Fratel Ettore

I would like to share what exactly is on my heart at this moment, in the belief that what is most personal often speaks to a wider audience. For days now two apparently separate reflections have been dominating my thoughts. Recently I was deeply moved by the deaths, almost on top of one another, of Bro. Ettore Boschini and Fr. Giannino Martignoni, two people whom I was proud and privileged to number among my friends: two real genuine and exceptional Camillian religious

Giannino and Ettore: could one think of two religious more totally different! Why even their departure from this world was so different. Both had been ailing for some time, but while Ettore’s death was expected, Giannino’s took us all by surprise. Ettore had a simple uncomplicated faith, while Giannino was more given to deep theological reflections. Neither was ever lost for a word or an opinion, but one agrued from an acute historical perspective, manifesting a profound culture and great love of language, while the other was more emotive, simple, and impulsively reactive to given situations. Both were deeply spiritual and yet so different in their external manifestations: I could never imagine Giannino carrying a statue of Our Lady through the streets of Milan or indeed anywhere else he might go, while the same statue was almost an extension of Ettore; nor could I imagine Ettore mesmerising me with the Divine as seen through the eyes of poets as would happen with Giannino in full flight. Giannino always had a book, an article and a cigarette close at hand, while with Ettore it was more likely to be a rosary or some unfortunate down and out. Giannino was in his lifetime a legend for his well informed and scholarly interventions at Provincial and General Chapters (perhaps too many), while Ettore was a living legend for his work for the poorest of the poor and the marginalized. And yet these two men were very close friends, a friendship based on great respect for one another. I never attended any function of minor or major importance in Ettore’s facilities without encountering Giannino there in support and as a sign of encouragement. They could challenge one another, listen to one another, disagree with one another and still remain good friends. They were living examples for us of how God needs and uses different instruments for promoting His Kingdom, and that is precisely what both of them did: promote His Kingdom. They were a great advertisement for the two lungs of the Order: both were first and foremost religious, one of whom happened to be a brother while the other was a priest. They showed us the human face of sanctity, something which is so often missing when we remember or talk of the dead, or indeed of Christ Himself.

Omelia del Cardinale Dionigi Tettamanzi, arcivescovo di Milano, per le esequie di fratel Ettore (pdf)