When he arrived in the neighborhood, the faithful were accustomed to participating in the placed inside a garage.
An unlikely situation for a man who arrived from Northern Italy with a great desire to do. Unlikely especially for Sevenvillea Guidonia Montecelio district on the border with Rome Capital.
Don Gino Tedoldi passed away tonight at the age of 78
If today the former village has a parish complex worthy of the name and a patronal festival capable of attracting thousands and thousands of visitors from Rome and its province, it is thanks to Don Gino Tedoldi.
The historic parish priest of Santa Maria a Setteville passed away last night in his apartment in via Ludovico Muratori, inside that parish complex inaugurated on January 1, 2000 in the presence of Cardinal Camillo Ruiniat the time Pope Wojtyla’s Vicar for the Diocese of Rome.
Don Gino had 78 years old, 28 of which were spent in Setteville.
Born on 29 April 1946 in Cà d’Andrea in the province of Cremonaafter his studies Luigi (this is his real name, ed.) Tedoldi taught Ancient Letters to Bresciathe place of his conversion to a mature faith.
Having entered the Neocatechumenal Way, he was a missionary and, only on 18 October 1989, was he ordained a priest. Sent to North America, he founded the Redemptoris Mater seminary in Newark (New Jersey). Fatigued by heart problems and returning to Italy, in March 1996 Cardinal Camillo Ruini assigned him the parish of Santa Maria, a parish on the outskirts “to remain calm”.
The Lombard priest was called to replace Don Carlo Imarisiowho passed away on 28 September 1995, a well-liked priest who arrived in Setteville in October 1969 together with Don Giancarlo Casalone, members of a Piedmontese congregation originally from Casalmonferrato.
It was Don Carlo who took the first steps for the new church to be built in place of that sort of temporary garage in Piazza Trilussa.
But the construction of a new place of worship, for various reasons, especially economic, was not an easy undertaking, much less a hasty one.
Don Gino under the bell tower of the church of Santa Maria inaugurated on January 1, 2000
Since 1996, Don Gino was quick to realize that there was a lack of living spaces while the faithful increased and that commercial space in the central Piazza Trilussa was no longer sufficient.
In 1998 the Lombard parish priest found the ground and began the worksite. But an obstacle immediately presented itself, when it was almost 3 meters below ground level the ancient via Tiburtina Cornicolana was rediscovered.
In similar cases in Rome other churches suspended work for a few years.
At that point, Don Gino confronted theSetteville archaeologist Eugenio Moscetti and within a month, together, they found the solution: the road was safeguarded and is still visible today crypt-museum beneath the churchin which the first mass was celebrated on Christmas night 1999, the beginning of the Jubilee.
An overview of the Setteville Regional Cuisine Festival
The name of Don Gino Tedoldi is linked to “Regional Cuisine Festival”the event created by the priest in 1998 to aggregate a community made up of people from all parts of Italy.
Don Gino Tedoldi in the center together with the members of the organizing committee of the festival
The idea was a winning one: setting up stands with typical dishes and products imported by the inhabitants of Setteville on their return from their August holidays in their respective cities of origin.
It was immediately a successful event that still continues today in the month of September brings Setteville back to the center of the hinterland.
On January 15, 2017, Pope Francis visits the parish of Santa Maria in Setteville
Don Gino Tedoldi together with Cardinal Agostino Vallini upon the arrival of the Holy Father
The Lombard priest brought Setteville back to national prominence January 15, 2017when he invited him to the parish Pope francescothe Bishop of Rome, to visit his deputy parish priest, Don Giuseppe Berardinosuffering from 2015 Sla and reduced to a vegetative state.
Don Giuseppe Berardino, the late deputy parish priest of Santa Maria in Setteville
On 15 January 2017 at least 2 thousand faithful flocked to Setteville to see the Pope
Almost 2 thousand people crowded inside and outside the church to greet Pope Bergoglio.
After giving comfort to Don Giuseppe, the Holy Father met a group of two hundred young people, one hundred and fifty guys from post confirmation group And fifty scoutsaged between 13 and 19, confessed directly four peoplea young man, a couple and a single man, met 42 pairs who had their children baptized by Don Gino in 2016.
In the 2021 Don Gino Tedoldi had left his post as parish priest for age limits have reached to Don Leo Torresbut he had decided to spend the last years of his life in the neighborhood he had loved and in which he was largely reciprocated.
His death was remembered this morning on Facebook group “You are from Setteville if…”.
On the other hand, in 28 years he has extended and supported groups, ecclesial associations, help and support for needy families and the sick, he began the Neocatechumenal path which today has 7 communities, he started the experiment of a new post-confirmation for children aged 13 to 19 which today numbers 130 young people with a number of collaborators and animators equal to 40 units.
Those who knew him well, such as the lawyer Michele Venturiello, say that Don Gino was characterized by a lively, effective and true preaching of faith in Jesus Christ, certainly not politically correct, but very faithful to the tradition and doctrine of the Church which it has always claimed to be the engine of civilization and authentic progress for men and women of all times and today in particular.
“Don Gino was an extraordinary spiritual guide, always ready to help anyone who needed it – we read in the post of a parishioner on the Group “You are from Setteville if…” – His dedication, his kindness and his tireless commitment to doing good leave an indelible mark on our community and on the hearts of all of us.
May he rest in peace and may his spirit continue to illuminate our path.”.
