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Fr. Cesare Giulio (1927-2006) Print E-mail
Written by Fr Pietro Trabucco, IMC   
Friday, 18 May 2007
Fr. Cesare Giulio, IMC
1927-2006

I open the file of Fr. Cesare Giulio’s personal documents, kept in the Archives, looking for some information which could help me prepare a brief biographical sketch of our confrere and, as a first item, I find a curious post card, sent in 1970 from Kenya to the Vice Superior General for that period, Fr. Guido Motter. There is the signature of our confrere with just one word: “I obey”. The front part of the post card presents the picture of a captivating monkey, peacefully perched on the roof of a house, watching the distant horizon with a curious and detached look.

This document from the Archives, though not completely “orthodox”, it looks to me as one reveling the personality of Fr. Giulio: few words and many facts; he does not pay attention to the peripheral elements but he rather concentrates on what is essential; he dreams of the far distant mission and works very hard to prepare himself for it, he then gets there but then he is asked to live it more in the background than in the front line, always ready to offer any service with the utmost availability. It looks as if it always falls on him to row upstream, nevertheless he never looses his smile and good spirit; mindless of himself, he often comes across troubles caused by his boundless generosity.

But his file has little information: personal data card, important personal documents, a few study certificates, short report made by his educators, a few official appointments decrees, two letters written by his parishioners opposing the departure of Fr. Giulio for a new assignment. And then the already quoted post card. Fortunately, while writing these notes, I am being helped by my personal memories and those of other confreres who, for various reasons, have been close to our confrere and have kept beautiful and unforgettable memories of him. During his life, has handled more painting brushes than pens. For this reason it is now very difficult, if not impossible, to depend on his writings in sketching his personality.

Who was Fr. Giulio Cesare?

Son of Arturo and Felicita Morello, he is born at Moncalieri (TO) on 21st March 1927. His very religious parents create in the family an environment conducive to the birth of three religious vocations: Cesare, Consolata Missionary, his brother, a Salesian, and a nun.

Cesare, after his primary school, attends a professional school at the Brothers of Christian Education, in the faculty of arts and professions. He specializes in the art of metal engraving and works as such for ten years. On 20th October 1952, being 25 years old, he decides to enter the Institute and he is accepted among the belated vocations at Rosignano Monferrato.

Going through the short reports of his educators, one comes across expressions which, like paint strokes, well describe his personality. “He gives excellent signs of attachment to his vocation, high commitment to studies and good results, deep and solid piety, charitable, soft mannered and respectful to every body, very hard working, bent towards artistic things, especially painting”. In the final observations, his educators go beyond simple adjectives and state: “Respectful and of good will, he will certainly succeed”. “He is a person imbued with laudable moral and straightforward traits”. “He has the advantage of being a person who unifies within the environment where he operates; his artistic talen makes him to be look for by the others”. Another of his educators states in a very straightforward way: “He is a mature that could teach a few things even to us”.

His mission

Once he has concluded his curriculum of basic formation, carried out at Rosignano, Certosa and Turin, he is ordained a priest on 7th April 1962 by Mons. Carlo Re, IMC. His first assignment will be the Seminary at Varallo Sesia as an Assistant. After two years he received the much awaited appointment to Kenya, in the Diocese of Meru. In one of his periodical updating of his personal data card, Fr. Giulio lists his activity in Meru as: “Secretary in the Curia”. Nevertheless those who have lived close to him during those years know that the expression is an euphemism which tend to reduce the real role and service carried out by him in the House of the Bishop Lorenzo Bessone. He was a kind of Secretary, jack of all trades, but especially attentive to the missionary, the nun o lay person coming to the Bishop’s house for any reason. The stories of those years reporting Fr. Giulio’s availability and generosity are many: two-three commitments accepted at the same time; his “right now” which instead were being protracted for weeks and months for the simple reasons that his working days had only 24 hours; his smiles for those who were complaining that their documents were not yet ready, or were just waiting under a pile of sheets of paper. We can not forget those moments when the patience of some people would reach boiling point and Fr. Giulio was capable of softening up any tension with his classic invitation: “Let’s go for a cup of coffee!”. Or when he was returning from the Post Office smiling and his smack key of the Post Office Box hanging from a big ring. That was the trick invented by an American missionary in the face of Fr. Giulio’s repeated losses of the key.

The other characteristic which turned out to be very precious, both in the missionary context than in the field of mission animation, was his artistic talent and his taste for art and beauty. Innumerable are the churches and chapels designed by him, those painted by him, his paintings, panels for missionary exhibitions prepared in a hurry at the last moment depriving himself of his sleep, his “artistic” advices given to the missionaries having any need.

Even if his technical and artistic qualities have enabled him to carry out many activities for the missionaries, one must not forget his precious pastoral service for the religious communities and the schools. He could not learn the local language, but his commitments and pastoral services did not suffer much for this.

His return to Italy

Fr. Giulio was called back to Italy in 1970. He is one of the first missionaries to be affected by the rule of rotation which had been approved in the General Chapter of 1969, causing his premature return to his country. Fr. Cesare suffers immensely, but he has no doubt that he must obey. He writes a letter to the Vice Superior General on 1st July 1970 in which, in a brief way and almost jokingly, he states his complete adherence to the decision of his Superiors:

Dear Fr. Motter,

Having received “the judgement”, I wish now to know the time of “execution”. I would be grateful if you would tell me which is latest day I am allowed to remain here: this is only because I wish to take care of many, many work commitments accepted long ago and never completed… I would think, if you allow me, to fix a date for the second half of September. Do you think it will be possible? […].

With much affection in Christ,

Fr. Giulio C.

In Turin he is expected to go to the Theological Seminary. He will stay there for six years, always as an Assistant in the formation field. Of this period we have only one letter, addressed to the Superior General and to the Regional one, in which he expounds the reasons which have motivated him to ask to be removed from the office of formation in order to recuperate his health. Among other things he writes: “The milieu of the world and that of the Institute are very difficult: ideological confrontations and the issuing problems have been a hard testing ground, through which we believe we have been guided by the Lord… We have tried to contribute to the good of the Institute with all our might, accepting tests and confronting challenges which appeared to come from our duty to fidelity”. Only the following year Fr. Giulio will be allowed to terminate his service in the formative field.

In 1976 he is nominated Superior and afterwards Bursar of the House at Alpignano. Then he carries out the ministry of Parish Priest, first at Alpignano and then in the Parish “Queen of the Missions” in Turin. After three years spent in the House at Gambettola, in the month of November 1998 he is definitely assigned to Alpignano. At the beginning of 2006 he is afflicted by a grave illness which in just a few months will bring him to his death.

Fr. Cesare Giulio dies in the infirmary at Alpignano, on 17th Novembre 2006, at the age of 79, brotherly assisted by Fr. Giovanni Genta, his work colleague while in Meru. The funeral Mass is celebrated in the parish church of St. Martin at Alpignano where he had been a Parish Priest for six years. The Eucharistic celebration is presided by his Salesian brother. During the homily there are the contribution of some representatives of the Town of Alpignano, of the parish and of various organizations, like “Rinascita” and “Équipe Nôtre Dame” of which Fr. Cesare had been a faithful animator.

His body rests in the cemetery at Alpignano.

Fr Pietro Trabucco, IMC
Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 May 2007 )