Grignasco – This afternoon, at 3:00 p.m., the community of Grignasco gathered to celebrate the funeral of Father Matteo Balzano, a priest of the Diocese of Novara, who tragically passed away on July 5, 2025, having chosen to end his own life. The funeral liturgy took place in the church of the local cemetery, and after the celebration, his body was buried in the same cemetery. The rite was presided over by Fr. Franco Giudice, vicar for the clergy of the diocese, who in his homily attempted to convey the spiritual and human complexity of what had occurred.
“Father Matteo,” said Fr. Franco, “was a beloved, respected, and enthusiastic priest, despite the difficulties of recent years. Precisely in taking on a new pastoral responsibility, he had shown a renewed face, driven by a sincere passion for the ministry. This is why his death is an open wound, an unanswered question, a collective defeat: ‘we were not able to recognize his silent cry.’”
At the heart of the homily, Fr. Giudice posed four questions to his fellow priests—questions that concern every believer.
1. The solitude of the priest
Not the chosen, ascetical solitude, but the imposed, silent, murky kind. Fr. Franco spoke plainly: “We are not hermits in the desert, but pastors within a community.” And yet, the question remains: Who truly listens to a priest when he needs to speak?
Fraternal friendship, a message, a visit, a shared pizza—small gestures that are often missing, and whose absence weighs more than expected.
2. Self-care
The Vicar quoted St. Charles Borromeo: “We must give ourselves to others, but not to the point of having nothing left for ourselves.”
A priest cannot live his ministry in a state of exhaustion. He needs personal space, time for prayer, for beauty, for nature, for art. This is not an escape, but a source of renewal. A weary priest, Fr. Franco reminded, can never be a source of joy.
3. The bond with Christ
“We are not alone. If we walk alone, we get lost.” The relationship between a priest and his community is never simply between two, but among three: the priest, the people, and Christ. And without genuine spiritual accompaniment—someone before whom one can weep, smile, confess, be real—even the most brilliant ministry will eventually become empty.
4. Priestly fraternity
The death of a priest is not just a personal sorrow, but a fracture in the communion of the presbyterate. An isolated priest, Fr. Franco said forcefully, impoverishes everyone. And a joyful priest, even amid many difficulties, enriches everyone. That is why, he added, we are called to be “happy priests”, capable of conveying the fragrance of the Kingdom of God.
In his homily, Fr. Giudice quietly called for an awakening: “May this event, so dramatic for us all, help us to reflect and be renewed, in the hope given to us by the Risen Crucified One.” This is not a task for priests alone, not just for the brother priests of Fr. Matteo, but for the entire Christian community, for the ecclesiastical hierarchy, for the formative communities of seminaries. It concerns everyone who, when faced with a priest or seminarian, too often forgets that behind the cassock is a man. Beyond ideologies and personal mental fixations, there are stories, sufferings, and struggles that challenge our shared humanity. This tragic death questions us all and urges us to understand that a silent cry of pain, if heard in time, can become a song of resurrection.
d.G.T.
Silere non possum