(1919-2004)

Autobiographical Notes

“I am at present a patient in the Cancer Institute in Bogotá (September 2003) and have done a lot of thinking and praying. I would like to write something about my human, social and spiritual life.

I was born on February 21, 1919 and am now eighty-two and a half years old.  I entered the seminary in 1932 and made my perpetual profession on August 2, 1942. I was ordained to the priesthood on July 3, 1943 and came to Columbia on August 7, 1951.

Missionary Apostolate in Italy

In high school, philosophy and theology I spent two hours every day working in the garden. In third year theology I was appointed an assistant at the minor seminary in Varallo Sesia. I was in charge of the produce garden and the fruit trees. After ordination I was sent to work with the novices at Certosa di Pesio. After the war I was involved in helping the novices who had been in the army readjust to religious life. During the winter we had to shovel snow from the roof – one year there was so much snow we built a tunnel between our house and the church.

Columbia Mission from 1951

Initially I worked in Jerusalén, Guataquí and Nariño. I helped poor workers cultivate figs. I convinced Messieurs Girardot to take land from pasture and turn it over to cultivation.  While riding along the Rio Maddalena on horseback I fell into the river – I was not a skilled horseman. While visiting an estate in Nariño I saw an old lady standing at the door. I started talking to her and she offered me a glass of water. She told me that she was a good Christian but was scandalized by the parish priest’s behavior – after Mass he would spend Sundays drinking. In Guataquí I repaired the church and bought land for a parish house.  In Jerusalén I set up headquarters in the Maddalena Mission. Every week I visited three parishes: Jerusalén, Guataquí y Nariño and Tocaima as well as the leprosarium of Agua de Dios. I was then assigned to San Felix with Father Domenico Galbusera and Father Graziano Ventura. The road to Tocaima became a swamp when it rained – to reach Jerusalén took two hours on horseback and five hours on foot.

The Superior General, Father Domenico Fiorina, visited Columbia and decided to establish the first Consolata Seminary at San Felix. This village was in the municipality of Salamina and had only 600 families. Some 13,000 individuals worked on cultivating corn, grain and potatoes. A law was passed that established a minimum of 15,000 inhabitants for a municipality. This increase in population could not be achieved overnight – but through hard work the population increased. There were schools, a church, a cemetery, a convent and several houses for the poor. Fathers Lino Cuniberti, Graziano Ventura, Aldo Bona and Bruno Kaltenhauser were teaching and involved in formation in the seminary. Ten years later the seminary was moved to Manizales.

While on vacation in Italy I bought three bells. The Bishop of Manizales was so pleased that he asked me to donate them to the diocese. I told him I could not do this – I had bought them for San Felix. God loved his seminary – that year no single boy fell ill.

On January 2, 1972 together with the superior I left Manizales and came to Modelia. There, with God’s help, I built a church. First of all I went about visiting all the families so I could get to know them. The first house was the house of God. I  celebrated Mass in a garage and very few people attended. In 1976 I started saying Mass in a small house. In 1980 after the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima opened in Manizales I was sent to help father Gerardo Bottacin. I stayed at the sanctuary from 1982 to 1992 saying Mass, hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction. Every month I visited cloistered convents and social centers to give conferences. The bishop, priests and religious came to me for spiritual assistance and prayer.

From 1992 to 2003 I returned to work in Vergel – to the same house I lived in when I first came to Columbia in 1951. I helped the pastor, Sandro Carminati, restore the parish house and Father Gianfranco Testa who was rebuilding the Consolata church. helped purchase many useful items and contributed money I received from Italy to other good causes.

I have always been an active man and never much changed my way of working.  I was involved in every sort of human activity: I worked as a doctor and a teacher. I built five churches, two infant schools, 27 houses for the poor,  several chapels, an aqueduct, electrical systems and the pavement of a public square. Along with these contributions to the material welfare of society I did much spiritual work: catechism, apostolate, administration of the sacraments – showing God to the people. My work was primarily in the area of education and service.

Personal Spiritual Thoughts

God has his plans. People marry to have children and later to take care of their elders. I came into the world in a poor family that worked in the fertile fields of the Veneto. There were years of rich harvests and years of storms and bad weather. My family worked hard.  My father had no bad habits – he was a man of faith. God blessed his parents, his children and his work. We were five siblings and three of us became Consolata missionaries. After our mother’s death our sister took care of us. I was born sickly and my father took me doctors in Venice. The doctor told my mother that I would soon die. They took me to the shrine of St. Anthony in Padua and placed me on the Saint’s tomb – the priest prayed, blessed me and gave me back to my mother.  I got better, grew, went to school and eventually became a Consolata missionary.  I have never judged anyone.  If I was ever guilty of rash judgements I asked God’s forgiveness. I believe it is important to live in community as brothers.  This makes people happy and reveals God’s presence in our midst. May your will always be done. I am ready for whatever you have in store for me.”

Father Vittorio Menegon

An account of Father Vittorio Menegon’s last days comes from the detailed report of the regional superior, Father Sandro Carminati. On November 15, 2003 colon cancer was diagnosed. He became a patient in the Cancer Institute of Bogotá and underwent two operations.  On Sunday, January 4, 2004, he died.  His body was brought to the Consolata parish in Vergel where he had worked the last ten years of his life. An uninterrupted procession of the faithful, friends and confrères came to see his remains. He was buried in the Bogotá main cemetery. His body was then transferred and reburied in Modelia where he lies among others of our deceased confrères.

Giovanni Tebaldi