By mudir 
In Memory of Fr. Cosimo
By Fr. Diego Carbonare
28/5/1941 Born in Molfetta. Dad: Michele; Mum: Susanna Tatulli; one brother: Nicola. Baptised “Cosmo Vittorio”, which at the time ensured a modest help from the government (Vittorio being the name of the king)
1960-1962 Novitiate in Gozzano
9/9/62 First Vows
1962-1966 Scholasticate in Venegono: from September 1962 to June 1966
28/6/66 Priestly Ordination
1966-1968 Zahle, Lebanon, to study Arabic
1968-1982 El Obeid: pastoral work
1982-1984 Licence in Sacred Scripture, Rome
1984-1986 El Obeid, bishop’s house: pastoral work
1986-2001 Sakakini. Teaching. Superior from 1994-2001
2001-2002 sabbatical in the Philippines, then few months in Kenya
2003-2005 Messina, Missionary Animation
2006-2007 Teacher in Dar Comboni
2007-2009 Teacher in Sakakini
2008-2010 Delegation Superior Egypt. Has a car accident on 8/3/10, fortunately he just breaks an ankle
2010-2017 Sakakini, pastoral and teaching in the Seminary
2018-2025 Castel d’Azzano
Fr. Cosimo was first and foremost a missionary who loved Sudan. For those of us who have known him in Egypt, his memories of the years spent in Sudan would always bring up a special light in his eyes. After many decades, he would remember with a laughter the times when in El Obeid he familiarized with street children, to the point of going around with them and learning from them some tricks by which – for lack of food – they would steal an apple or a mango in the market. He also remembered as the best days he had ever spent in Sudan a trip of three weeks he did with some nomads in the desert, over the border of Kassala into Eritrea; the night starry sky of the desert left a fond memory in his heart. To put it in the words of pope Francis, Fr. Cosimo was a shepherd that carried the smell of his flock. His special love for Sudan was evident to us his confreres who never heard him speak badly of the Sudanese; he would complain at times of confreres, and maybe even bishops and superiors, but never, never we heard him say a discouraging word about the Sudanese. For them, he would always look at the half of the cup that is full.
Fr. Cosimo was a man in love with the Word of God. The sabbatical he took in the Philippines and the Lumko workshops he attended in Kenya left a deep mark in his pastoral work and his spirituality. Really, in Fr. Cosimo the words “your word is a lamp to my steps” (Ps 119:105) were a reality. In the many years he taught in the seminary in Maadi and the Religious Science institute in Sakakini, many of his students have been touched by his passion for the Word of God, a passion that is a living relationship, which is so much more than just learning notions about the Bible.
Fr. Cosimo believed deeply in dialogue between religions. In his passion for this, he also entered into a difficult tension with bishop Paolino Lokodu in El Obeid in his first years of mission in the 80’s. He was also a man of dialogue between Churches and between rites. His very good mastery of Arabic language allowed him to relate easily with people of all backgrounds and beliefs. He is remembered as one of the main players in the opening and establishment of Dar Comboni. He was also a gifted missionary animator, often preaching in Upper Egypt in different occasions, such as when he preached to the youth in Girga, for the twenty-five years of priesthood of late Fr. Thomas Riad. He was a man of listening and of hospitality, always making sure that visitors and friends were taken care of.
Fr. Cosimo will be remembered for his simplicity. At times his simplicity put him at odds with the bishop in El Obeid who insisted on the necessity for priests to dress formally. Confreres who knew him as a Delegation Superior were touched by the humility by which he would deal with all, brotherly. When asked by strangers whether he was “father Cosimo”, he would usually smile and answer “I’d rather say that I am son, more than father”.
In the words of bishop Claudio Lurati, Fr. Cosimo was nothing less than the first one who opened the doors of a catholic parish in Egypt to the Sudanese refugees; no one else did it before him. Among other things, parishoners remember him for starting the following:
- The African Christian Student Associationo (ACSA)
- The “mahabba” group, to visit the sick
- The Bakhita group
- The “Christian Training Centre” (CTC, which people called “Cosimo Training Centre”), to teach tailoring
- The first parish council
- The first computer lab in the parish
- St. Charles Lwanga Primary and Fr. Philip Sina Secondary
- The opening of St. Bakhita centre in Arba w Nus, which is now celebrating 25 years and counts more parishioners than the main church of Sakakini
- He sponsored Sudanese students who studied abroad
- He encouraged the vocations of religious Sudanese, also among the Franciscans
Fr. Cosimo passed away in Verona after suffering from Alzheimer disease for some years; in the last weeks, a respiratory infection made him weaker and weaker. He left us on the eve of the Good Shepherd’s Sunday, he himself being an image of the one who lays down his life for his flock, and does so with a smile.