(1927-2004)

Brother Pietro was born on September 7, 1927 in Montebelluna, Treviso, the son of Luigi Me-negon and Elisa Furlan. He entered the institute in 1940 and made his religious profession in 1949. In a very rare interview (Father Gigi Anataloni, Amico, February 1979), he said he caught the missionary “bug” from his brothers Vittorio and Giovanni and from his cousin Eugenio – all of them Consolata Missionaries. At the age of 13 he decided to become a “coadjutor” as they were then called. He was not averse to study but felt he was called to more practical things.
The war was raging and he was 18 years old before he could carry out his plan. He learned from the older brothers and had a smattering of several different jobs and trades: plumber, electri-cian, farmer, cobbler, carpenter. He wanted to go off immediately after his novitiate but he had to stay put and learn a skill seriously first. He went to Alpignano (1950-1960) where they were building the Brothers’ House. It was an excellent opportunity for learning construction. During the day he engaged in practice and in the evenings he learned theory. Sometimes he was so ex-hausted he fell asleep while doing the correspondence course from Luino.
By the time he finished the course and built the house he was a qualified builder and began teaching construction in a technical school. He taught his students the same way he himself had learned - a combination of practice and theory. He was then called to do more serious work: the novitiate at Bedizzole (1961-1963); the clinic and seminary in Rovereto (1962-1964). From 1964 to 1965 he was in Madrid to build the de la Moraleja seminary. He then went to Portugal to build the Hotel Pax in Fatima (1965-1967). He was a passionate, simple, meticulous and competent worker.
In 1967 the Roraima Prelacy asked for his services in building their cathedral – they wanted a cathedral worthy of an area with a promising future. with the assurance that everything (workers and materials) was ready and that construction would take only six months, Brother Pietro went off to build what would be his masterpiece. He was determined to do the best of which he was capable. There would be no half measures.
Once he arrived in Boa Vista he realized that the workers were ready but nothing else was. Supplies were in short supply: 3,000 sacks of cement were needed and there were only 500; there was hardly enough iron for the foundations; lumber was needed for cutting. Skilled workers were in equally short supply: although there were numerous workmen, electricians, carpenters, iron workers and masons were sorely needed. Six months turned into five years but Pietro was not discouraged. He began with nothing. He hired some local men and created two working groups. One group went into the jungle to cut timber and the other went to a river-bed 100 km distant where they used empty gasoline cans to collect sand for cement. This had to be done quickly be-fore the rainy season brought floods.
He started laying out the foundation. With the blueprints in hand he showed how they were to be followed and then started the work. He then gave the blueprints to a worker and asked him to do the same thing. If the worker made a mistake he corrected him; he showed the workers how to follow the plans on their own. Pietro stayed with the workers quietly and respectfully helping them understand and follow the blueprints. He was a keen observer and soon understood his men and knew what they were capable of. He could soon tell which workers would make good carpen-ters, masons or iron workers. He worked closely with his men and trained them carefully. They were soon his closest collaborators. Each one became the nucleus of a specialized work team.
By the time the rains came everything was ready. The foundations were dug out with pick and spade and formed a perfect ellipse. The rains made the rivers navigable and barges could bring needed material to the building site. Serious construction began.
The men worked well together and grew more competent at their jobs. Pietro realized that he could not supervise everything and that it was absolutely necessary that the men developed the ability to work on their own without supervision. When work on the cathedral concluded these men were no longer unemployed and unemployable; they were skilled and competent profession-als; they were sought after in a city in the midst of a building boom. Pietro believed that if a man really knew his job he would do it well and willingly and for this reason he gave every worker a chance to hone his skills.
This was Pietro’s missionary apostolate. He was not a gifted preacher or catechist and he let others better prepared handle these tasks. He knew how to build and how to share his know-how with others. This was the only thing he really did well and so he did it. Some criticized the mag-nificent cathedral – they called it a white elephant, it would have been better to give the money to the poor.
Pietro’s conscience was serene. Not a single penny spent on the cathedral was wasted, in fact less was spent than had been anticipated. That money was an investment in the men who worked on the building site. Fifty, a hundred workers emerged as new men: skilled and unafraid of the future.
Once work on the cathedral was completed he was called back to Italy for another impressive project: the superiors wanted to renovate the General House in Viale delle Mura Aurelie. The complex consisted of a series of buildings next to the Aurelian Walls acquired at different times. The buildings were located on the steep approach to the Janiculum hill and were almost impossi-ble to connect. Pietro set to work and within eight years (1972-1980) he transformed the disor-dered, decrepit set of buildings into a modern complex with connecting passages. There were small gardens, tunnels and space for all the activities of a large community: reception, offices, bedrooms, chapel, meeting rooms, etc.
Work at the General House was so successful that the superiors decided to renovate the theo-logical seminary at Bravetta. The house was a former Papal Stable and in pitiful shape. Pietro spent six years working on the house (1980-1986) and in spite of severe restrictions imposed by building codes Pietro and his magic trowel transformed the complex into modern, comfortable accommodations.
Pietro was not given a moment’s rest. Our confrères in Portugal were expanding their activi-ties and they needed his help in building a new Regional House in Lisbon. He then went directly to Fatima to work on the Mission Center and Museum. These were vital for promoting a mission-ary spirit among the many pilgrims who came to Our Lady’s shrine at Fatima.
Four years later Brother Pietro was back in Italy. His expertise was needed for the job of enlarging and updating the Koelliker Hospital in Turin; within four years (1990-1994) the hospi-tal was turned into one of the most respected medical facilities in Italy and Europe.
From 1994 to 1998 he was again in Rome to complete work on the General House. He built a headquarters for the General Directorate in Building A and created accommodations in building D for groups attending meetings and lengthy conferences. At the same time he did work on Passoscuro the “get-away” house on the Latium coast. He turned it into a comfortable and wel-coming vacation house.
Brother Pietro was probably thinking that his own journey would end at Passoscuro – he had labored long and hard with pick and spade. But the time for retirement had not yet arrived. The Institute had opened a new field of Gospel endeavor in Ivory Coast. The first missionaries had gone there and they realized there was so much to do; they needed more than good will. Building a Delegation House in the middle of the jungle was no easy task – Brother Pietro’s skills were sorely needed.
Brother Pietro did not really say much – he usually expressed himself with the hammer and trowel. But at table others would ask him – why are you going off again? On these occasions he would reveal his down-to-earth, human, Venetian heart: “ … these poor people have nothing! They’re all sick. If we expect them to work they need a certain minimum – shelter, a church, a well … if you could only see how destitute they are!” “This is a really radical challenge; aren’t you afraid of so precarious and unpredictable an adventure at your advanced age?” He would an-swer immediately, “Why does one become a missionary? We must carry on right to the end with-out fear … God will help us.”
On March 1, 1998 Brother Pietro set out on his journey with four suitcases and several large crates. The crates were not full of rosaries and holy cards (what one might expect missionary baggage to contain) nor were they full of things that would make his own stay abroad more com-fortable. The crates contained motors, pumps, rags to protect gears – Brother Pietro arrived in Africa prepared for every eventuality.
He followed his customary methods and created work teams. He – an Italian – spoke to the workers in Portuguese; the workers could barely understand French. But everyone managed to communicate – Pietro assured us. “It’s not your tongue that counts when you’re working it’s your legs and your hands!”
After six months of hard labor the mission was up and running. It became a center of mission-ary activity for the whole area.
Malaria spares no one – not even hardened veterans like Brother Pietro. In September he was forced to return to Italy and go into the hospital.
He went to recover at Passoscuro where he was happy to offer hospitality to confrères seeking relief and relaxation. On November 4, 1999 he celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his religious profession: fifty years of faithful service to the Kingdom. He celebrated the occasion in the affec-tionate company of the General House community.
His time to retire from the vineyard had not yet come: the Lord ask Pietro to endure suffering. Once more Pietro consented, took up his cross and followed Jesus. He had cancer. He imitated the Lord’s ascent to Calvary with frequent stays in the hospital, surgery, chemotherapy, periods of recovery followed by relapses … finally the Lord called him home on Saturday, May 15, 2004.
The funeral was celebrated at Alpignano on May 15. Father General presided.
Brother Pietro Menegon was an old fashioned missionary, a man of modesty and simplicity. He evangelized with the hammer and the trowel. He was a perfect example of our Founder’s ad-monition – “Do good without making noise.” By building houses where missionaries could live in fraternity, churches where the faithful praise the Lord, schools where the poor are given a fu-ture and hospitals where the sick are cared for, Brother Pietro built for himself a beautiful home in heaven.
Editors of Da Casa Madre


TESTIMONIALS

A Man of Faith
I came to know Brother Pietro at the Bravetta seminary in October 1982. He was there to renovate our building. I immediately noticed that he was not just an accomplished work supervi-sor but a man of deep faith, great humanity and simple spirituality. I was impressed with the im-age of St. Joseph that he took with him everywhere. He would place it on the scaffolding to guar-antee that there were no accidents. I will never forget his faithful attendance at prayer – no matter how tired he may have been he never missed a common act.
I can still hear him calling us “Young men …” when we visited Passoscuro. He got us in-volved in the Assumption celebration at the local parish. We helped with the liturgy and took part in the procession.
I met him again in 1987 – this time in Portugal. He was once more involved in building pro-jects: the Center in Fatima, the Hall at Ermesinde and the new Regional House in Lisbon. In those years Brother Pietro was on a constant pilgrimage from one work site to another. At times he would arrive late at night, spend a few hours and then be off again. In everything he did he was an example of our Founder’s admonition: “Do everything well and do it without making noise.”
Destiny brought us together once more in Rome – in 2000, the Jubilee Year. I was working on the Expo Missio 2000. I then set off for Roraima where I visited and celebrated Mass in his mas-terpiece, the cathedral. I so much wanted to talk to him about this building once I returned to Italy but I never had the chance. While I was still abroad God called him home to the Kingdom to which, through his work for others, he had given witness every day of his life.
Father Gianfranco Graziola

Welcoming the Brethren
I will always remember with pleasure the brief chats we enjoyed while drinking coffee at the General House. He was very curious about Korea and asked many questions about our work there. He was interested in the technical details of the Korean houses – but unfortunately I was not able to provide this information.
He was happy to welcome us at Passoscuro with the missionary groups taking renewal courses. He did everything he could to make us feel at home. He was proud of all the improve-ments he made there, but I think he was especially proud of the chapel. He would tell us of his adventures as a mission builder when we asked… his accounts were always full of technical de-tails, which unfortunately I did not really understand. But I could see that I made him happy by listening to what he had to say.
He is now in heaven – probably thinking about how to improve some neglected corner of paradise.
Father Diego Cazzolato