Fr. Joseph De Cillia, s.x.

Fr. De Cillia receives Friendly Heart Award

Fr. Joseph De Cillia - from Cuore Amico

Fr. Joseph De Cillia has spent a lifetime in Burundi. His pickup truck is always available for all kinds of works on the hill country of this Central-African nation: to bring water where it is scarce, to transport material for new school buildings, to carry the sick and deliver medicines to the local clinic… and let’s not forget Fr. Joseph’s pastoral work in local communities as a teacher, priest, formator and missionary of the Word.

 

It has been 38 years since his arrival to Burundi, a country that oftentimes experienced pains and hopes, horror and limitless sorrows… but Fr. Joseph never abandoned these people, even when wisdom would advise differently. At times he comes across as rough and bold, probably to hide his shyness, but his heart is generous indeed.

 

From 1964, at the side of the oppressed

You recognize Fr. Joseph De Cillia from his old hat, dirty and weathered, but something very much needed in this hot climate. From far away, you’ll see his robust physique of a mountain climber, with an accented limp because of a spinal fracture. Wherever there is a need, you’ll see him present, even far away from his parish in Kamenge, a place often marked by hostility, sorrow and pain, in the outskirts of Bujumbura, the capital.

 

“Fr. Joe, help us… Fr. Joe, we need you… Fr. Joe, we’re waiting for you… Fr. Joe, they are killing us… Fr. Joe, we’re hungry!” And he’s there, in their midst, like an old trunk of a tree, with open arms, to bear with them the wood of the Cross, to lift their crosses, of those trembling knees, of those tender children.

 

To love to the end, even to the risk of his own life, to give himself to brothers and sisters… a desire born in his heart a long time ago, a wish that has come true in the heart of Central Africa.

Day in and day out, 38 years have come and gone, at their side. Irrigation systems, streets, houses, hospitals, mission posts, churches, and hundreds of construction sites and projects have seen his accomplishments… but Fr. Joseph, won’t mention them, or take credit for them. The pickup has gone up and down with bricks, and blankets, and rise, and beans in the darkest moments of the history of Burundi, when vengeance seemed to win. Hundreds of thousands died, roads were empty ghosts, the winds would whisper in the dark valleys of those places which once heard the songs of children. And in the midst of it all, there was food and prayer for all, medicines and love, working tools and words of hope for a better future, for greater tomorrows.

 

When the pain and suffering of these people was at its deepest of hearts, almost unbearable, as if they were broken glass scratching their hearts, then and there Fr. Joe would change his tone, would blast through a few doors, would tell the truth, and move on. And he would confide with the only One who understands the sorrow of his brothers and sisters. After this intimate dialogue and prayer, he’s back in the front lines, to organize relief efforts, to comfort an orphan, to dry the tears of a widow in the brink of despair who wishes she could die, and be done with it.

 

To love to the end, even to the risk of his own life, to give himself to brothers and sisters… a desire born in his heart a long time ago, a wish that has come true in the heart of Central Africa.

 

From Italy to the Lake of Tanganika

The vocation journey of Fr. Joe De Cillia is a long one. When he was 13 years old, he entered the Minor Seminary of the Xaverians in Udine. In 1955, he professes his first vows, and his final vows take place at the Xaverian Motherhouse in Parma, Italy, in 1961. After his priesthood ordination, he is assigned to Rumonge, South of Burundi, at the age of 28, and works together with the Missionaries of Africa. He becomes pastor of Murago in 1966, as he learns how to deal with the violence and dramatic events of the post-colonization period and Burundi’s independence.

 

Those were difficult months and years, and he faced death a few times. One evening, he was surrounded by bandits and revolutionaries. He even said the act of contrition in a few wards, because he knew he was going to die. Thankfully, that night was going to be different, and his life was spared, for he had to do lots of things for the Gospel, a long journey lied ahead of him. Together with the Xaverian sisters and a group of lay people, he builds a small hospital in Murago, some clinical centers scattered on the hills, digs some wells for potable water, supplies for schools, and builds a few chapels along the way, so that Christians may come together weekly for the Liturgy of the Word. 

 

1972

This is a tragic year for the history of Burundi, a year of shift from the old towards a new fragile reality. Hundred of thousands of Hutus are killed. It’s a revolution that marks this country through the memory of those who survived the tragic events.

 

Fr. Joe is called to give of his best to the people with his gifts and the graces received from God, as he tries to bring reconciliation among the two ethnic groups, the Hutus and Tutsi. These are also the moments when he invests his energies for the defense of the weak, in search of justice, and in the work of reconciliation with the goal of peaceful living.

 

After Murago

Amidst highs and lows, the Xaverians and Fr. Joseph continue their efforts, denouncing injustices, asking questions, helping those in need, the least of all. They provide health care, schooling, decent wages, good harvesting seasons, and preach the Living Word. But politics play a trick on them: it’s the time of great expulsions of missionaries, and Fr. De Cillia is one of the many victims. He is an “undesired guest,” who preaches “revolutionary schemes”, “enemy of the government.”

 

On his re-entry into Burundi, he sees that everything is lost, and everything needs to be rebuilt. He never gives up, hoping with the people for a better future. That future full of peace, democracy and justice seems to appear in the horizon in 1993 during the elections of the first Hutu president. But that reality lasts 100 days, for the president is killed and the country precipitates into another spiral of violence.

 

To Hope against Hope

In the wake of this situation, hundred of thousands of refugees receive shelter; they have nothing with them, no blankets, no cooking material, no food, a future without hope. The parishes become places of refuge from indiscriminate killings and attacks from the government armies.

 

Fr. Joe’s vision is solid: he looks at them like “sheep without a shepherd,” bows his head because he does not want to hear of more bloodshed. He spends longs hours standing up for them, at the embassies’ doors, at the UN humanitarian groups, at distributing food for their survival, to those who are often forgotten by the world.

 

These are temporary emergencies that seems to last forever. Dramatic situations that unfortunately are still visible at this present day. But Fr. Joseph continues bravely, hoping for that day when all will be well, and everything will be different.

 

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