“I made a vow to God to remain in Kenya always”

“I, the undersigned, Antonio Giustetto, of the diocesan seminary of Saluzzo, desirous of consecrating myself to religious life and to the evangelization of poor non-believers, ask you, Most Reverend Father, to be admitted to the novitiate of the Consolata Mission Institute.” This request reached the Superior General on October 9, 1948 and the name of Antonio Giustetto appeared among that year’s twenty-eight candidates in the Official Bulletin in the last year of Barlassina’s government. The missions were at a high point in those days. The territories of Chaco, Rio Branco and Rio Maddalena had just been opened up and were making their first appearances in Missioni Consolata and Da Casa Madre. There was much enthusiasm – expectations were high.

The young cleric, Antonio, had nurtured his vocation during high school years at St. Augustine’s Seminary and at the seminary “liceo” of St. Nicholas in Saluzzo. He had been in contact with the vocation promoters of those days. His report card for 1947-1948 showed his promise: 10 in conduct, 9 in history, 8 in the oral and written Greek exams, 8 in the oral and written Italian exams, 6 and 7 in Latin and 8 in art. His lowest mark was in mathematics. He was a student with a literary bent, refined tastes and sensitivity. After his novitiate at Certosa Pesio he studied philosophy and theology at the IMC major seminary in Turin and on June 28, 1953 he was ordained to the priesthood in the cathedral of Turin by Cardinal Maurilio Fossati. Nicola Baravalle and Giuseppe Garneri were the witnesses.
Father Giovanni Genta who spent those years in Turin with him writes, “I knew him during the years we studied theology together. We sat next to each other in alphabetical order. I met him again at Chuka in Meru. He was gentle, humble and modest and never called attention to his academic accomplishments. He was convinced that study was the indispensable way to achieve maturity and to combat poverty, sickness, ignorance. It broke his heart to see children and orphans who couldn’t go to school because of poverty.
Fortunately he found help and friendship among the benefactors of the Turin Diocesan Missionary Office. Like Jesus, he went around doing good.”

Antonio was born in the parish of S. Stefano in Villafranca Piemonte (Turin) on December 29, 1928. While still very young he witnessed his father’s death and his mother’s bereavement. After ordination he was an assistant and teacher at Benevagienna (Cuneo) and Biadene (Treviso) until he left for the United States in 1960. He enrolled in the Department of Education at the Catholic University of America where some of his confreres were already studying. During the 1960-1961 school year Father Giustetto studied the philosophy of education, modern theories of education, the history of education and seminary education. This was all preparation for teaching IMC seminarians and African students. The burden of his studies, the difficult time he had adjusting to the new environment, the distance of Silver Spring from the university and a general loss of strength forced Father Antonio to interrupt his studies and begin working with Father Moncher in the small student community. He was becoming impatient and Africa was calling. From September 5, 1962 until 1968 he was at the Nkubu Seminary in Meru. He was a born teacher; a conscientious and devoted educator – he trained the future priests of the Church in Meru. He then moved to Chuka where he became the president of the Chuka Commercial School.

Father Livio Tessari who had known him in Kenya writes: “I remember with pleasure his work on behalf of young people and their families in Chuka. With the redistribution of land and the elimination of villages many were left unemployed – young people had no future. To help remedy this situation Father Giustetto with the help of local people and some friends established a commercial school to give women economic independence. He is still remembered for his religious and social education programs. Among his many academic projects he wrote a shorthand manual for the Kiswahili language that is used in many Kenyan state schools. After his successful work in education he was assigned to mission promotion in Italy (1971-1973) – a bitter experience in the context of a situation that had much changed in recent years. He returned to Kenya where he told Father Mario Bianchi, the Superior General, “I realized that I was headed for personal failure that would cast a pall over my missionary work. Others who were more optimistic, more extroverted, more zealous may have been able to handle the job – I just couldn’t do it … this is why I so much wanted to return to Kenya.” His insistence that the superiors allow him to return to Kenya bothered him. “I hope,” he wrote, “that I may humbly ask your pardon.”

A new phase of intense work in Kenya opened up for him. From 1973 to 1975 he was the pastor of Amung’enti in Meru – a parish established between 1913 and 1915. From 1975 to 1983 he taught at the Kevote Boys High School in Embu – the school was founded in the period between the Mau-Mau rebellion and the independence of Kenya.
Father Antonio Giordano was closer to him than anyone else and was aware of interesting aspects of his work and character. He tells us: “I met Father Antonio at Benevagienna in 1957. I was sent as a theology student to assist the high school seminarians and give the Fathers in charge time to relax. The teachers at that time were Fathers A. Piol, G. Genta and A. Giustetto. Father Giustetto had organized a small band of ocarinas and flutes which he directed and accompanied with the accordion. As an assistant and teacher he was very demanding the boys told me – but at the same time he was very understanding. He knew how to make himself liked and how to create respect for authority.

I met Father Antonio some years later in Washington where he was taking a course in Missiology. He got his diploma and left for Meru. The only chance I had to work with him was when he was in charge of bookkeeping for the regional administration in Nairobi. At that time I was in charge of the Consolata School. We had sixty teachers of whom forty were foreigners and in constant need of work permits. Father Antonio helped me with this thankless task; he would spend hours waiting in line to get the necessary documents. The national Teachers’ Association was reluctant to give positions to others. During those years Father Antonio was the administrator of the Regional House in Nairobi.

As a missionary he was a man of austerity and poverty, both with himself and with others. His spirituality was rooted in austerity, prayer and the sacraments.
When he was transferred to the mission at Timao I missed him very much – he was a genuine friend. It was there that his Calvary began: he suffered a heart attack.

I later met him at Alpignano but he was only a shadow of the man I had known – willful, strong, calm, moderate, understanding and playful, gruff and sweet, taciturn and talkative. It broke my heart.
All his activities were marked by the missionary ideal and his profound love of the Institute. The missions were his life and he worked for them with clenched teeth and fists. He made a promise to God that he would never leave Kenya and he left it only to retire and die near the house in which he was born. He was 74 years old, a religious for 53 years and a priest for 49.