1928-2003

The Missions far away

Father Livio Tessari was born on December 2, 1928  at  Silvelle di Trebaseleghe in the Province of Padua in the diocese of Treviso.  His family were Venetian farmers and small landowners.  Livio went to the village elementary school and attended the local parish church.  He achieved distinction in fifth grade in religion, manual work, discipline and hygiene, entered the Institute in 1940 and went to middle school at Montevecchia and Vittorio Veneto.  He attended high school (liceo) at Cereseto and Varallo Sesia.  He made his novitiate at Certosa Pesio where he was given high marks.  “He’s a good type,” one reads in his file, “solid and reliable piety.  Easy to get along with, full of initiative.  Good basic character:  under a cloak of reticence and reserve he conceals a heart of gold and exquisite generosity … He’s very much attached to his vocation and to the Institute … he will certainly be a good missionary.”

He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 1954 by Msgr. Lorenzo Bessone who would be his first bishop in Kenya.

From 1954 to 1959 with a view to working in Africa Father Livio pursued technical studies and taught in the Alpignano Technical School for young missionary brothers.  From 1959 to 1961 he was an assistant at the student house in Vittorio Veneto and then acted as treasurer for the formation community at Biadene.

In 1961 he was assigned to Kenya which was a British colony at the time.  He went to London to study English and then moved on to Kenya in February 1962.  His first assignment was to set up an electrical installation to provide water and X-ray power to the hospital in Nkubu.  At the same time he began to study the local language so he could do pastoral and missionary work.

In October 1962 Msgr. Lorenzo Bessone assigned him to the mission of Kyeni in the Embu District where he began a decade of intense missionary activity.

The Missions in one’s heart

God forms the missionary according to the needs of the people.  In 1963 Kenya faced the challenge of a new era of political controversy and bloodshed.  The missionaries joined in building the new country and the local church.  During this time of expectation and anticipation Father Livio acted as a friend, catechist and teacher in the midst of his people.  His deep and real faith helped his people to play an active role in the construction of their country.  His own activity was rooted in spiritual coherence:  “His spirituality was not based on sentiment,” asserts his Pastor, don Daniel Bortoletto, a  close companion in mission work, “but rather on reflection, meditation and contemplation of the Bible.  His interior spirit guided his practical intelligence and organizational ability.  He involved the Africans in his projects and helped them become creators of their own history.”

His interior life fostered devotion to human and Christian welfare.  The vanity of easy success did not lead him astray.  His goals were straightforward:  above all evangelization through example and dialogue, through collaboration with the bishop and priests and through specific priorities.  Foremost of these priorities was his vision of the Church as a place of prayer and encounter.  Among the many churches he and the Christian communities built one is worthy of special mention:  the church at Karaba Wango designed by Emilio Maiga of Sanremo.  It represents the missionary collaboration of so many people – the Bishop of Treviso, Msgr. Migani, who donated a chalice and a ciborium,  the Sisters of Rome who donated a Via Crucis, Rome Caritas who donated vestments, etc.

Evangelization a priority

He considered two things as essential priorities for successful evangelization and development:  education and health.  In these two areas he demonstrated extraordinary organizational talent.  His quiet, honest, no-nonsense attitude and the assistance of parish organizations and missionary support groups in Kenya and Italy helped him in this endeavor.

He was impatient with shapeless, monochrome Christian Communities!  At Kiangunyi Mission he established a Catholic Women Social Centre and a Catechetical and Bible School at Kyeni.  With money from Sviluppo e Pace in Turin he built a center for the Women’s Union for  Social Action in Kyeni-Kiaragana; he established twelve elementary schools in the mission villages and launched two high schools, of which one for girls, the Kyeni Girls Secondary School run by the Ursulines of Brentwood, England, which became famous for its success in final examinations.

Between 1990 and 1991 with Government approval, permission from the Diocese of Enbu and a gift of 80 acres from local people,  Father Livio established the Wachoro Boys Secondary School and the Gitarakwa Girls Secondary School which were soon fulfilling local educational needs.

Local newspapers devoted ample coverage to the opening of the Gitarakwa Girls School.  Present on the occasion were local and parliamentary authorities and the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Jeremiah Nyaga.  The minister expressed his admiration for all the Consolata Missionaries were achieving in the field of education.  At the end of the ceremony Father Tessari handed over administration of the school to a committee that would act until the chosen president, Miss Catherine Njagi, could take charge.  This was one of the most admired aspects of Father Tessari’s work – he would always give responsibility to the people and limit his own activity to raising funds and recruiting supporters.

Another area of concern was health.  He considered it urgent to provide at least minimal assistance to the thousands of sick people who had no access to health care and strove to provide basic training.  This concern was apparent from the very beginning of his life in Kenya in 1962.  There was a small hospital at the Kyeni mission directed by Doctor Antonio Lucia.

Here is what Doctor Lucia tells us:  “I met Father Livio for the first time in 1961 when he came through Kyeni (Kenya) with Msgr. Lorenzo Bessone … They were returning from Nairobi and were going to Meru through Kyeni, Chuka, Egoji and Nkubu … During the short time they spent in my house I presented the hospital’s need for more electricity.  A few weeks later we received a generator with twice the power of the one we already had.  Father  Livio brought the generator in person, who in the meantime had been assigned to Kyeni.  From that day forward we were close friends … we shared our thoughts and did all we could for our common concern – the hospital…”

It was during those years (1962-1972) that Father Livio, Doctor Lucia and the Consolata Sisters developed the Kyeni hospital and provided it with all the necessary equipment.  With financial help from the Diocese of Fidenza they set up a laboratory, a nursing school, a maternity ward, an X-ray machine and an efficient plant for electricity and water.

With support from the Diocese of Venice  Father Livio established a mission and hospital at Ishara in 1968.  The Government made that hospital  the regional health center for the area.

In 1973 Father was assigned to the General House in Rome and for five years was responsible for assistance for the missions.  His specific task was to make presentations to various agencies and seek financial assistance for mission development projects.

With the help of Sviluppo e Pace in Turin and the European Community he set up a meeting place for the Women’s Union for Social Action in Kyeni-Kiaragana and provided financial assistance to Kenyan students in Italy.

Father Livio returned to Kenya in 1978 and worked extensively in the parishes and schools of Kiangunyi in what was then the diocese of Nyeri.  He launched the Women’s Social Centre, finalized work on the Girls’ Secondary School dormitories and provided ample water and electricity for the school.

When the Kiangunyi Mission passed into the hands of the local clergy in 1983 Father Livio was transferred to the Karaba mission in a very arid region.  There was a prolonged drought in 1985 and Father Livio organized a food program with contributions from the World Food Programme-USA.  Through this program, he saved the lives of many people.

In 1985 with the aid of Caritas Italiana, Fondi Aiuti Italiani and the support of the Kenyan government he established the Karaba Integrated Project.  The project involved:

- planting 150,000 trees in areas threatened by deforestation;

- distributing 2,600 head of cattle to families suffering from the drought;

- digging wells for drinking water and establishing 9 nursery schools.

With the help of catechists Father Livio was simultaneously involved in the apostolate and increased the number of local Christians.

In 1989 he established the new parish of Karaba Wango to which he devoted  all his spiritual and physical energies for the next ten years.  He made it a  model mission consisting of educational and religious buildings and crowned by a beautiful and functional parish church.

In 1998 Father Livio was called to Rome to take over Coordination of   IMC mission hospitals.  He held this position until 2002.  Msgr. Silas Njiru, the Bishop of Meru, who knew Father Livio’s work in Kenya first hand wrote to him:  “Dearest Father Livio,  I want to express my sincere thanks for the work you have done in Meru and Embu for so many years.  We have all seen and admired your work in the parishes of Kyeni, Kevote, Karaba and Karaba Wango.  Everywhere you have left behind visible and indelible evidence of your zeal.  People remember you and will continue to do so for years.  Rest assured that the seed you have planted will flourish and bear fruit.”

In the last years of his life work for the sick and for health institutions was his sole concern.  He was a point of contact for doctors who wanted to work in the missions.  During a trip to Tharaka with Dr. Giorgio Giaccaglia he saw a girl give birth on the road.  “Father Livio Tessari said to Dr. Giaccaglia, ‘we have to build a hospital for women and children.’”  (Cf. La Voce, monthly periodical of the diocese of Ferrara-Comacchio).  The City of Ferrara, the Emiliano De Marco Association and support groups from Montebelluna and Capua sponsored the project.  Two years later a hospital with fifty beds, two operating rooms, a X-ray department and a laboratory was up and running thanks to Dr. Giorgio Giaccaglia and the Indian nursing sisters.

After a heart attack in Catania (February 2002) Father Livio’s health went into visible decline.  On June 15, 2003 he went into the Koelliker Hospital in Turin where doctors discovered a tumor in his liver.  On June 30, 2003 he died at Alpignano.  Father Artemio honored his memory at the funeral attended by so many missionaries.  Father Livio’s remains were taken to his native village where he was buried next to his parents.  The church at Canizzano-Treviso was crowded with friends.  Don Daniele Bortoletto, the Pastor, remarked, “A man who worked tirelessly for the Gospel has left us.  Who will take his place?”

Giovanni Tebaldi