Born in Pietraperzia, Enna (Italy) on July 17, 1959, son of Vincenzo and Felicetta Scaramozza, Brother Gerardo Secondino is one of the 28 brothers of the Consolata missionary Institute, a congregation founded by Saint Joseph Allamano in 1901, composed of priests and coadjutor brothers (consecrated lay men) for the ad gentes mission in the world, which by the Founder’s will lives in a spirit of family.
By Jaime C. Patias *
This figure of the “Brother” was present in the Founder’s mind from the very planning stage of the Institute. In the first document he drafted to present his project to the Holy See, Saint Joseph Allamano stated that he had developed his plan in contact with priests and seminarians, but added in the margin: “lay people will not be lacking” (Letter to C. Mancini, April 6, 1891).
“I entered the Institute in 1991 and followed a path of postulancy until 1994, when I made my Novitiate in Vittorio Veneto. After my first profession in 1996, I began to work in the Institute and to get to know the Consolata missionaries, and from there I began my journey,” explains Brother Gerardo Secondino, IMC, in this video recorded in Rome in May 2025, during the ongoing formation course—an occasion in which he shared his life story as part of his Jubilee of consecrated life.
This year, Brother Gerardo celebrates 25 years of religious profession. He made his perpetual profession on July 29, 2000, and currently works at the Missionary Spirituality Center in Certosa di Pesio. However, his first mission was in Mozambique, where he worked for 14 years, in Maua and Cuamba in the province of Niassa. After a brief period in Italy, he was assigned to Portugal, where he worked for 8 years.
Working with young people “has helped me on my journey of faith because young people are my greatest teachers; they teach you a lot in life. They teach you how to live, they teach you to understand the language, to discover what lies behind culture, such as the culture of the Macua people with whom the Consolata missionaries work in Mozambique,” Brother Secondino emphasizes.
“‘Doing good well,’ as our Founder used to say, is one of the most important things for us, because in the little things you discover the value of what lies behind people—not only what you see in front of you, but what people carry in their hearts, what they also tell you without speaking, through actions, through their way of being, through their way of living. For this I thank God, because our Founder, Saint Giuseppe Allamano, insisted greatly on this: first enter into people’s hearts and then teach. Because when you enter into a person’s heart, you already know everything about that person without asking any questions. God gave me this opportunity, and I managed to understand it and to let some of these Mozambicans enter into my own heart as well,” says Brother Secondino.
“I would like to remind all the Consolata missionary Brothers of unconditional fidelity to God. God is our life, He is our future, He is our very being.”
Year of the IMC Brothers
It is worth recalling that the last General Chapter (2023) reflected on the Brothers and decided that “in the next six years, the General Direction will organize a ‘Year of the IMC Brothers,’ inviting the entire Institute to pray and to reflect on the vocation to fraternity within the community of Consolata missionaries. It will be an opportunity to integrate the vocation of the Brother more clearly into the activities of missionary animation” (XIV GC 529). Therefore, from May 1, 2027, to May 1, 2028, the Year of the Brothers will be celebrated.
Father Jaime C. Patias, IMC, Office for Communication.
