Our beloved disciple of the Divine Master returned to the House of the Father at 20:45 (local time) on 7 January 2017 at the community of “Vizconde de los Asilos” (Madrid) Spain,
BROTHER MANUEL PÍO MARTÍNEZ
84 years, 69 of Pauline life, 62 of religious profession
Brother Manuel Pío was a native of Sabuz (Orense), in northern Spain, where he was born on 22 December 1932. The second of seven brothers and sisters, he was baptized 2 days after his birth, on Christmas Eve, and he received the sacrament of Confirmation on 16 September 1946. He joined the Society of St Paul in the community of Zalla on 10 September 1947, when he was only 15 years old. He entered the novitiate on 7 September 1953 at Deusto (Bilbao). On 8 September 1954, he made his first profession and which he confirmed in perpetuity in Rome exactly 5 years after his first profession. In 1959 he was sent as a missionary to Cuba, an island in which he experienced turbulent times while living under Castro’s revolution and which culminated in the Battle of Santa Clara (30 December 1958). Living amidst many difficulties, Br Manuel Pío experienced the joys of the apostolate in Cuba. In 1961, the Paulines in Cuba were forced to leave the island on account of the deteriorating international political situation (the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the subsequent American embargo). Many years later, on 8 December 2012, the reopening of the Pauline community of Havana must have aroused a deep joy in Br Manuel, which has thus fulfilled many years after the vow of the Founder, which he penned in his letter of March 23, 1961 addressed directly to Br Manuel Pío and the brothers of the Cuban community. On that occasion, he invited them to have trust in a reopening of the community: “Live a holy religious life. Pray constantly to the Queen of the Apostles with confidence and place in her hands all our apostolic projects; develop vocations ... trust Him.” This is a valuable lesson also for us Paulines today.
In 1961, he was transferred to Rome where he remained for five years and carried out the book centre apostolate until 1966. After spending a year in Madrid (1966-1967), always as a distributor of books, Br Manuel received the invitation to return to missionary work through various letters by the Superiors General of that period. He gladly accepted this mandate in obedience and went back on a mission to Caracas (Venezuela), where he spent considerable number of years serving the Lord, until last February 2016. He rendered his services under various capacities in the communities of Caracas and El Hatillo: as distributor of books, as the director of distribution, as the administrator of the house, as a bursar, and finally as the proof reader of the periodical “Domingo”.
In 1995, he underwent a successful surgery in Rome. With renewed vigour and strength, he returned to Caracas, the city he loved most. He continued his apostolic activities until February 2016 in this community. The ill health continued to affect his apostolic fervour. As he was diagnosed of a maxillofacial tumour, he was transferred to the Vizconde de los Asilos (Madrid) Spain where he was welcomed with great love. The months of painful treatment in the various hospitals in Madrid did not quench his spirit of fortitude which always made him aspire to go back to his beloved city, Caracas, for he considered it as his new home, second only to the homeland Galiziana.
The testimony of those who knew him closely in his 69 years of Pauline life express how he was generous, dedicated disciple of the Divine Master and a true Pauline throughout his life. The Provincial Superior of Spain, Fr Lázaro García, remembers one of the letters written Br Manuel Pío in his last 11 months in Madrid, of his constant concern for the Pauline apostolate in Venezuela and Spain and his profound devotion to the Queen of the Apostles by praying the Rosary.
Br Manuel ended his earthly life on the evening of 7 January due to cardio-respiratory failure and lung metastases. All his work, which includes his apostolic zeal, the struggle that led in difficult situations which he expressed in his many letters written to the Superiors General, testify his Pauline zeal. The Pauline zeal has always prompted him to offer himself at the service of the Pauline Family, the Society of Saint Paul and the Church at large.
We now entrust Br Manuel Pío to the Child King whom we have just honoured in His Holy Birth and let us pray that he may continue to intercede to God for the Province of Spain and the region of Venezuela where he served joyfully.
Rome, 8 January 2017
Fr Stefano Stimamiglio, ssp
Secretary General
The funeral was held on Sunday, 8 January 2017 at 7 pm (local time) at the community chapel of Protasio Gómez (Madrid). His ashes were then interred in the Pauline cemetery situated in Las Rozas (Madrid).
The superiors are to inform their communities for the prescribed suffrages (Const. 65 and 65.1).
