BIANCHI Angelo (Father)

In giving us life, the Lord entrusted to each of us a mission in the Church and in the world. Each one of us is a gift for our family, our friends, our fellow-religious and for all those we meet on our journey.

When we pay hommage to someone who has just passed away, it is important, I think, to figure out the message that person has left us by how they lived their life, to keep them in our memories and to give thanks to the Lord.

Father Angelo was called to dedicate his life to the Lord in the family of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Betharram and in priestly ministry. He was ordained priest in Milan in 1962, after having completed his studies in Theology at Albiate.

St Michael Garicoits asked of his community that they live a lifestyle founded on the virtues of the Sacred Heart:

• An absolute obedience and availability;
• A simple life;
• An unfailing kindness.

So, Father Angelo tried to faithfully follow this lifestyle and we can all testify that he managed it. This is the message that he leaves us:

a) He obeyed promptly when, as a young priest, he was sent to do a University course first in Lissone, then at the University of Rome, where he obtained a master’s degree in Mathematics in 1968. He then immediately and enthusiastically made himself available when asked to put his studies to good use and open a new Scientific Sixth Form College, with some other brothers, in Bormio where he taught for 21 years, taking on responsibility for the budget, the directorship of the Sixth Form College and the leadership of the community.

b) Once the Bormio experience was over, he continued to teach Maths and Physics at the Sacred Heart College in Colico for another ten years.

At the age of 60, Father Angelo made himself available for a radical change in his own life by dedicating himself with a renewed enthusiasm to parish pastoral care in the Diocese of Parma: firstly as Parish Priest at San Vitale Baganza, then at Parma as co-worker in the parish of Sant’ Andrea in Antognano and finally here in Langhirano.

c) As for the simple lifestyle of Father Angelo, I believe that, for those who knew him, there is no need to comment. A Master of Mathematics, he lived in the greatest simplicity... An almost exagerated and disarming simplicity. Many among you, in remembering him now, use the same expression to characterise him: “a simple person”. A great value and a beautiful witness in the times we are living in.

d) For the last trait of the Heart of Jesus, contemplated by St Michael Garicoits and lived out by Father Angelo – unfailing kindness – I will bring to mind a personal memory: When I was at school with him in Colico, I was surprised by his ability to teach with an “unfailing kindness” even with difficult, exuberant and at times provocative young people. He certainly drew his strength from a mysterious source, which he indicated to a good number of people in the secret of the confessional.

I believe I can say that Father Angelo lived out the mission that the Lord entrusted to him in the style of, and according to the virtues of, the Heart of Jesus, by leaving us an unforgettable testimony of a life made of apostolic devotion and lived out in simplicity and gentleness. For that, we give thanks to the Lord for sending him to us and we commit ourselves to following his example.

Fr. Piero Trameri scj
Regional Vicar in Italy