{"id":2730,"date":"2020-06-18T12:55:12","date_gmt":"2020-06-18T17:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.org\/?p=2730"},"modified":"2021-01-26T12:36:02","modified_gmt":"2021-01-26T17:36:02","slug":"supreme-witness-father-alfredo-de-lai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.org\/supreme-witness-father-alfredo-de-lai\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Witness: Father Alfredo De Lai"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Cross is part and parcel of every Christian vocation. For each Christian, the sharing in the Cross of Christ takes on a different form. For some, the identification with Christ\u2019s sufferings reaches the point of giving their lives as in the case of those Comboni Missionaries who wished to remain faithful to their missionary vocation \u2018until death\u2019 as taught by their Father and Founder, St. Daniel Comboni.<\/span><\/h5>\n
The following excerpt is from Supreme Witness: Comboni Missionaries Killed in the Line of Duty, <\/em>an account of the lives of 25 Comboni Missionary priests, brothers, and sisters who died in the service of the Gospel in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Brazil and Mexico. You can find the book online<\/span> here<\/a><\/span>.<\/h5>\n
\n

Father Alfredo De Lai – always smiling<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It was in the small town of Borgo, in the Valsugana Valley in the North of Italy, that Alfredo was born on September 30, 1913. From his childhood Alfred was known for the constant soft smile on his face and his gentle personality. His mother raised no objections when her son chose to enter the Junior Seminary of the Comboni Missionaries in Trento. From there he went to Brescia for his secondary education and then to the Novitiate in Venegono in the Province of Varese where, on October 7, 1932, he took his First Vows as a Comboni Missionary. He studied theology in Verona and, on July 10, 1938, was ordained a priest there. Less than a year later, on January 3, 1939, he left for Ethiopia.<\/span><\/p>\n

A life of witness<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Comboni Missionaries had arrived in Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, towards the end of 1935 as Military Chaplains to the Italian troops stationed there. This was part of the compulsory \u2018Military Service\u2019 in Italy at the time. Father Alfredo joined his Confr\u00e8res attached to the Army Camp in Socot\u00e0. From the start, he felt very uneasy in his role as a Military Chaplain and wrote to his Superiors, \u201cIs it right that we, messengers of the Gospel, apostles of peace and ministers of forgiveness should be together with people bearing arms who, willing or not, have come to usurp a land which is not theirs? Is our life a witness or a counter-witness to what we preach?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With his Confr\u00e8res, he decided to draw a clear distinction for the local people between the \u2018cross\u2019 on the one hand and the \u2018sword\u2019 on the other and they decided to build a small house of their own, at some distance from the fort where the Army were billeted. Their dwelling was a simple structure, four metres square, made of timber and covered with iron sheets. Without help from the Army, the life of the Missionaries was not easy, but they made do. Some months later, Father Alfredo wrote, \u201cThe people understand that we have nothing to do with arms and military force, and that we do our best to share their lot in life.\u201d With the arrival of a Missionary Brother, they built a house of mud and stones. They also started a small garden and built a hen-house. In the meantime, Father Alfredo was learning the local language, Amharic, and giving catechism lessons to local children and young adults preparing to receive the Sacraments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Resist to the last man or surrender?<\/strong><\/span>
\nItalian dictator Benito Mussolini had Italy join the Second World War as one of the \u2018Axis Powers\u2019 on June 10, 1940, after France had surrendered to Nazi Germany, with a plan to concentrate Italian forces on a major offensive against the British Empire in Africa and in the Middle East. The expected collapse of Britain, however, did not materialize. German and Japanese actions in 1941 led to the entry of the United States and Russia in the War. Mussolini\u2019s plan lay in ruins. In January 1941 British Forces, assisted by Indian, South African, Sudanese and Ethiopian soldiers, invaded Italian East Africa (Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somaliland) in a three-pronged attack from the Sudan, Kenya and Aden. The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa fell in April 1941, and the stronghold of Amba Alagi would fall the following month with the surrender of Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who was the Viceroy of Italian East Africa. British, Sudanese and Ethiopian troops reached Socot\u00e0 on April 25, 1941.<\/span><\/p>\n

With enemy troops massing around the town and just thirty soldiers under his command, the Italian Captain ordered the Missionaries into the fort in anticipation of a British-led attack. The following morning, after consulting the Missionaries, the Captain decided there was nothing to do but surrender. Any resistance would have only led to the pointless shedding of blood on both sides. He therefore went to the British Commander to discuss terms and in the interim ordered that all the ammunition in the fort be blown up and the heavy machine guns be put out of action. While the Captain was discussing terms with the British, some of his soldiers arrived with the news that orders had been received from the Italian High Command in Amba Alagi that they were to resist to the last man as Italian troops had done elsewhere. Realizing that, without heavy arms or ammunition, resistance would have been simply suicidal, the Captain made an agreement with the British Commander: a number of Sudanese and Ethiopian soldiers would be sent forward and, after a symbolic exchange of fire, the Italians would raise a white flag and surrender.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor God\u2019s sake, stop the killing!\u201d<\/strong><\/span>
\nAt around 12:30 a.m., after an hour of both sides firing in the air, the Italian soldiers laid down their arms and surrendered. That was meant to put an end to the shooting but something went wrong. Upon entering the fort the Sudanese and Ethiopian troops began to attack and kill the unarmed Italian soldiers and set fire to the buildings. Seeing a massacre taking place before his very eyes, Father Alfredo, with a crucifix in his hand, rushed to the Sudanese and Ethiopian troops shouting, \u201cFor God\u2019s sake, stop the killing!\u201d One of the soldiers snatched the crucifix from Father Alfred\u2019s hand and shot him three times at close range with a handgun. Mortally wounded, Father Alfredo fell to the ground. It was Saturday, April 26,1941. He was only twenty-eight years of age and was the first Comboni Missionary to die violently and needlessly on African soil.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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