May 10, 2011

Comboni Missionary Father Valentino Saoncella, 91, died April 19 at the Comboni Mission House in Milan, Italy, where he had been in retirement for the past few years. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in Our Lady of Fatima Chapel at the Comboni Mission House.

A native of Italy, Father Saoncella made his perpetual vows in 1943 and was ordained in 1944. His major areas of ministry were pastoral care, mission education, administration and formation. Father Saoncella served in South Sudan, Italy and in the United States. In the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Father Saoncella was pastor of the former St. Michael Church in Lower Price Hill and the former St. Pius Church in South Cumminsville.