Martyr in Bangladesh

Chapter 7. The Final Days

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Fr. Mario offered his life for the poor

From then on, events moved swiftly. In September 1970, while in Italy, Father Mario took part in a Papal audience for missionaries. He heard Pope Paul VI tell them: “You are the hope of the Church”. On October 23, he left for the missions for the last time.

Before leaving, he told his relatives, “This will be my least period of service in the missions”. When he arrived in Pakistan, the country was in the grip of political crisis and a fearsome hurricane which left more than half a million dead and widespread destruction and famine. Pope Paul VI himself stopped over in Dhaka, during the last of his long apostolic journeys outside Italy, to bring comfort and financial help to the stricken people. He had a brief meeting with the President at the airport. This was the first visit of a pope to a Muslim country. Father Mario told his people that the Pope had wanted to be close to them in their time of suffering. 

Stories of pain

After the fall of President Ayub Khan, on March 25, 1969, another general, Mohammed Yahya Khan took power, promising that elections would take place. These were held in December 1970. In West Pakistan, the socialist pro-Chinese party of Alì Bhutto, won and, in East Pakistan the pro-Western sheik Mujibur Rahman, and champion of Bengalese independence. According to the votes cast, the latter was destined to become the new president, but But Yayha Khan and Bhutto played for time because they did not want to relinquish power.

The revolt of the Bengali people exploded against the Pakistan army and bloodshed ensued. The soldiers massacred men, women and children, leaving hundreds of thousands dead, and almost ten million refugees in India. The rebellion was finally quashed. East Pakistan would have to wait until November 22, 1971 for its independence and the birth of the Republic of Bangladesh, with Mujibur Rahman as its first prime minister.

Fr. Mario Veronesi having a moment of fun and laughter as a young girl pulls the beard of an elderly man

Paying with His Life

Father Mario Veronesi was one of the many victims of the civil war. On April 4, 1971, Palm Sunday, he was in the mission of Jessore, helping as much as he could the poor suffering people. Soldiers appeared and he stood in front of them, his arms spread wide in a gesture of defense of his people. He was shot in the chest and killed. He died at the beginning of Holy Week, his arms spread like the crucified Christ. He was 58 years old, and had been a religious for 28 years, 19 of which he had spent in Bangladesh. He was buried initially in Jessore then, later, his body was moved to Shimulia, where he was buried alongside Father Valerian Cobbe, who had been killed three years after him.

When he heard that I was a Xaverian, Pope Paul VI asked me how Father Veronesi had been killed, asking if it had been done deliberately and he expressed his condolences to us. I was surprised and moved by the fact that the Pope had remembered our martyr and the tragedy of Bangladesh.
Fr. Augustus Luca

The Muslim student Ismail Hossain wrote to Father Cobbe some months after the death of Veronesi and the independence of Bangladesh: “At last we have achieved independence and freedom! We rejoice and thank God and ask Him to help our nation progress and live in tranquility. The memory of so many victims is the thing that saddens us most and gives us great pain. The best members of our society have died. Father Mario Veronesi is among these martyrs of our independence. We feel very proud of him: he paid the highest price for our independence!”.

The Xaverian missionary, Father Augusto Luca recalls a visit he made with other missionaries to Pope Paul VI at the end of May 1971: “When he heard that I was a Xaverian, the Pope asked me how Father Veronesi had been killed, asking if it had been done deliberately and he expressed his condolences to us. I was surprised and moved by the fact that the Pope had remembered our martyr and the tragedy of Bangladesh”.

In Rovereto, his home town, the bell still rings out in memory of the victims of all wars. It also rings for one of its own sons, Mario Veronesi, who offered his life for the love of the poor.

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