by Tamara Pastorelli
On 3 October, Violetta Sartori, one of Chiara Lubich’s first companions, turned 100. Her birthday party was an opportunity to learn about her adventurous life, spent travelling from one continent to another for the Gospel.
‘Love! Each one of you, love, love, love always. It’s worth it! The rest passes. I pray for all of you, that you may be faithful to God. That is what remains!’ This is how Violetta Sartori thanked those present at her birthday party on Saturday, 4 October, in the Auditorium of Loppiano. Her words were received as a distillation of life and truth, considering that the person who uttered them had just turned 100. Together with the citizens of Loppiano, about twenty relatives, including sisters, nieces and great-nieces, were also there to celebrate with her. Bishop Stefano Manetti and the mayor of Figline and Incisa Valdarno, Valerio Pianigiani, also arrived to offer their best wishes. Margaret Karram, president of the Focolare Movement, sent a video message, while Pope Leo XIV sent a special blessing for her. Thus, the afternoon of celebration was also an opportunity to discover the story of her adventurous life.
The rediscovery of the Gospel
Born on 3 October 1925 in Rovereto, in the province of Trento, Violetta was the eldest daughter of Teresa Donini and Luigi Sartori. Her father was a carpenter who made high-quality furniture. In poor health and suffering from asthma, after a particularly severe attack, her family doctor predicted that she had only a few days to live. However, Someone clearly had other plans.
After the war, attracted by ‘those people who lived the Gospel like the first Christians’, she attended a meeting with Chiara Lubich and her companions. ‘I thought I was a Christian, but I realised that something was missing,’ she admits, ‘because I was not living the Gospel at all.’ She adds: ‘I remember Chiara saying that we carry within us an immense and precious treasure, worth all the blood of a God made man, and we do not consider it; we are rich and yet we live as if we were poor.’ Enlightened by those meetings and by the proposal of a life based on the Gospel and mutual love, Violetta felt the call to give herself to God in the Focolare. Soon, two of her sisters, Dina and Maria Grazia, followed her.
In Brazil
In 1959, Violetta arrived in Brazil. She was part of a small group of focolarine and focolarini who, together with Ginetta Calliari and Marco Tecilla, founded the first focolare in Recife. She recounts: “It was the first trip we made to the continents: a real adventure, an important moment in our early life. We were all happy, we had a fire in our hearts. I remember Don Foresi saying to us: “Remember that you are carrying this treasure in clay pots”: we were those pots!”
Violetta spent 20 years in Brazil, devoting all her energy to the realisation of many projects. ‘The secret was to be of one heart and one soul, so that Jesus would always be among us.’ Little by little, the first communities of the Movement were born in Recife and São Paulo. Violetta forged bonds that are still strong today: many Brazilians passing through Italy stop to visit her in Loppiano or send messages, phone calls and prayers.
In an original game of reciprocity, the Brazilian climate cured her asthma and strengthened her health.
25 years on the African continent
In 1983, Violetta left São Paulo and was sent to Africa. Here, she spared no effort. With her irrepressible enthusiasm and unshakeable faith, she won over many, from the poorest to the richest and most powerful, who could not deny her help and support. Until 1997, she was in Kenya. In 1992, she welcomed Chiara Lubich to Nairobi and participated in the foundation of the Mariapolis Piero.
She was the driving force behind many initiatives in South Africa (1997-2002) and Angola (2002-2009). Her energy seemed inexhaustible, even when she was suffering from malaria.
‘In the 25 years I spent in Africa,’ she recalls, ‘I can say that I also met martyrs. In Burundi, Monsignor Joachim Ruhuna, Archbishop of Gitega, was assassinated on 9 September 1996. Before he died, he testified that he would give his life for his people, offering himself as a ransom for the end of the war.’
In Loppiano
Loppiano, where she never shied away from sharing her experience with visiting groups. In 2018, she also had the opportunity to greet Pope Francis at the end of his visit to the little town. She had prepared a nice speech to give him, but the pontiff threw her off guard. Curious to know the secret of her longevity and energy, he asked her, ‘What do you eat?’.
Today, Violetta is almost blind due to glaucoma inherited from her father and never treated when she lived in Africa.
But the weight of the years has not dampened her spirit, as her family testified during the party: “Every week she calls her sisters and grandchildren. She asks about everyone’s news. She never fails to remember everyone in her prayers. She transmits so much strength to us. For us, her family, Violetta is an example of faith lived not only in works but, above all, in the indissolubility of her own being, like a vital breath. Happy 100th birthday, Aunt Violetta!”
