Words and rhetoric were the furthest things from the life and faith of Father Matteo Pettinari, who returned to the Father’s house on April 18 while he was in Ivory Coast on a mission with the Consolata Missionaries. And it is precisely by thinking of him that this article does not seek to remember his death, but to celebrate his life, full of light and faith.
It is true that news of his death, caused by a road accident, shook Monte San Vito (AN), his hometown, the Diocese of Senigallia, where he had grown up, and the many people who, like me, had been blessed to know him and share part of our journey with him.
Father Matteo had been a priest for 17 years, and for 13 years he had already made Africa his new home. He spent most of his missionary life in Ivory Coast, particularly in Sogo, San Pedro, and Dianra Village, where he made a decisive contribution to the construction of a church, using local materials and with the participation of the local population. He was a parish priest, but he also directed a health center that also cared for people with mental health difficulties. His was a constant service on behalf of the poorest Ivorians.
Yet even in our grief, we should remember that his life alongside the last was full of happiness and God’s gifts: “What Africa taught me,” Father Matteo said a few years ago in an interview with La voce misena, a periodical of the Diocese of Senigallia, “is to live life not starting from the problems that exist or do not exist, that might or might not arise, but from the relationships that are always the salt, joy, and richness of everyday life. When I am in Dianra, I like to say that we have a thousand problems but a thousand and one solutions, meaning that difficulties, crises, and insecurity of every kind cannot determine the way we approach our days.”
Pope Francis also wished to remember Father Matteo during the Angelus on April 21: “With sorrow, I learned of the death in an accident of Father Matteo Pettinari, a young Consolata missionary in Ivory Coast, known as the tireless missionary, who left a great example of generous service. Let us pray for his soul.”
So let us remember Father Matteo with joy: his life of faith and solidarity, his courage in accepting Jesus’ invitation, “Come and follow me,” to reach him precisely where it is most difficult to bear witness to him. May his testimony and example bear fruit in our lives and help us seek Jesus’ gaze in the last, the poor, and the abandoned.
