He was born the son of Italo Magnani and Augusta Ansaloni, on August 22, 1945 at Campogalliano (MO). In 1962, at the age of seventeen, he entered our Institute at the House in Varallo Sesia. Previously he had been a student in a commercial high school. In 1967 he consecrated himself to the Lord through religious profession, and in 1972 he was ordained to the Priesthood.

On the eve of his ordination the time came for him to express a preference for where he would like to go as a missionary. He chose the very troubled Mozambique where only a few days earlier a land mine had taken the life of Fr. Guerrino Prandelli. The General Council, however, decided to send him to Zaire and Fr. Ivano accepted this assignment eagerly and with enthusiasm.

In January 1974 he officially began his missionary apostolate in the diocese of Wamba, in the eastern province of what was then Zaire. The mission was a very demanding one for a variety of reasons: it was isolated, communications and movement were difficult, there were abundant tropical diseases which did not spare even the healthiest of individuals. 

There were still open wounds from the Simba rebellion. Many missions were abandoned – the missionaries had fled or been killed, moreover there was a dictatorship in place that only managed to stay afloat by abandoning the population to the mercies of local chiefs who had scant regard for the rights of their citizens. All of these things tried the efforts and enthusiasm of those who proclaimed the Gospel and sought to build the Kingdom of God among the poorest and most forsaken people.

In the aftermath of violent rebellion, the local Church had a hard time reorganizing and going through the process of Africanization. There were no reliable and capable people who could instruct local Christian communities and lead them to maturity. Ever faithful to the Church, Father Ivano continued to work for those people in spite of the danger brought on by foreign occupation. It was in this situation that he gave his very best for 27 long years – the whole of his life. He did this with responsibility, perseverance and in a spirit of sacrifice and service; he was a man without personal ambition. In my eyes he was represented the missions, religious consecration, the priesthood and our missionary family.

From 1976 he worked in Bafwabaka, then Pawa and finally Isiro. From 1978 to 1985 he was the pastor of the Cathedral and of the mission of Wamba. It was at this time that he became an example, an older brother, a mentor for so many younger missionaries – myself included. He was always open and brotherly; at times his comments seemed rude, but they were always made with sincere affection. He introduced us into the very heart of the mission and helped us to grow with his experience, zeal and spirit of faith. 

He was a man with a sense of humor; he couldn’t resist a witty remark - often a quotation from Manzoni’s Betrothed, or one of the Bud Spencer movies that were so popular in our parish cinemas. In times of trouble he knew how to keep community spirits up. For all those who witnessed his work and for all those who had the privilege of sharing that work he will forever be “the great Ivano.” Living with him meant never going hungry, working intensely in the apostolate, praying and meditating together on the Word of God at opportune times during the day, experiencing times of enriching encounter and fraternal exchange.

I knew Father Ivano in January 1981. For two months I lived with him in Wamba studying Swahili before beginning my own mission work in Pawa. After ten days of study we were spending an evening chatting, joking and singing, when he informed the that the following day I would be going off with a work team and that the experience would expedite my language learning. We later had a good laugh remembering this particular experience. To some it might have seemed a foolish enterprise, but in fact it was a stroke genius on his part and an enormous success on mine. 

Those two months I spent with him in Wamba remained a vivid memory and the start of a friendship that never faded. I was always sure of his affection and support both in those early years in the mission and later when I was sent to other countries. Although we could no longer chat cheerfully together the few letters we exchanged kept the friendship alive.

Father Ivano was always an obedient and generous missionary. He accepted willingly, serious and difficult assignments: pastor at Wamba, Vicar General of the diocese, Regional Superior and Vice-superior twice. He held these jobs at moments of crisis for missionaries in the local Church. His obedience often cost him dearly – by nature he would avoid important positions, he was always conscious of the weight of responsibility. There is no doubt that he felt far more comfortable as a brother amongst brothers, doing the daily work of the mission where he could be seen always busy and always in a hurry. 

For me and for everyone else as well, Father Ivano gradually became a mentor; this was true for his people, the catechists, the priests, the bishop, the other missionaries and the General Council of the Institute itself. His advice was always sought and appreciated; he had the gift of discernment with simplicity, practicality and a spirit of faith. I believe his secret was prayer; he was a man of God, a genuine shepherd, who put his whole trust in the Lord and spent his all for the missions and for our missionary family.

Father Ivano worked unstintingly in spite of the hardships of the unhealthy climate and the physical problems that climate caused him. He worked to build – although building never became a mania – to build the local Church and bring it to maturity. He did this at Wamba where diocesan priests are now in charge and he was doing it in Pawa which is also ready to be handed over to the local clergy. Even his vacations in Italy, the time he spent in his beloved home parish in Campogalliano (MO) was dedicated to working on behalf of the Church; he raised funds for our African brothers and did all he could to stimulate interest in the missions among his fellow townsmen in Campogalliano. Those people never forgot or ceased to admire him. During his funeral we were told that there would soon be a street or square in his hometown named in his honor.

“What am I doing here in Italy? There’s so much work to be done in Africa …” was a constant refrain during the time he spent at home. He said it again in the hospital in Turin a few days before he died. Father Ivano gave much, no, gave everything he had to the people. He offered himself without reservation to the Lord as a missionary; the Lord in turn asked much of him and took everything, He took his very life. He ran the "good race” of the Apostle, and he has reached the finish line – the finish line of which he never lost sight. He has been given the prize, that same Lord Jesus, who was his goal and his reward.

Father Ivano died on Christmas eve. That Christmas was a time of sorrow for me. I felt the pain of losing a brother, of losing a person I loved. I wept as did the people of Wamba and Pawa; I wept with our missionaries scattered in that same jungle where he once worked. But that Child who was born for us, that Child Father Ivano made known to so many, is our consolation. That Child, in His weakness and poverty – poverty which is in fact riches – shares a great gift with us. I knelt before the Crib and looked at the dark sky above it; among the angels and apostles sent to proclaim the glory of God and peace for all men I spied a new face, a new angel: Father Ivano. He, angel and apostle, has reached his goal, his Lord, and is a signpost for all of us – pure and transparent, burning with love, consumed with tenderness, rapt in contemplation, singing with one voice the song of joy and praise.

Fr. Giano Benedetti

On December 5, 2000, Fr. Magnani returned to Italy to treat a mouth infection that was diagnosed as a form of leukemia. During the night of the 23^rd of December he went home to the Father’s House. His funeral was celebrated at the Motherhouse on December 27. Fr. Giano Benedetti, General Councilor, presided. His body was then transported to his hometown where another celebration attended by all his fellow townsmen took place. His body was buried there.

Editors of Da Casa Madre

TESTIMONIES

For a friend who has gone away!

Dearest Ivano, I want to write you this final letter. But this time I won’t be talking about myself, or about the missions – rather I’ll be talking about you and what you meant to me and to so many others who through you discovered, loved and lived the Congo. Yes, you were a point of reference for me; it was always a pleasure and an enriching experience to encounter you; how many times we talked things over together! How impatient we would both be faced with the many things that didn’t work out, how many jokes we shared to lift our spirits in difficult times.

Talking about you is talking about our mission: you were the Consolata Institute in the Congo. Everyone sought you out – especially those of us who were young and inexperienced. You never let us down, you were always ready with a word of encouragement, a pearl of wisdom that made us love the work in which we were engaged even more. Beneath your gruff and thorny exterior there was a great heart, a great love of that people that you never forsook. 

I saw you weep when we were forced to pull you out of the jungle and bring you to safety when things were too dangerous – even for the natives. An airplane carried you to Kinshasa and you sat on the floor together with the other missionaries and your whole life passed before your eyes. Yours were the thoughts of one who had spent everything and humanly speaking had been left with nothing. 

What struck me most was your deep spirituality. In spite of appearances I don’t think you ever missed a Mass; it was inspiring to see you in the early morning with your breviary in hand, ready to face each day in the name of the Lord. You were a mentor for me. You revealed the secrets of being a missionary, not with books or words, but with your contagious example. You kept an eye on everything and were keen to see that everything worked as it should. If it didn’t you sometimes flew off the handle or shouted, but you quickly regained your patience and knew just what to say to restore calm. 

Dearest Ivano, I miss you – we all miss you. We needed you, but God’s plans are not our plans and we accept this trial; we know that the tree is ripe and that it will bear good fruit. Go in peace; look down on us from heaven and shout if we are straying from the right path.

When we meet with our confrères once more in Isiro – soon we hope – we will no longer have you among us, we will no longer hear that Western song that filled our fraternal get-togethers. You, so big, who would shout like a kid to amuse us …; these are things that perhaps I shouldn’t say since we were the only ones who knew this side of your personality, but once at least let me speak, I have to say these things.

Goodbye tutaonana, may the Lord receive you and may you continue to assist us with your loving and brotherly presence. I thank you for everything you have been for me and for all of us. I thank you for your ability to listen to us. I thank you for the witness of your life – a life you have given for the Missions and for the Mission of the Congo.

Yours, Fr. Stefano Camerlengo, Alleluia!

All of one piece

I met Fr. Ivano in the novitiate at Certosa in October 1966. We spent our years of preparation for the priesthood together and left on the same day for Zaire – today the Congo. Those first years in the mission we lived together and we celebrated our 25^th anniversary of ordination together and now our journey together has been interrupted: you have run faster, and you will see the Risen Christ before me.

I remember the 60’s in Turin – they were turbulent years but you never lost your balance. You were a man, all of one piece, faithful to the commitments you had made: prayer, study, work and service to the community were the rhythms that governed your life. I know that you suffered watching the excesses of those years. You were not one who followed the crowd or fell in with every new fad – rather you lived coherently, conscious of the choices you had made. You never had second thoughts, you walked confidently and directly forward – to ordination and to the missions.

Once you were ordained you longed for the missions and your prayers were answered. While in the missions you were a practical and realistic worker dedicated to those people and fellow missionaries for whom you were responsible. You were never caught up in pointless discussions; your words came from the heart. Commitment and responsibility made you worry – but you never refused to do anything you were asked in obedience. Sometimes you worried that you were not up to the task you were given, but you put your trust in the will of God. How true that slogan printed on your ordination holy card turned out to be: “It is not you who have chosen Me, but I have chosen you.” You always let the Lord do the choosing and you forced yourself to go faithfully wherever He led you – without complaint and without regret.

You were a man of great faith, obedience, patience and willingness to work. These things formed the foundation of your priestly and religious life. I thank you for the beautiful example you have given me.

Fr. Giuseppe Fiore

A balanced man, a genuine priest

I saw Father Ivano for the last time on December 9, 2000, in Turin. He had just arrived at Caselle from Amsterdam. Half an hour went by and I didn’t see Ivano come out of the airport. I began to think he might have missed the plane. Before going home I decided to give one last look around. I saw one forlorn looking man, all standing alone at the taxi stand – there were no cabs. I thought I recognized the hat; I walked up to him and said, “Ivano?” He was in such bad shape that I didn’t recognize him. “Yes, it’s me. I’m dead tired and can’t go any further.” As soon as we got home I took him to his room and he went straight to bed.

The following day, Sunday, he looked better. I thought yesterday’s fatigue might just be the result of the long flight. I had no idea he was so close to death. On Monday I left for the Congo and never saw him again.

Everybody knew Father Ivano in the diocese of Wamba and at Isiro too. He had been our superior for several years. He was one of the first Consolata missionaries to come to the Congo and I had known him since our difficult adventure began. I remember finding him a few months after his arrival on the steps of the Pawa mission in tears. He had no definite assignment and was having a hard time with the language. He then became the pastor at Wamba and the diocesan vicar; finally he had a chance to display his qualities as a man of balance and a genuine priest.

As the Regional Superior he had frequently to confront serious problems and make decisions that caused him suffering. Those who didn’t know him thought him somewhat gruff, but he was basically a very humble man;  before making a decision he spent long hours turning things over in his mind. I once heard him say “no” harshly to someone asking for help. Later he told me, “one must help these people, and if that person comes again I will give him what he’s asking for – and I know he will come again.”

He spent his last years in Pawa as the pastor without, however, abandoning his responsibilities for the group as a whole: he remained Regional Vice-superior.

Fr. Piero Manca

He had a gentle and kind heart

The death of Fr. Ivano Magnani has left us stunned. After spending only fifteen days in the hospital our Ivano left this life! He was always in a hurry to leave whenever he came to the Regional House – and now he has left us in a hurry once more. 

I have known and liked him since 1986. In recent times when he was the Regional Vice-superior - meetings, discussions, prayer, concerns, prospects for the future, problems of the present – all of these things we have lived through together. Even when we disagreed we understood and respected each other.

His faith and his joy in being a priest, a Consolata missionary, were a constant example for me. Sometimes he complained or gave the impression of being gruff, but he had a gentle and kind heart. It took very little to move him – he frequently thanked the Lord for the examples of faith and sacrifice he saw among his people. I too thank the Lord who has allowed me to know Father Ivano and live, dream, pray, laugh and suffer with him. 

Fr. Rinaldo Do

A merciful father

Dearest Father Ivano, I thank you for what you have done for me and for the people of Pawa. I remember meeting you in August 1984 when you were the Bishop’s vicar and the Regional Vice-superior. You came to welcome us after our adventurous and very uncomfortable journey. And what can I say about your time as superior? Whenever you came to Pawa to visit your confrères you stopped by to visit us and express an interest in our work. 

It was here in the Pawa mission that I discovered your priestly side. You were not easy to approach, to tell the truth you were a bit intimidating. But whoever did hazard approaching you found a merciful father – generous and understanding – who could be moved to tears by the poverty of a poor old man who had no shirt. You extended your hand to whoever reached out to you. You took the half-naked baby with the runny nose into your harms and held him tenderly. Thank you, Father Ivano, for all those times you raised your hand to absolve me from sin and lead me back to reconciliation with the God of love. Thank you for the advice you gave me; thank you for the devotion to Our Lady, the Consolata, that you inspired, in my life of consecration to the mission. Thank you for all those afternoons you spent in our convent, for that confidence that made us really feel like sisters. Thank you for everything, Father Ivano.

Now that you enjoy eternal light – please pray for us, for our village, for our people – and for Pawa which is now an orphan without its Father Ivano.

Sister Enza Stoppele

The voice of the heart in the jungle

All those who knew him called him the “burbero benefico” – the well-meaning gruff man. Father Ivano loved his pastoral work and his parishioners. Whenever he spoke of them he would emphasize their positive qualities. He did everything to help them do better. He understood their poverty, their efforts to stay alive and their sincere desire to improve their lot and his parishioners loved him in return. Father Ivano was like a real father – everything he said and did, came from his heart. We can say with pride – Father Ivano was the “voice of the heart in the jungle.”

It was Father Ivano, then Superior, who welcomed us, the Sisters of the Family of the Sacred Heart (Brentana) to the Congo. He loved us and never passed through Kinshasa or Neisu without paying us a visit. Thank you for everything, Father Ivano.

Sister Renata Pulici

A genuine father

Father Ivano worked hard for the parish of Pawa. He build the parish hall, the parish office and refurbished the roof on the priests’ house. He was a frequent visitor to the thirty outlying chapels and celebrated Mass in these places. Even when he was on his own he continued to visit his faithful. 

He was a real priest. He received everyone with great patience. From time to time he would lose his temper – but he was always quick to control it. When he fell ill and word spread that he would go back to Italy, all the local Christians were very sad indeed. When we heard he had died the same thought came to all his grieving flock: we have lost a genuine father.

We will never forget Father Ivano – he was a true servant of God. May God receive him into his house and give him the reward promised to good and faithful servants. Father Ivano, pray for us your children who are left orphans and who have tears in our eyes.

Frédéric Anyamena, catechist