Mission
“Apalongor”, which means, “bull of an ash-grey colour.”
r. Mario Mantovani was born at Orzinuovi, in Brescia on 18th December 1919. He was ordained a priest in 1946. After 11 years of service in Italy, in 1957, he left for Uganda. He remained in Karamoja until his tragic death on the eve of the feast of Assumption, 14th August 2003. He gave his missionary service in the missions of Morulem (1957-1958), Kaabong (1958-1960, 1982-1983), Nabilatuk (1960-1965), Losilang (Kotido) (1966-1970), Karenga (1970-1974, 1978-1981, and 1983-1985), Kanawat (1974-1976), Matany (1976-1978), Naoi (1986-1995), Loyoro (1996-2002), Kapedo (2002-2003).
Fr. Mario was nicknamed by the Karimojong “Apalongor”, which means, “bull of an ash-grey colour.” Fr. Mario was a kind, friendly, generous, zealous and human man. He was also an excellent cook. He was a man of prayer, always available and very understanding. Lately at Kapedo, he had a good relationship, based on trust and respect, with Bro. Godfrey Kiryowa – who would be killed together with him.
Fr. Mario knew well the Karimojong language. He had written three grammars and a study on the verbs of Ngakarimojong, and was very happy to teach the language to newcomers. His enthusiasm to express love for Jesus Christ must have seemed strange to them. He shared tobacco [etaba] with the Karimojong.
Fr. Mario was never discouraged by the difficulty of working among the Karimojong. He always had a source of encouragement and of hope to the young missionaries of Karamoja. He was always available whenever he was needed, even though, humanly speaking, he might not have been enthusiastic about it. Moreover, this is how he accepted his last assignment: the mission of Kapedo. At his age, that mission appeared to him to be a bit far away. He had discreetly expressed his desire to be assigned nearer, eventually, to the main center of the region Kotido town. In any case, he humbly and courageously accepted also this last challenge.
Fr. Mario was working in Kapedo, an area bordering with Toposa (S. Sudan). Here lived among the Dodos people, where now is established the new district of Kaabong. Southwards, of the existing Kotido district live the Jie people, a tribe traditionally clashing with the Dodos over pasture land for their cattle.
Fr. Mario had been at Kanawat (near Kotido), for the last three weeks the only mission among the Jie where the Combonies were working, to recover from typhoid fever, Bro. Godfrey had gone to fetch him from Kapedo on 14th August. They left Kanawat at 9 a.m. In Lobel (Kopos area), which lies on the border between the Dodos and the Jie, there were over 300 warriors armed with guns roaming about, as there had been a cattle raid carried out by the Dodos together with some Sudanese. It seems that the Dodos had been unsuccessful in the raid. Joseph Nakwa who was the head catechist of Kapedo at the time of the murder of both Combonies observes that the Jie failed to raid the Dodos and so, annoyed by their unsuccessful venture started shooting at all vehicles, which were moving from Kotido towards Kaabong.
Around 10 a.m., our two confreres were driving through Lobel area when a group of Dodos in retreat shot at the driver, Bro. Godfrey, who died instantly. A young man who was in the car with them managed to control the vehicle until it stopped. He then smashed the car window and escaped, leaving Fr. Mario in the car still alive. Fr. Mario got out of the car in the hope of getting away and hiding in the bush.
Fr. Chris Aleti, the only Comboni Missionary then at Kanawat, on the evening of the same day sent out a radio message to Kapedo to know whether the two confreres had arrived. When he heard that they had not yet arrived, he informed the police, but these told him that it was not prudent to search for them at night. The following day, 15th August, Fr. Chris set off, following the road taken by the two confreres. He found the car with the body of Bro. Godfrey and brought it back to the mission of Kanawat.
There was no trace of Fr. Mario. Accompanied by an escort of soldiers, Fr. Chris set off to search for him. From the place of the ambush, they followed the marks left by small boots that looked like those of Fr. Mario, in the hope of finding him. Instead, these tracks led them to the hut of the suspected killer who seemed to have shot him and put on his boots. Shortly afterwards, they found the body of Fr. Mario riddled with bullets.
The suspected killer was imprisoned in Kotido’s police station, but a few days later, while trying to escape, he was shot dead. Fr. Mario was buried next to the church of Kanawat. On 19th August, Fr. Guido Oliana, the provincial of Uganda and on holiday in Italy (waiting for the start of our XVI General Chapter), presided over the funeral Mass at Orzinuovi, Fr. Mario’s hometown and where he was well known.
Fr. Guido thus explained the meaning of Fr. Mario’s death: “In the faith today, we have to celebrate Fr. Mario’s evangelizing victory in Christ. He could not have concluded his mission among the Karimojong in a more meaningful manner.” The readings used in the service were an excellent commentary to the evangelical and missionary meaning of Fr. Mario’s death: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulations, anxieties, persecutions, lack of food or clothes, danger, the sword – and we could add – ‘the gun’? In all this, we are more than winners by virtue of him who loved us.” Fr. Mario shares in Christ’s victory. Let us hope and pray that the blood he has shed will produce fruits in the difficult task of evangelizing Karamoja.
The Karimojong culture believes in sacrifices, so much so that, before setting off on a cattle raid, the Karimojong offer a head of cattle in sacrifice and, occasionally, even a human sacrifice. In the light of faith and of the Gospel, now it will be the sacrifice of Fr. Mario who will earn the Karimojong not heads of cattle, but their allegiance to Christ and to the Church. With the killing of Fr. Mario and of Bro. Godfrey, the number of Comboni Missionaries who have shed their blood in Uganda has risen to 13.
During the closing days of the 2000 Intercapitular Assembly, Fr. Raffaele Di Bari, another Comboni Missionary in Uganda, was shot and burned to death at Pajule (Acholi land). Now, at the start of the XVI General Chapter, Fr. Mario Mantovani and Bro. Godfrey Kiryowa have been killed at Kopos. I think the Lord by this event wants to send us a message about the true Comboni missionary spirituality. (Fr. Guido Oliana)
On the hundred (100) years of his birth, I want to point out his love for the Karimojong people, for their Language and Culture. I also take this opportunity to correct the meaning of his bull-ox name – Apalongor (brown–soiled colour/dirty from engoryana–he is dirty); to APALONGOR, the owner of the ox/bull of dirty, brownish colour.
