We have heard the saying “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are”. Maybe we have never thought much about it, but when the scripture emphasizes it saying “for as a man is, so is his friend” (Sirach 6:1417), then we take time to think. It is without a doubt that for Fr. Allamano, the frail silent but industrious man to succeed, a reliable, honest and equally hard-working man had to be present. That man happened to be Fr. Camisassa. Fr. Camisassa was from Piedmont just like Fr. Allamano, from a town known as Caramagna. He was born on September 27th 1854. His parents were Gabriele Camisassa and Agnese Perlo. They were peasants who lived an honest, pious and hard-working life in the village. One of Fr. Camisassa’s sisters joined the Congregation of Mary Auxiliatrix while another got married to Anthony Perlo, the parents of the future Fr. Perlo, who was among the first Consolata Missionaries to go to Kenya. His two brothers Gabriele Perlo and Luigi Perlo would also later enter the Institute.
Fr. Camisassa was a bright young man, but the poor situation of his family forced him to become a blacksmith immediately after elementary school. The young man who was fifth in a family of six children inherited the hard-working quality of his parents. He was doing rather fine in his business when his sister Anna Maria, the eldest in the family, in collaboration with the parish priest succeeded in making him resume his secondary school education at Valdocco with Don Bosco. While at Valdocco, the young Camisassa worked really hard with one aim: to become a priest. He was easily noted for his singing ability, since he had a heavy voice. He later attended the Metropolitan Seminary of Turin and was ordained in July 1877, after which he attended a two-year course in the Pastoral Institute. In 1880 he was preparing to go to Pecetto Torinese as a junior curate when he was intercepted by a letter of Fr. Allamano inviting him to be his assistant and bursar at the Consolata Shrine, where Fr. Allamano had been assigned. Fr. Camisassa arrived at the Shrine on 3rd October, one day after Fr. Allamano.
Fr. Allamano had known Camisassa at the seminary and it seems Fr. Camisassa made a strong positive impression on him. This is explained by the fact that the assignment of Fr. Camisassa to the Consolata Shrine by Archbishop Gastaldi had been to fulfill Fr. Allamano’s condition that if he was to accept to be sent to the Consolata Shrine, then Fr. Camisassa had to be his assistant and bursar – a request which the Archbishop willingly accepted. Fr. Camisassa like Fr. Allamano was a silent man. He had a not so nice temperament, and could get rather assertive at times, especially when a person opposed what was self-evident. However, even then, Fr. Camisassa remained obedient to Fr. Allamano.
This explains why the two managed to live together for 42 years, ending up becoming almost like blood brothers. His humility was exemplary: even with three doctorates in theology, canon and civil law which he acquired in 1898, Fr. Camisassa did his duties without advertising or raising himself. He was a canon of the Turin Cathedral for six years. In 1909 Pope Pius X sought to make him a bishop, but the intervention of Fr. Allamano and the discouragement of his candidacy by Cardinal Richelmy saw the offer overturned. Fr. Camisassa loved meditating on the Psalms. He loved calmness, silence and serenity. Offering the whole of himself, he buried himself at the Consolata Shrine as the assistant of Fr. Allamano to extent that few knew he actually existed. He gave himself fully to the restoration of the Church and follow up of everything with keenness a kin to military precision. This made him the best person that Fr. Allamano needed to begin his missionary project. With the same sensitivity he was inspecting every task in the restoration of the Consolata Shrine, Fr. Camisassa took personal dedication in packing, checking and dispatching shipments to the missions after Fr. Allamano founded the Institute. In addition to all the duties he was performing as the assistant of the Rector, Fr. Camisassa was also the editor, censor, layout man and proof-reader of “La Consolata”, a missionary magazine which initially published events of the Consolata Shrine, but which with time began publishing news of the missions. In addition, all the reports that came from the missions passed in his hands. He would receive, read and classify them before filing them appropriately. Fr. Allamano loved and trusted his vice very much. The two understood each other so well that if you knew the opinion of one you could tell the opinion of the other. In fact, the fact that they were able to live together for 42 years says a lot about each of them. Certainly, anyone can tell that such an experience demands great quantities of patience, honesty and kindness. We cannot lie to ourselves that everyday was a moment of smiles and more smiles. However, openness and trust with which they treated each other were enough to extinguish any conflict. This is why Fr. Allamano did not hesitate to send Fr. Camisassa to Africa on 8th February 1911. Fr. Allamano, whose health could not allow him to travel much was convinced that Fr. Camisassa would represent him completely in the mission. As if to show his trust and transparency, Fr. Camisassa before leaving Italy, wrote his will, making Fr. Allamano the main beneficiary, and then Fr. Gabriel Perlo and Aquilino the son of Caneparo the carpenter who had worked in the Mothers House for long. Fr. Camisassa was realistic: going to Africa carried with it the possibility of not returning to Italy, and therefore it was appropriate to prepare for any eventuality. Today, few people would do that. Instead of helping building the Church by leaving their properties to esteemed Church leaders, many would instead take from the Church to give to their relatives and friends, returning to the same act that made the Church to impose mandatory practice of celibacy to all ordained ministers many centuries ago: abuse of Chuch goods.
Fr. Camisassa’s journey to Kenya was to last until November 1911, but he ended up extending it to April 1912 due to the many things he had to see, evaluate and document. Once in Kenya, Fr. Camisassa moved from mission to mission accompanied by Bishop Perlo whose energetic hand and skill of bringing things to fruition was undoubtedly visible. In front of him were the missions he had heard of, the missionaries he had seen depart from Italy and the Africans whom Fr. Allamano had always insisted to be involved in doing things to make them learn. By the time he was concluding up his journey, Fr. Camisassa had put down forty-four long letters addressed to Turin. In them were his impression of the missions, the things he heard and the things he sensed. Fr. Camisassa’s calm composure helped him to learn a lot without being told. He for example noted the improper temperament of Bishop Perlo, which made him almost allergic to lay helpers, assistants and advisers. He noted the uncertainties, misunderstandings and mistrusts that needed time to heal off.
Fr. Camisassa concluded his African tour by looking into the issue of expansion. After learning that the British government was in favour of Consolata Missionary missions in Meru, Fr. Camisassa took the opportunity to visit the area. After the Bishop had visited Meru and returned with a positive report, Fr. Camisassa decided to travel there too. He had to cover a distance of almost 450 kilometers partly on foot, partly on a mule revealing a self-giving attitude of the highest order. Finally, together with Bishop Perlo, Fr. Camisassa spoke about the possibility of Consolata Missions starting missions in upper Congo or in Ethiopia so as to bring Fr. Allamano’s dream of taking up Guglielmo Massaia’s work among the Galla people to live.
Coincidentally, while Fr. Camisassa was in Kenya, Fr. Allamano had gone to Rome for the beatification process of Fr. Cafasso. While there, the Founder took the opportunity to speak to the prefect of Propaganda Fide, Cardinal Gotti about the issue of Ethiopia, and the matter was agreed. As such, the Founder informed Fr. Camisassa to pass in Rome to the Propaganda Fide to propose the matter again with the details of Kenya that he had. On 19th April 1912, Fr. Camisassa was already in Cardinal Gotti’s office. The matter, just like the previous one of Bishop Allgeyer, brought bad feeling to Bishop Jarosseau, who felt that Propaganda Fide was unfairly taking part of his extensive Vicariate to give it to others. Justified as he may have been, it was also true that after thirty years in the area, he had not done much. His reasons were of course genuine: he had problems of personnel, and also there had been conflicts and he was waiting for more peaceful time.
However, given that the area was very vast, and someone (Consolata Missionary Institute) was willing to provide the personnel and risk entering the zone, there was no way Propaganda Fide would have denied the people of that territory the Gospel, just because someone (the French Capuchins led by their bishop Jarosseau) claimed the right of ownership of the same. In January 1913, the decree of erecting the Prefecture Apostolic of Southern Kafa entrusted to the Consolata Missionaries was made. Four months later, Fr. Gaudenzio Barlassina was appointed the Prefect Apostolic.