Father

ROSANO STOFELLA

(1914-2003)

Father Rosano Stofella was born on September 21, 1914 into a farm family at Piana di Vallarsa in the province of Trent.  His parents, Leone and Emma, brought him to the parish church for baptism one week later on September 28.  He attended elementary school in Vallarsa (1924-1927); high school at Rovereto (1927) and Camerletto, Favria Canavese (1931-1933).  The rest of his education was in Turin, Certosa di Pesio and Rosignano Monferratto;  he studied theology in Turin from 1936 to 1940. He was ordained to the priesthood at the Ausiliatrice Church in Turin on June 23, 1940.  From 1940 to 1946 he worked in the IMC office near the Consolata Shrine in Turin where our founder, Joseph Allamano, had been the rector for so many years. During those years war was raging in northeast Italy.  

Brazil: His First Mission

At the end of the Second World War our borders were once again open and the Institute began to send missionaries to Latin America.  Father Rosano was assigned to Brazil where he began his apostolate in 1946.  He was initially the associate pastor of S. Sebastiano and then moved to the community of S. Benedito in Jaú (SP).  From July 1948 to December 1951 he exercised his ministry in the parish of São Pedro in Tamôio (SP).  From 1952 to 1957 he was in the parish of São Pedro de Alcântara (the present Consolata parish), at Jardim São Bento in São Paulo. From 1958 to 2002 he worked in the parish of Nossa Senhora de Fátima at Intirim in São Paulo.  The years of his stay in Brazil were important ones for the growth of the Institute.  Father Gaudenzio Barlassina, the Superior General, made a canonical visitation to the seminaries and parishes where Consolata Missionaries were educating future priests and pastoral workers.  Like other regions, Brazil was on the point of opening a new missionary territory under the sponsorship of Propaganda Fide – Roraima.  This undertaking had beneficial effects on missionary pastoral work and seminary formation. 

Father Rosano was not someone who upset others, rather he lived his missionary priesthood in humility and silence.  He was known for his devotion to the sick, “o padre que ia aos velórios para encomendar os corpos dos falecidos e confortar as pessoas enlutadas,” “o padre das bênçãos,” “o padre do confessionário” (Father Jordão Maria Pessatti, IMC).  These sentences describe a missionary whose life was dedicated to others.  His life in community was a continuous witness of obedience, cooperation and cheerfulness.

Father Célio Pedro Saldanha Dornelles writes movingly, “Father Rosano’s heart was overflowing with mystery, it was the heart of a priest who had known both joy and suffering.  He knew Tabor and he knew Gethsemani.”  He lived out his days in holiness, leading a life of simplicity and contemplation.

A missionary’s suffering

From those who knew him we have the impression of one who suffered and who was warmly accepted by his confrères.  He spent hours in chapel and thought of himself as the least of all.  Yet in the eyes of God he was great precisely because he thought of himself as unworthy.  A complaint never passed his lips, with eyes filled with affection he would answer, “Nada, não dói nada, está tudo bem comigo: Deo gratias! (No, I am feeling no pain, all is well with me – thank God).  Quer que chame alguém da enfermagem para lhe passar algum remédio que lhe dê um pouco de alívio? (Should I call a nurse to give you something to alleviate your pain?)”  And his answer was always, “Nada, não preciso de nada, não sinto dor nenhuma. (Absolutely not, I am not feeling any pain at all)”. The silent holiness that shone through his eyes and his smile was an unusual way of covering up the pain that filled his body.

The final farewell of a perfect Consolata Missionary

On December 17, 2002, Father Rosano became aware of a sudden discomfort, his body was partially paralyzed.  He was taken to the São Camilo da Pompéia hospital in São Paulo.  Parishioners and priests (Michelangelo Piovano, Eugenio Butti, Severino Bordignon, Claudio Cobalchini, Jaime Carlos Patias, Valeriano Paitoni) from Imirim took turns at his bedside day and night.

Father Rosano Stofella died on February 11, 2003 in São Camilo hospital.  He was 88 years old and had been a religious for 67 years, a priest for 62.  The people of the parish of Nossa Senhora de Fátima in Imirim, held a prayer vigil around his body.  On the following day, Dom Odilo Pedro Scherer, Bishop of the Santana Episcopal Region concelebrated Mass with our Fathers.  In his homily Father Valeriano described Father Rosano as “the perfect Consolata Missionary.”  “Sacramentino and Consolatino – doing all things well.”  People said this priest was a saint!

(This information was provided by Fathers Célio Pedro Saldanha Dornelles, Jordão Maria Pessatti, Michelangelo Piovano and Severino Bordignon.)

Father Giovanni Tebaldi