Marcello Zago (1932-2001) Eleventh Superior general (1986-1998)

He was born in Villorba, in the Diocese of Treviso (Italy) o August 9, 1932. This is how he describes the origin of his vocation: “During an hour of private adoration before the exposed Blessed Sacrament in the crypt of the seminary I realized clearly that the Lord was calling me to be a missionary, to put my life in his hands…. The mission was for me a call to personal holiness and to the service of the universal Church.”

A missionary in Laos, a professor of Missiology, a formator, Marcello Zago was a strong supporter of the missionary vocation of every Christian: “The mission ad gentes is not optional for the Church.” As Secretary of the Holy See’s Secretariat for Non-Christians, he worked passionately for interreligious dialogue, especially with the Buddhist world of which he was an expert. He was elected Superior General on the first ballot on September 13, 1986.

He was one of the main organizers of the Day of Prayer for Peace held in Assisi on October 27,1986. On March 28,1998, the Holy Father appointed him Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and titular archbishop of Roselle. He died on March 1, 2001.

He left many letters to the Congregation and a rich bibliography. (Cf. M. Rostkowski, Il patrimonio teologico e missiologico di Mons. Studia 11 l 102 l “Nihil linquendum inausum” Marcello Zago, o.m.i., “Vie Oblate Life” 59 [2000], p. 295-429). Among them this one is noteworthy: In the Footsteps of St. Eugene. Letters and Texts on Formation, General House, Rome 1997, 226 p.)