New Book Honors Catholic Missionary Priest Murdered in Pretoria, South Africa: Author

Johannesburg, 06 July, 2022 / 2:26 AM

Late Fr. Michael D’Annucci whose missionary life in Pretoria, South Africa, was abruptly cut short following a car hijacking incident in 2001 has been honored in a new book that seeks to make known “the message” the late Catholic Priest wanted to communicate, the author of the book has said.

In an interview with ACI Africa, Daluxolo Moloantoa shares details of the Italian-born member of the Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (Stigmatine) who was known by the name, “Masusumetsa”, a Setswana language name for someone who “brings about change”, “pushes boundaries for the better”, or who “makes things happen”.

“The book was written to honor him, to translate the message that he wanted to give to the world,” Mr. Moloantoa said about the 21-chapter book published under the title, “Masusumetsa: Tributes to a Martyr of Charity” that he also said gives readers an opportunity “to learn about who Fr. Michael was”.

Readers of the book that is available on Catholic Connexions, the author said during the Monday, July 4 interview, “will also learn about what other people thought about him, and what his works meant to them.”

In an October 2017 report by the Catholic Magazine for Southern Africa, The Southern Cross, Mr. Moloantoa was quoted as remembering late Fr. Michael as “a very special missionary in Pretoria whose work was cruelly cut short by deadly bullets”.

The report that recalled Nelson Mandela eulogizing the late Catholic missionary Priest as “a great friend of South Africa, and its people” provides details of how the Stigmatine member was murdered.

“On a wet December morning in 2001, Fr. D’Annucci had just paid a visit to a family in Block DD in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, when he was accosted by two armed car hijackers in the family driveway,” The Southern Cross reported.

The report further details, “The criminals shot the priest in the foot and hand when he refused to hand over his car keys. When Fr. D’Annucci called for help, they shot him at point-blank range. They left him to bleed to death in the street as they made off with his car, cellphone, Bible and other possessions.”

“Over the span of three decades in which he personified and spread the spirit of ‘Community serving Humanity’, Fr. D’Annucci was a worthy leader who led with utmost diligence, energy and candid prudence,” the October 2017 report indicates.

In the July 4 interview with ACI Africa, Mr. Moloantoa described the late Fr. Michael as one who “distinguished himself to be a pioneer in many respects” and “went the extra mile”.

“He built houses for the destitute, Churches, community centers, creches, health centers and schools,” the author of the 362-page book recalled some of the accomplishments of the late Catholic Priest who had been a missionary in South Africa for 34 years when he was murdered.

In the early 1990s, Mr. Moloantoa recalled, the late Fr. Michael “started the Bethesda special school for handicapped children in Ga-Rankuwa township in the north of Pretoria.”

“The school still exists and it accommodates over 500 mentally and physically disabled children,” the Catholic journalist who writes features for The Southern Cross told ACI Africa, adding that the late Fr. Michael also pioneered the Catholic Marriage Encounter in the Archdiocese of Pretoria.

“The courses became so popular that even non-Catholics would ask to attend,” Mr. Moloantoa said about the initiative of Fr. Michael who, he added, was “an active advocate for social justice for the oppressed people of South Africa.”

Fr. Michael’s steadfast belief in the education of a black child as a tool to liberation led him to establish the Tsogo High School in 1975, with the help from the Sisters of Mercy, Mr. Moloantoa said.

“Fr. Michael had a special interest in young people; he wanted to ensure that young people grew up in the right environment, in that respect he pioneered the Chiro Youth movement in Pretoria,” he told ACI Africa during the July 4 interview.

The new book, which includes 60 tributes from different people who worked with the late Catholic Priest is “a platform to give closure to Fr. Michael’s untimely death 20 years ago,” the author of the book further said. 

In the introduction section of the book, “Masusumetsa”, the nickname of the late Catholic missionary Priest, is described as a name that “is part of that large group of men and women who, over the centuries, persecuted or killed for their faith in Jesus, continue to be a ‘stimulus’ for us, and a constant invitation to bear witness to Jesus with courage.”