Brother

MARIO PETRINO

1913-2003

He was known in Kenya as the missionary of “Garissa Boys Town” -  a sun drenched area in the northeast – or the “melon missionary.”  Journalists from the US claimed to have witnessed a miracle:  fruit and vegetables of all sorts harvested by the boys from Boys Town and brought to Nairobi.  This was the way a very expensive project in the savana was financed.  It began with only a few dozen boys but later, according to the Kenya East Africa Standard newspaper (June 19, 1970), the boys numbered around 2,000.  We were never able to confirm these figures but this project was certainly the only one of its kind in Kenya.  Brother Petrino was lucky to have Father Giovanni Bonzanino at his side.  Father Giovanni was an intelligent man who could solve problems even at a temperature of 100º F.  Not only that, Father Bonzanino had lived through similar experiences when he established the “Meru Boys Home.”  Their friendship and collaboration provided a solid foundation for valuable missionary work.  While Bonzanino was dynamic, Brother Mario was by nature and circumstance restless.

Religious Conversion

Mario Petrino was born in Miranda di Campobasso on November 29, 1913 and baptized in the Miranda parish church on December 7.  The times were economically depressed and to escape poverty and unemployment his family emigrated to the United States.  Mario had to work to support his family and he grew up hard-boiled and cynical.  His mother worried about what would become of her tough son.

Circumstances changed, however.  His family bought a bar in Denver and Mario worked in the bar until he was twenty years old.  He then met Mary Mosely from Kansas City and they were married civilly – probably in 1938, according to Brother Mario.  They lived together only a few years and in 1942 the marriage was dissolved by the State of Missouri.  A friend suggested that he become a missionary.  It was a leap into the unknown.  He sought out contacts in missionary circles.  Archbishop Vehr of Denver wrote to Father Joseph Moncher, the Superior, that he could not give Mario a dispensation since he did not know him. 

In a letter dated February 15, 1960, Father Moncher wrote, “Mister Mario Petrino is genuinely eager to enter religious life in the Consolata Missionaries’ novitiate and there does not seem to be any impediment other than his civil marriage and subsequent divorce.”

Father Giovanni Piovano, the official IMC canon lawyer affirmed that the Archbishop of Denver’s refusal to grant a dispensation would make a dispensation from any other bishop null.  The case had to be referred to the Holy See.

The Secretary of Propaganda Fide, Msgr. Pietro Sigismondi,  informed us of the Holy See’s favorable response to the Superior  General’s request that Mister Mario Petrino enter our novitiate.

Father Leonard DePasquale, the Regional Superior, wrote:  “Petrino underwent a profound conversion and decided to become a religious brother.  He looked for a religious order and in the end was directed to Father Moncher of the Consolata Missionary Institute.  Brother Mario was happy to have finally found his way and made his novitiate at Certosa di Pesio.”  A grateful Brother Petrino wrote to Father Delio Lucca: “The novitiate was a time of great spiritual progress for me – and that is how I will think about it in the future.  I am grateful to Our Lady, the Consolata, and to the missionaries who helped me find my vocation.”  He made his temporary profession on October 2, 1962 at Rosignano Monferrato and his perpetual profession in Buffalo, New York, on  October 2, 1965.  He was the procurator of the United States community until 1967.

Missionary in Kenya

From 1969 to 1974 Brother Petrino worked with Father Giovanni Bolzanino at Garissa.  He was determined to construct a road, a landing strip for small planes, a playing field and a melon farm.  But his real passion was to teach young people how to work and improve themselves and their surroundings through their earnings.  You get nothing for nothing – he used to say.  He provided an example with his own hard work.  He wrote letters to friends in America and invited journalists to write articles about Garissa Boys Town in an effort to raise funds for his “five year development plan.”  He had no faith in those, he said, who had piles of money but wouldn’t give you a cigarette.  But it didn’t matter, he felt he had helped the mission become self-supporting, had helped the local people and had created a training center for young boys.  He describes his experiences in Kenya in an autobiographical book, The Bomb Within Me – The Miracle of Garissa Boys Town.  The miracle was largely due to the presence of Father Giovanni Bonzanino for whom Brother Mario had great affection and respect.  The book was too short to tell the whole story but one can detect the fire of his missionary vocation which was like a bomb on the verge of exploding.

Mission promoter up to his death

“Now,” he wrote to his superior, “I have been assigned to another work in America.  Spreading the missionary ideal in parishes, schools and youth groups, making friend for the Consolata Missionaries.”  He was almost 68 years old when he asked the Superior  General, Father Mario Bianchi, if he could do mission promotion in Toronto, Canada.

“Better days are coming,” he used to say.  Father De Pasquale tells us that he wanted to live to 100.  He was very grateful to God for having given him life and his vocation to religious life.  During his time at Somerset he was faithful to devotional practices and daily prayer.  He was the sacristan and servant of the community and never missed a day’s swimming in his efforts to keep in shape. 

On February 19, 2003, he felt a pain and drove immediately to the doctor.  On his arrival he suffered a heart attack and was taken into intensive care at Johnson University Hospital.  At 5:15, Father Robert Rezac anointed Brother Mario Petrino and at 5:25 he died.  We are grateful for the witness he gave to all of us, Consolata Missionaries.

Father Giovanni Tebaldi