THE AUSTRALIAN CAPUCHIN Provincial Newsletter: PO Box 604 Leichhardt 2040 Sydney NSW. Province of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. E-Mail: provincial@capuchinfriars.org.au TAC is prepared by John Cooper OFM Cap, and sent in draft form to the Provincial Minister for approval. It is then distributed to the friars of the province. It is a valuable chronicle and archive resource having been begun in 1971.

Vol. 45 No. 1. January/ February 2016

Gathering Pictures for a Life of Father Atanasio Gonelli OFM Cap

(Born: 11th January 1923 – Died: 26th February 2012)

Among the many interesting items in Fr Atanasio’s room when he died were a horde of pictures. Some of these have been put together here to form a brief pictorial essay on his life.

He was baptised “Luigi” by his parents Prospero and Ida Gonelli in the Parish church of Montale, just down the road from the tiny mountain village of Cattognano, in the Diocese of Pontremoli. By the age of 12 he had decided he wanted to be a priest and so he went off to the diocesan minor seminary.

Then one holiday break from the seminary, back home in his village, a visiting Capuchin preacher simply asked him if he would like to become a Capuchin Friar. A wider vision of the Church opened up for him and he decided to go to the Capuchin Seraphic College of “San Giuseppe da Leonessa, for the Foreign Missions” at Scandiano.

The picture above show relatives of Fr Atanasio outside the Gonelli home in the village of Cattognano with the mountains across the valley behind them. The second picture shows the view of their village of Cattognano from across the other side of the valley. As you drive up the winding road to Cattognano you eventually come to the village wall with a small parking space before it. This picture below shows the walkway into the village, from the inside looking out. It is a complicated gateway in the front wall that blocks all traffic into the village. The Gonelli family had a stable that was part of this wall as well as the family home higher up in the village.

Fr Atanasio was 16 when he entered the Capuchin novitiate on the 2nd of September 1939.

Italy did not enter the Second World War until the 10th of June 1940.

Luigi Gonelli was simply professed on the 8th of September 1940, at Fidenza.

This photo has Prospero Gonelli with son Luigi (Atanasio) at his left and Osvaldo Fiorentini on his right. Delfo Fiorentini is in front of Prospero and Luigi. The younger boy to Delfo’s right is unknown. Prospero’s sister married a Fiorentini so these boys are most probably cousins. The picture is a Cartolina Postale. It was probably taken just before Prospero Gonelli left Italy in 1938 to find work in Australia in the state of Victoria. Atanasio would have been 15 years old. Prospero worked at various labouring jobs and then was fortunate enough to get a job at the Allen’s lolly factory. Founded in the 1890s, by Alfred Weaver Allen it became the largest confectionery company in Australia. Prospero worked at the factory until he retired. Allens was sold in 1985 to Rothmans and later sold again to Nestlé. Their top selling lolly - “Its moments like these. You need Minties!” In 2015 they discontinued “Green Frogs”.

Carlo Maloni the maternal grandfather of Fr Atanasio had previously been to Shepparton in Victoria in 1887 and although Ida Maloni, Fr Atanasio’s mother had been born in Italy in 1899, she went with her parents Carlo & Isolina Maloni to Victoria in Australia in 1903. Ida’s sister Ennie in her mother’s arms in this picture was born in 1903 in Murchison and they lived at Nagambie 120 km north of Melbourne. However, the Maloni family had later returned back to Cattognano in Italy.

In this picture, taken at Nagambie in Victoria, on the 11th December 1904. Ida Maloni, Atanasio’s mother is the little girl with the parasol at her mother’s left arm.

Into this picture a young man has been cut from another picture and added into the back-ground. It would seem to be “Angelo Maloni” the maternal uncle of Fr Atanasio.

Ordination photo: Fr Atanasio is 2nd from the left . The Chalice is almost invisible.

Fr Atanasio was perpetually professed on the 8th of December 1943. He was ordained a priest on the 1st of March 1947 at Minozzo (Reggio Emilia). Fr Atanasio’s father did not come back to Italy for his son’s ordination and Atanasio’s mother and his brothers soon after his ordination also moved to Australia to join Prospero.

The fact that Fr Atanasio’s parents came to live in Australia before he was sent here and were later buried here was a unique situation among all the Capuchin friars who came as missionaries to Australia. The roots of the Gonelli family tree are buried like so many migrant families, in this country. As we can see from their tombstones Prospero died in 1965 at age 73 and Ida died in 1973. She was 74.

After his ordination to the priesthood in 1947, Fr Atanasio took up ministry in the Parma province of the Capuchin Order, first as a sacristan and then as a chaplain in the polyclinic hospital in Modena. It was a time of great unrest as Europe tried to rebuild after the war.

Because the Capuchin friars of the Parma province had opened a mission in the Central African Republic and needed friars for that mission, there was every chance that Fr Atanasio would have been sent to Africa. However the Parma province was also asked by the Minister General to assist the friars from the Capuchin Province of Tuscany in caring for Italian immigrants pouring into Australia and in ultimately founding the Capuchin Order in this country.

At that time a small group of friars from the Province of Tuscany, who were in the process of founding the New Jersey Province in the USA, also generously sent some friars to Australia. So the Capuchin Order in Australia was founded by the friars from New Jersey/Tuscany in 1945 arriving in Brisbane on the 13th of October and being immediately given the parish of Wynnum. These friars also took up the Parish of Leichhardt on the 5th of November 1946 and were welcomed to the parish at the 11:00am Mass on the 11th of November 1946. The first Capuchin parish priest of Leichhardt was Fr Anastase Paoletti. His name is often confused with that of “Athanase” since to some people they sound similar. This is one of the reason for the more Italian “Atanasio” now in popular use. In 1948 Fr Anastase Paoletti became Superior Regular of the Capuchin Mission for the next 12 years.

This picture was taken just before they left Parma. From the top left: Filippo Magni, Atanasio, unknown, Paul Bazzoli, Br Zaccaria Draghi, unknown, unknown. Under obedience, they left Italy in the winter of December 1949 on board the ship SS Giovanni Cabotto and arrived in Sydney after almost two months at sea in the summer of 1950, on January 28th. It was a Saturday and Fr Atanasio would have celebrated his birthday two weeks later. He was 27 years old.

It is important to understand, in terms of the Italian Migrant ministry, that 1950 to 1951 were the historical moment of the highest numbers of

Italian migrations to Australia. Those two years set the bench mark for the greatest number of arrivals. This has only been exceeded, surprisingly enough in 2012–2013 in which 20,000 Italians arrived in Australia on temporary visas as thousands fled the economic hardship of Europe.

This picture of Fr Atanasio with a garden rake in his hand, reminds us that he planted the large oak tree in the back garden of the friary at Leichhardt. Since oak trees do not have acorns for the first 50 years he must have planted it in almost in the year he arrived in Sydney 1950.

Fr Atanasio was also a physical worker and the next picture of him in his working overalls with spots of paint all over it and his odd sailors cap is also a valid picture of this man’s ability to work with his hands. He maintained the rather famous, in its day, Christmas Crib at Leichhardt often climbing into it, over it, and behind it to fix something that was broken or to improve it in some way. At the same time he often fixed windows, doors, locks and of course he painted things. The proof of his skills as a maintenance man, were the tool box in his room and various old locks, hinges,

bottles of screws etc. It was this down to earth approach to getting things done that endeared the Capuchins to the people. They may have indeed been priests and brothers but they were also quite capable of getting down to it physically with others to get the job done.

The demands of the migrant apostolate were intense. People began lining up to see a priest early in the morning, during lunch time and well into the night. Usually there was an Italian Mass in the evening at Leichhardt or elsewhere. After the Mass there were meetings to attend and people to see. This ministry put a great deal of pressure on regular observance of religious life in the friary. To accommodate this situation Evening Prayer was celebrated at 4:00pm for many years. But it always finished with the friars saying the Rosary together and the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prayer time was made more difficult because the friars lived in or had offices in up to four different houses at Leichhardt until the New Friary was built in 1982.

Just a few weeks after his arrival in Sydney Fr Atanasio began a new association: Azione Cattolica Italiana San Francesco. At the same time he began the San Francesco Soccer Team. Shortly afterwards the need emerged to set up a meeting place where the new arrivals could enjoy Italian cooking. Within a short time the Ristorante al Chianti opened in 444 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. Sometimes Fr Atanasio was taken to the markets to buy the fruit and vegetables for the restaurant. Father Atanasio not only guided spiritual, social and culinary activities, but also promoted cultural activity, because every Sunday after the various meetings he presented Italian films at Cusa House. These were much appreciated by everyone. The number of young people involved in the various activities of the association ranged between three and four hundred members.

Fr Atanasio served in Sydney 1950 - 1954. He was then sent to Melbourne and back to Sydney again. On the 16th of February 1957 he was transferred to Adelaide where he became superior. However, although he was in Melbourne and later in Adelaide he always returned to Sydney briefly where he responsible for recording some radio programmes on 2SM and to assist with La Fiamma.

The arrival of the statue of Saint Pope Pius X in Adelaide 1958

It is from Adelaide that we have a few of our most interesting photographs that show Fr Atanasio in a playful mood. The picture above shows Fr Atanasio dressed up as a Pontifical Swiss Guard arresting Br Zaccaria by threatening him with a Halberd. The room looks like the back of the old church where the friars used to live. The picture to the side is upstairs in the friary at the back of the old church, with the mural on the life of Saint Francis on the wall which was later destroyed during the demolishing of the old church.

This photograph shows Fr Atanasio behind the old Church with the whole empty paddock behind him. The picture was set up because there is another like it of Br Zaccaria.

Coming back to Sydney in 1962 Fr Atanasio was stationed at Plumpton. From there he used to go to say Mass for the Italian workers building Warragamba Dam which was built between 1948 and 1960. THE FOLLOWING IS FROM: Giuseppe Fin at Fr Atanase’s Funeral: In 1964 Fr Atanasio began the first courses to teach our children Italian. Similar courses

began at the same time at Annandale, Brookvale, Liverpool and Blacktown where Italian was taught every Saturday for two hours. Other courses later began in other places. The real success of these courses began at the beginning of 1968 straight after the Australian visit of Giuseppe Saragat, the President of the Republic of Italy. He announced that the Italian Government had approved a law that Co.As.It. be formed internationally. Father Atanasio was the co-founder of the association created specifically to both assist the needy and teach students Italian. In 1966 he took up again the position of spiritual guide to the Azione

Cattolica Italiana San Francesco. There were between 180 and 200 members all under the age of twenty five. Some changes were decided at that time. The new Associazione Francescana was formed whose spiritual director was Father Felix de Candia. Azione Cattolica Italiana became the Associazione Cattolica Italiana San Francesco. The young men formed a new soccer team, the “Annandale Franciscan” which had to withdraw from competition after three years. The programme of this new association had three phases.

The first was to be a hall for the young people. The second was to build a kindergarten for the children of our immigrants. The third was to provide a place where our elderly could enjoy themselves together. The Saint Francis hall was built in 1968 for the young people next to St. Fiacre’s Church. In 1973 began the San Francesco kindergarten. In 1998 with the collaboration of Co.As.It., the President of the Republic of Italy, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, inaugurated “La Casa d’Italia Co.As.It., San Francesco”. The Associazione San Francesco contributed one million dollars Australian. The magnificent work done by Father Atanasio was recognized by the Italian

Government and in 1996 they conferred on him the title of Cavaliere all’Ordine del Merito della Repubblica Italiana.

Apart from attending to the activities of the Associazione San Francesco, of the Co.As.It., of the Italian language schools, of the La Fiamma, etc. Father Atanasio was also spiritual director to nearly all the other Italian associations, whether Saints’ committees or military, cultural or artistic associations. I am sure that all of you could testify to his involvement, his help and his assistance.

What to say about the moral, spiritual and material assistance for the thousands of Italians who turned to him for help. He always answered, “Yes! I will do my best.” I don’t know how he managed to please everyone. When I used to ask him this he’d say, “I don’t know! I am just a poor friar. Perhaps it is the Lord working through me.” He could never say “no.” Even at an advanced age he continued help without ever complaining. Even in the most dire situation when someone was terribly sick in hospital or dying. He would say: “But, what can you do; it is in the hands of God. All you can do is be there with a kind word.”

What can be said of his spiritual activity in the Church. How many

weddings, baptisms, funerals did he do. I am sure that among all of us present here, there would only be a few who would not have received his help or participated in the Holy Masses he celebrated?

Up to the very last moment Father Atanasio celebrated three Masses every Sunday: one at Saint Fiacre’s, one at Croydon and one at Concord West. Furthermore often he would celebrate Holy Mass for one or other Saint or Association… We used to ask

ourselves How does this elderly person manage to be so active? When does he ever rest? He had a special way of doing this, a vice, some might say. When he had finished all the liturgical functions of the day he would visit some family of close friends and they played cards together for a small wager for the grand sum of five cents a hand. I used to say to him, “To play for five cents a hand isn’t worth the effort.” He would answer, “Maybe not for you but for me it is a way to relax and have good rest.”

We should say many times, “Thank you, thank you, Father Atanasio for all the good you have done for us.

Dear Father Atanasio, I am certain - we are certain - that from heaven you will hear the voice of you people pleading still for your help. And we, in this valley of tears, have no doubt that you will plead with the good God to help all those who turn to you. End of Eulogy

* * * * *

“Qui e Padre Atanasio, oggi e la festa di Santa Catherina…” Here is

Father Atanasio, today is the feast of Saint Catherine… (Rete Italia)

“Ma, but what can you do;

It is in the hands of God.

All you can do is be there,

with a kind word!”

Fr Atanasio Gonelli OFM Cap

“Io sono un povero frate” I am simply a Capuchin friar.

I did nothing

extraordinary.