Fr. Luigi Pieretti, among the first fd of Lucca | The beginnings
For the Diocese of Lucca, 2024 marks an important anniversary: 50 years since the sending of its first fidei donum to Rwanda and in Brazil
Among them was Fr. Luigi Pieretti, born in 1945 and originally from Marlia, who spent 40 years of his life in Brazil, in the state of Acre and the diocese of Rio Branco.
The missionary vocation
“To find the beginnings of my missionary vocation, I have to go back to the seminary years of my diocese of Lucca, when I attended elementary and middle school,” the priest recounts in a long diary about his missionary experience.
“During those years of formation, we had many meetings with missionaries from Africa, Asia (China and Japan) and Latin America.” Proving that mission is infectious and that the call, while coming from God, is also due to people’s testimonies and experiences.
Pieretti, a seminarian and still a boy at the time, thought that “the missionary vocation was very difficult and for courageous priests.” He was convinced it was not for him.
The thrust of the Second Vatican Council
But the Second Vatican Council later swept away all insecurity and fear: “it encouraged us to open ourselves to the world, to missions, to the poor and to evangelization.”
In particular, he had been “struck by the spirituality of Charles de Foucauld, characterized by contemplation and insertion among the poor.” In fact, before becoming a deacon, he chose to spend a month in the community of Spello (Italy) together with the “Little Brothers of Jesus” and Brother Charles Carretto.
Another charism that impacted Fr. Luigi’s life was that of the “Worker Fathers” movement, born in France after World War II and represented in the diocese of Lucca by Fathers Sirio Politi and Rolando Menesini.
“They lived the priesthood as workers and participated in the daily life, struggles, dreams and demands of the working class, witnessing their faith in Christ,” he explains.
“Inspired by them, I spent my three years of theology doing a month of manual labor in two wooden Christmas object factories in Bagni di Lucca and a month in France with the ‘Builder Friends.’
And then during my time as a deacon I worked in a shoe factory, living with a priest in a small mountain parish, to better understand the problems of the workers.”
The beginnings of the priesthood
Finally, ordained priest in 1971, he worked as vicar for seven years in the parish of Torre del Lago, about 20 kilometers from Lucca. Until 1979, when he left on a mission to Rio Branco.
Source and image
- Fr. Luigi Pieretti