“It was God’s will that I meet an old and excellent Jesuit during my military service; he helped me make up my mind very quickly. In spite of my enthusiasm, realism led me in a more prudent direction. I was inclined to religious life – it seemed more protected and untroubled. On the advice of don Michele Poggi, however, I chose to enter the diocesan seminary. He told me that from there I could go wherever God’s will led me. 

“As soon as I entered the seminary I was overwhelmed by the desire to be a missionary – a Consolata missionary. For various reasons I was very devoted to Our Lady – the Consolata.” 

In 1959 his Bishop gave him permission to leave the diocese and enter the Institute. He made his religious profession in 1963 and then spent three years working on mission promotion at the Casa di Bedizzole. At the end of this time he left for Colombia.

His apostolate took him many places: Bogota, S. Félix, Tocaima, Manizales and Montañita. He carried out this apostolic work for fifteen long years – never free from physical ailments that forced him into auxiliary roles in the parish or seminary. 

He was a zealous missionary. Long journeys on horseback or in a boat to reach remote villages took their toll physically, but at the same time they fed his spirit and were a source of joy in his apostolic vocation. In the face of such widespread destitution he felt that his gospel message would only be credible to those who had nothing if accompanied by the witness of his own radical poverty. He stripped himself of all his personal possessions and gave them to those in need. He soon realized just how difficult it was to achieve radical poverty and then began to understand that the only thing that really counted was “the pure and simple surrender of my will to God – in a spiritual sense, nothing more.” He saw that this surrender was the most perfect sacrifice a religious and apostle could offer God; he understood that this was far more important than any amount of activism which did not involve spiritual surrender.

His frontier mission was abruptly halted by the onset of malaria and hepatitis. In 1983 he was forced to return to Italy and live in the house at Alpignano.

In spite of his own precarious health he threw himself into parish work: visiting the sick, hearing confessions, celebrating Sunday Mass in outlying parishes. In the community he was humble, obedient and prayerful. He had great love of our Lady, calling himself her “slave.” He was tireless in spreading devotion to her. His motto was: “To do everything with Mary, through Mary, in Mary and for Mary; to do everything with, through, in and for Jesus.”

He was taken to the hospital for liver failure but during the operation he suffered an abdominal hemorrhage. On January 17, 2001, he returned to Our Father’s House.

On January 19, Father Orazio Anselmi – who owed his own missionary vocation to Father Bafico, presided at the funeral. During the homily he spoke about Father Bafico’s poverty and generosity to the poor. The Regional Superior, the priests of the Genoa mission center and the pastor, Father Lucio Abrami concelebrated the Mass. His Consolata brothers and sisters from nearby communities and many people who knew him in the parish attended the service. The Alpini (Alpine Regiment Soldiers) were present with their standard and they recited the Prayer of an Alpine Soldier. His remains were laid to rest in the cemetery at Alpignano.

Fr. Giuseppe Villa

and a report in “Da Casa Madre”