Father Sereno

 Father Sereno Baiardi

By Bruce Shawkey

I met Father Sereno in about 1990 as a result of my interest in watches. You may think this a bit odd, but the Franciscan Mission in Burlington, Wis., received watches in lieu of cash to help with its mission of building schools, churches and housing in third-world countries. The Mission would accept darn near anything of value including books, musical instrument, jewelry, watches, even the occasional glass eye.

I traveled to the mission about once a month, accompanied by my friend, Gary Small. Gary was interested in the foreign coins that were donated to the mission, along with stamps. Most of the stamps were of the cancelled-to-order (CTO) variety, which paid for the Mission's postage-due bill. The mission mailed out thousands of letters seeking donations, and those letters contained a postage-paid return envelope. Every month, Father Sereno would travel to the nearby Waterford post office and settle up the Mission's postage bill, receiving CTO stamps in return -- all commemoratives.

I was flabbergasted at Father Sereno's acumen. Had he not been a man of the cloth, he would have been a first-class entrepreneur. Gary and I would go the mission, whereupon I would sort through about 40 pounds id wristwatches, sorting the chaff from the wheat, so to speak. I'd usually end up with 15-20 nice men's vintage wristwatches, the occasional pocket watch, and 15 or so solid gold ladies' watches. The rest were junk ... throw-away fashion watches, the occasional fake Rolex, and so forth.

I remember a few gems in particular. One was a lady's Patek Phillipe from the Deco period cased in a massive platinum case. It looked like a large fishing sinker you would use to catch a Muskie. Wish I had a picture of it. I sold it to Gilbert Watches in Florida, for around $800, which was a steal and I'm sure they resold it for many times that price. Another was an oversized Breitling chronograph, WWII vintage.

Father Sereno would sometimes sit at the table with me. When I found the occasional gem in the pile of watches, I would tell him, and say, "This one's worth $20!" and he would reply, "Bless the Lord," or "Better than a spit in the face." This went on for several years, and was my most fruitful source of watches. Then, the Internet took hold, especially eBay, and ruined everything. People sold their watches rather than donate them to the Mission.

On occasion, Father Sereno would not be at the Mission. He would be off in some third-world country, blessing a chapel or school that had been built with the Mission's donations. Around the same time, Father Sereno was diagnosed with prostate cancer. It didn't seem to diminish his fervor. Many times, he would yell at Mission's staff to "GET TO WORK." A favorite target seemed to guy named Jeremy, who opearated some of the mailing equipment. I recall thinking "Sereno" was an odd name for this man. He seemed to be anything but serene. 

I recall my last trip to the Mission was around 1996. Things took a turn for the worse for Father Sereno. I found his obituary stating that he died November 17, 2020 in La Spezia, Italy. In October 2015, he had been moved to the country of his birth to live out his remaining years. He was born on January 27, 1941 in Rivanazzano, Italy. He entered the Order of Franciscan Friars on August 9, 1959 and was ordained a priest on June 26, 1966 in Levanto, Italy.

At one point, Father Sereno was serving as the Episcopal Secretary in Benghazi, Libya when he was expelled by the government on October 12, 1970. He was sent to the United States to work as the Director of the Burlington Mission in in 1971. For 45 years he dedicated himself to the service of the Franciscan Missions through preaching and the creation and organization of the fundraising office. Through his work, many churches, schools, and clinics were built. He was fully devoted to providing care for lepers and orphans.

After I stopped going to the Mission, Gary Small continued going. Somewhere along the line, Gary suffered some kind of mental breakdown which turned him quite paranoid. He started showing up at the Mission in camouflage attire, which alarmed some of Mission's visiting guests from countries where camouflaged military would terrorize the locals and the Missionaries.

Father Sereno was not without his criticism of the Catholic church. He told me several times that it bothered him that a increasing portion of the Franciscan Mission's fundraising went to Rome. The money could be better spent, he said, on more schools and clinics.

I am grateful for my experience with Father Sereno, as it expanded my knowledge of the missionary work to ease the world's suffering. The world would be a better place if there were more Father Serenos around.