By Luca Tronchetti
The parish priest of Ponte San Pietro died Saturday at the age of 71. He has long been a missionary in Africa at the time of the Rwanda war.
LUCCA. He died at the San Luca hospital where he was hospitalized for a few days in the cardiology department, Giancarlo Bucchianeri , 71, from 2013 parish priest of Ponte San Pietro.
He was born in Carraia and ordained a priest in 1969 by the then Archbishop of Lucca, Monsignor Enrico Bartoletti . After his theological studies in Rome he was nominated parish priest at Fiano, but in 1975, when asked by the then bishop Giuliano Agresti to be transferred to a larger parish, he preferred an experience in the missions.
It chooses Africa, the continent that will mark its existence and where it will remain over 20 years at the service of the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed. In particular, he lends his priestly service, but also and above all socially, to Rwanda, one of the five poorest states in the world, who has been decimated by famine, famine and war. The Lucchese missionary actively participates in the construction of artesian wells and the construction of schools and small field hospitals, always putting themselves at the service of the communities so as to be known and esteemed throughout Rwanda.
In 1994, with the bloody civil war in progress, he risked his life to avoid a massacre in the village where he lends his work. Faced with armed guerrillas and ready to mow women and children, the priest stands before the gate of the mission and speaking perfectly the local language manages to get to the heart of the leaders of the uprising that desist from looting the village. It also ends up in the hands of Ugandan soldiers who threaten death with guns aimed at the head.
Forced to return to Italy due to severe kidney dysfunction for a short period, he became a priest of the church of Santa Rita at the former Aviation Field in Viareggio and then, for over 10 years, priest of Albiano in the municipality of Barga. His renal problems forced him to dialysis and transplant, but his priestly commitment remained unchanged
last Tuesday he had participated in a priestly meeting linked to the next closing of the seminary without revealing to the other parish priests the aggravation of his health conditions. His shy character always kept him away from the spotlight because he loved helping others without taking the merits.
Both in Albiano and in the period spent in Ponte San Pietro he also dedicated himself to the renovation of both churches.
He leaves his brother Giuseppe and his nephews Massimo and Fiorenza. The funeral of the Priest-missionary will be held today at 15.30 in the church of San Donato and Biagio a Carraia officiated by the Archbishop Italo Castellani and to whom Fr Polycarpe Ngendakumana will also participate, the African parish priest, now a priest in Carraia and Toringo, who shared with Fr Bucchianeri a part of his missionary life in Rwanda.
Source: http://iltirreno.gelocal.it/lucca/cronaca/2018/04/09/news/addio-a-don-giancarlo-prete-degli-ultimi-1.16693122?refresh_ce