a lack of space and personnel.

The cooperative system is the only way to get these people out of their misery and help them make some progress in life. Our first experiments in this field have produced very positive results and many local people support and collaborate with us. It seems that they are beginning to grasp the importance of unity in their struggle for progress. The fishing cooperative has given us the most satisfaction so far: Lake Tanganika is teeming with fish and the combined efforts of the Christians have allowed us to provide several families with a better house and more serenity.

We hope to receive soon the authorization of the State to develop these activities further, as well as the creation of new ones, such as the repair of watches, radios, sewing machines, etc.”.

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