FRANCHI Giuseppe (Father)

The funeral celebration of Fr.Giuseppe was presided over by the Bishop of San Miniato, Mgr Andrea Migliavacca. The latter was surrounded by around 20 priests from the diocese and by our brothers from the communities in Tuscany as well as the Regional Vicar. The faithful of the parishes of San Miniato Basso, Fognano and Bagnolo, grateful for the pastoral work carried out with devotion and humility for more than 25 years by Fr Giuseppe in Tuscany, were also represented by a large group.

In the first part of his life as a priest, Fr Beppe (the name his friends and brothers used) had been an enthusiastic teacher who took care of the young people at the Sacred Heart School in Colico (on Lake Como). This humanities teacher, who could have a grumpy manner, was particularly attentive to the pupils who had the most need of support. Everyone could access ’his’ meticulously organised library on the condition that they respected the rules and the silence. He was also an activity leader during leisure time and an inflexible referee in football matches. He couldn’t wait for Sundays to be able to take off in his little Fiat 500 to the Cosio Valtellino parish where he enjoyed the liturgical celebration amongst the people of God and to appreciate the simple and frank friendship of people like him.

At precisely 50 years old, he sought and took on a radical change of life. Following the steps of a brother and friend, he left Lombardy, his environment and his loved ones with whom he had lived, to answer a ‘second calling’: to undertake an intense pastoral life at Montemurlo, a densely populated parish in Tuscany. I still have, etched in mymind, the memory of a journey takenwith him, in his little car, loaded only with the bare essentials, like those of a pilgrim leaving with some apprehension but with trust in the One who knows and shows the way... having a brotherly lunch in the motorway restaurant livened up with shared memories, plansand dreams.... And then a new life not only at Montemurlo but also at Fognano, a little neighbouring parish, where the mindset of the educator grasped the need of the youth to have a place to meet. Father Giuseppe immediately rolled up his sleeves to create, with a group of volunteers, the ‘Campino’, a play area that he considered a little masterpiece. As Parish Priest at Bagnolo, he took pains to equip the classrooms for catechism and youth activities.

He wanted to consecrate the last ten years of his life, lived out without particular responsibilities in the Community in Ponte a Elsa, to the service of the Bishop and the diocese, in any place where a need was felt, thus embodying the dream of St Michael who wished for a ‘flying camp’ of priests serving the Bishops.

Let’s keep the memory of him as an enthusiatic teacher to the young, as a good pastor in the service of the Gospel, as a precious and humble co-worker in the service of the Church and of the people who were entrusted to him, as a faithful confessor and as a man of community and fraternal life. We remember him for his warm friendship that he reserved for a good number among us.