Don Santoro's remains return to his parish. Vicar of Anatolia: his mission continues
Tomorrow the remains of the fidei donum priest killed in Trabzon in February 2006 will be translated to Rome. The choice to leave to live the Gospel "in a peripheral reality", building bridges with other Churches and Islam. Archbishop Bizzeti: "The Church in the Middle East is not a place to flee from, but a place to come to even from Italy".
Rome (AsiaNews) - A "courageous" Christian who did not "shut himself up in his own little world", but responded to the "explicit command" of Christ who invited him to "go out to meet the people" and bear witness even "where it is risky" to the extreme sacrifice of his life, to "martyrdom".
These are the words that Monsignor Paolo Bizzeti, apostolic vicar of Anatolia and president of Caritas Turkey, entrusts to AsiaNews in remembrance of Father Andrea Santoro, fidei donum priest killed in February 2006 in the church of Santa Maria in Trabzon.
The prelate continues, "[He was ] a man who at the age of 50 and in the midst of his pastoral commitment in Rome thought that there was another priority: to spend his life, and mission, in a suburban reality that had no one".
This choice is of 'great significance even today' and a warning to go beyond the celebration of the person, and one that pushes 'to confront his choices. A sign that this Church in the Middle East is not a place to flee from, but a place to come to'.
Tomorrow, 2 December, the ceremony is scheduled for the translation of the body of Father Andrea Santoro, whose remains from the Verano cemetery will be taken to the parish of Saints Fabiano and Venanzio, in Rome, where he had been parish priest from 1994 to 2000 before leaving for Turkey.
The arrival is scheduled for 4pm in the Villa Fiorelli church and he will be welcomed by Card. Enrico Feroci, a friend of Father Santoro. At 6pm the Cardinal Vicar of Rome, Angelo De Donatis, will preside Mass, then at 9pm the prayer vigil led by Fr Marco Vianello, former deputy of the fidei donum missionary and today parish priest at San Frumenzio.
The following day there will be Lauds, then the Eucharistic liturgy presided over by the Apostolic Vicar of Istanbul, Msgr Massimiliano Palinuro. The remains will be buried in the tomb at the foot of the crucifix in front of which Father Santoro prayed.
It was 5 February 2006 when the Roman fidei donum priest was shot twice while he was praying on his knees with the Bible in his hands in the Church of St Mary in Trabzon, of which he had been parish priest for three years. It was a death that shocked the community, an act carried out - according to the first version - "in the name of Allah" by a 16-year-old who was later sentenced to 18 years in prison.
However, the motivation for the murder remain controversial to this day and the trail is still open: From an act of retaliation by prostitution-related criminality, Islamic fundamentalism in a historical phase of tension over the cartoons of Mohammed, to right-wing Turkish nationalism. What remains is his testimony of faith to the point of giving his life, which prompted the Church of Rome to start the canonisation process in 2011.
'Even today,' explains Monsignor Bizzeti, 'we still need pastors to come and help us to establish a local Church. A mission conceived through an exchange of experiences and bridge-building'. What remains of his mission 'is the love for this land, for this ecclesial context, the interest for the country and its Christians' who do not forget him.
"Don Santoro and Monsignor Luigi Padovese [vicar apostolic of Anatolia killed on 3 June 2010 by his driver, ed.] - underlines the prelate - are alive in the ecclesial consciousness, there are their portraits, they are living people and recent witnesses of the faith'.
Since the time of the Roman priest's mission, "Turkey has changed a lot", but "I believe that it would continue to affirm what he said and wrote: a reality with a deep Christian tradition, in which the confrontation with the other Churches and with the various forms of Islam is very much alive. These,' says the vicar apostolic, 'are the reasons that would attract his attention and feed his mission'.
One of Father Santoro's merits, he adds, is that of 'having made the community of Rome aware of this reality, so much so that every year there are pilgrims and faithful who come to visit for its anniversary. However, we must not limit ourselves to celebrating' the person, as much as gathering and supporting the reasons for his mission. Words that recall a final invitation, addressed to the Italian Church from which he came: 'It must open up more and encourage the missionary dimension, albeit in a different way than a decade ago."
"This is an exchange,' concluded the prelate, 'where each one brings the gift received from God. In Turkey, it is not a question of supporting social initiatives, but of becoming aware that there are living communities, Christians waiting to be recognised by their brothers."
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