Fr. Eugene Mattioli OFM Cap. returns to Italy

Fr. Eugene Mattioli OFM Cap., the longest serving missionary of the Vicariate, returns for good to Italy on Saturday 30 June 2018. This year, Fr. Eugene completes 60 years of dedicated service for the mission in Arabia.

Fr. Eugene was born on 30 May 1931 in Salutio, Arezzo, Italy. His parents were Giovanni Mattioli and Algelida Caporali. He joined the Capuchin order while still young and was ordained a priest on 16 March 1957 in Florence. After a brief period of study in Ireland, Fr. Eugene arrived in Aden by ship on 24 October 1958.

Upon his arrival in Aden, Fr. Eugene worked in the parish and the boys school in Aden. In June 1961, Fr. Eugene came to Sacred Heart Church, Bahrain and served as assistant parish priest for five years. During this time, he also reached out to the Catholics in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Das Island, Dubai and Muscat, often travelling in military planes. He would leave on Mondays and come back on Saturdays after a gruelling itinerary. He would sometimes have to celebrate many masses a day.

In 1965, Fr. Eugene became parish priest in Bahrain. After a brief stay in Dubai, he was back in Bahrain, where he stayed altogether for 18 long years including a time in Saudi Arabia. Fr. Eugene was also appointed the Vicar General of Bishop Gremoli, an office which he continued for almost 26 years. Fr. Eugene also held the office of Regular Superior of the Capuchins in Arabia for seven three-year terms.

Fr. Eugene came to Abu Dhabi in 1989 as parish priest of St. Joseph’s Cathedral. After 17 years in Abu Dhabi, Fr. Eugene was appointed parish priest of St. Francis of Assisi Jebel Ali on 2 February 2006. Since 2016, Fr. Eugene has been stationed in St. Paul’s Church, Musaffah.

Fr. Eugene is known for being a people’s priest - always approachable and friendly. Children had a very special place in his heart - he was nicknamed the “Lollipop Father” as it was usual to see him after his masses in the church compound with lollipops for the children. His preferential love and care was for the poor and the underprivileged. He always had an open hand. He organised “Open Houses” for labourers and those without families in Abu Dhabi and Dubai which were eminently succesful in bringing joy and cheer to those who were laboured in the desert alone, in the absence of kith and kin.

Besides these people-centered traits, Fr. Eugene labored much to implant the seed of the faith and the church in the hearts and minds of his parishioners who very often came from very diverse backgrounds. He labored much to catechize his parishioners through effective Bible Study sessions and to effectively organize and strengthen the pious groups, outreach ministries, pastoral and liturgical ministries in his parishes.

All those who met Fr. Eugene experienced a personal touch - the legacy that Fr. Eugene leaves behind will not be erased, but will stay behind in the hearts and minds of his parishioners and those countless thousands that he has touched during his years as a missionary in this part of the world.
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Photo: Fr. Eugene with priests of the Vicariate during his farewell mass at St. Paul’s Church, Musaffah on 24 June 2018.