(ANS – Rome) – At 96, Fr. Hilario Passero remains a quiet pillar of ANS, the Salesian Information Agency, and the oldest member of the Salesian Headquarters community. Since arriving in Rome on September 8, 2000, he has faithfully translated the Congregation’s news every day, providing more than 26 years of uninterrupted service.

With meticulous care, deep humility, and unfailing joy, he has translated tens of thousands of articles, helping the voice of the Salesian mission reach the Portuguese-speaking world. His life bears witness to perseverance, professionalism, and love for the Congregation. Asked to sum up his years at ANS in one sentence, he simply replies: “I would do it all again.”

Here is a moving interview that reveals his deepest feelings and the richness of his 26 years of faithful service.

1. When and how did you come to ANS, from Brazil to Rome?

– After almost 15 years working in houses of formation in the state of São Paulo, Brazil; 10 years at the Salesian publishing house and the Salesian Bulletin in Brazil; 10 years in audiovisual production in Porto Alegre, during which, in 1983, I fell ill with Guillain-Barré syndrome; and another 10 years at the publishing house, helping with the Salesian Bulletin, the Regional Councilor for the Southern Cone of America, the very good Fr. Helvécio Baruffi, welcomed me as his secretary at the General House, La Pisana. I arrived at 1:40 p.m. on September 8, 2000.

2. How did journalism become part of your Salesian life? What has your experience been?

– It came through the Salesian Bulletin of Brazil, which I edited from 1974 to 1979. Almost everything grew out of necessity: reading other Salesian Bulletins, taking four short photography courses in São Paulo, and attending a journalism course at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (FAMECOS) in Porto Alegre.

3. Approximately how many articles do you think you have translated in these 26 years?

– Counting long, regular, and short articles—although lately there has been more editing than translating—the total may be close to 45,000 or 50,000 items: around 150 to 160 each month.

4. Among the many articles you have translated, is there one that has remained especially close to your heart?

– I appreciate every article “with my heart,” but the ones that hurt my heart are those about wars. What will the Lord say to those responsible on the day of judgment?

5. You are 96 and still work every day with great commitment. Do you ever feel tired?

– A little, yes—but only while I am working. Afterward, it disappears!

6. Many say that you are very meticulous in your translations. Where does this attention to detail come from?

– Let’s not exaggerate! But the Salesian Family and each of its members deserve a little respect; it is also part of our Salesian mission as educators always to give the best of ourselves. Besides, ever since I can remember, especially in school, I have never been able to live carelessly.

7. As a Brazilian, what does it mean to you to translate the culture and sensitivity of the Portuguese language as well?

– It means seeking balance and good judgment. Why not value people and their gifts? Among the many gifts that God has given us through Portugal are three: the Catholic faith, a vast territory, and the Portuguese language. Keeping the flag flying high and raising it even higher benefits everyone!

8. Have you ever had to deal with a delicate translation that required discernment?

– I don’t remember. But it is better not to speak about that, because in such cases the translator is a kind of secretary—and a secretary must keep a secret!

9. Despite technological developments, what has remained unchanged in your work?

– Everything and nothing. The desire to do things well—and to improve them—remains. Otherwise, there would be no real progress. The Lord’s command to “be fruitful and multiply” does not refer only to biology.

10. Over these 26 years you have seen ANS grow and change. Which changes have impressed you most?

– ANS reflects the lived life of the Congregation. I have seen the Congregation not merely run, but fly, in order to adapt and respond to its mission. For me, this has been the gradual change taking place at ANS, especially in recent years.

11. You have broad knowledge of the Salesian Congregation because you “see” all the news in Portuguese. What does this knowledge tell you?

– If I understand the question correctly, one would need to be in the provinces and hear whether the confreres and the Salesian Family read ANS. Natura non facit saltus: culture—the sum of values that perfect the human person, otherwise it would not be culture—grows pari passu with the corresponding growth of values in the person. If there were no interest in the life of one’s own Congregation, including and above all through the news, the question would become truly pressing. Sound philosophy says: “No one desires what he does not know.”

12. At 96—a great grace reflected in the way you live and work—what is the secret of your health and energy?

– Everyone already knows that I was born only to die immediately afterward, just a few days later. Then that syndrome struck me. I had to do a great deal of physical exercise, especially swimming for up to four hours a day. After nine months, I was able to return to work. I had been reborn! They say, however, that to live a long time one must be ill. And, above all and fundamentally, one must not die too soon!

13. You are known as a cheerful person who loves to smile and make jokes. How important is humor in your life?

– It is a family thing! I heard our neighbors in the countryside say, “Those people could have started a circus!” We joked, laughed, and sang so much as a family. My father even sang bass in the parish choir—not that our voices were all that beautiful!

14. It is said that you greatly value the virtue of humility. Why is it so important to you? How was your Salesian vocation born?

– There was a good confrere who used to say, “I am the humblest of all—and in this, I boast of it! No one can beat me!” In my view, it is exactly so: what are we, or what do we have, that has not been generously given to us by the Lord?

– As for becoming a Salesian, my small town in Brazil, founded in 1876, was served spiritually by Franciscan friars, almost all of them German. The bishop, a former pupil, asked for Italian priests, who arrived in 1912, and the Salesians, I think, in 1916. I was born in 1930, and I was already at home because everything was Salesian—from the parish to St. Paul’s College! My brother could not go to the aspirantate in São Paulo, a four-day journey away, because of yellow fever. From then on he set his sights on me, and several years later, on January 10, 1943, he sent me in his place. That is why I am still here.

15. You have a particular fondness for photography. How did this passion begin?

– Out of necessity! At Lavrinhas, during the aspirantate, as a counselor I had to write the house chronicle. The provincial, Fr. Giuseppe Stringari of happy memory, gave me a beautiful camera. One Saturday night, a thief stole it, together with all the photographs for the chronicle.

– Later, at the publishing house, they gave me responsibility for the Salesian Bulletin, and I simply had to know how to take photographs. So I spent four weeks learning at night from a photography enthusiast.

– Later still, in Recife, I was able to take a course on visual media—photography, magazines, cinema, and more—with Fr. Segneri, SJ, from Monday to Saturday, and practice for four Sundays.

– Finally, photography returned for one semester during the journalism course at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), run by the Marist Brothers.

16. How do you understand journalism in light of the Salesian mission?

– In light of the mission, for Salesians, I see it as an urgent need to find ways of reaching young people, including on a broad scale. How can AI—which is only a tool—become an ethical instrument of education, formation, and, above all, salvation, within the reality of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, amid so many secularized societies?

17. In your view, what values should never be lacking in Salesian journalism?

– I will limit myself to the tools used in INFOANS. In my view, now that a new era has begun in the Salesian Congregation, there should never be a day without an article—the first article of the day—on formation in communication. Our mission as Salesian educators of the young demands it. We need to master AI! Yet our journalism must remain crystal clear, straightforward, Catholic, rooted in the Church’s Magisterium, uplifting, encouraging, optimistic, and fearless.

18. What dreams do you cherish for the future of ANS?

– Every department of the Council has a program that comes from the Rector Major and the General Chapter. So I will mention just one dream: that the sector may succeed in ensuring that, in every province, all the confreres read the very best of the leading Salesian news published daily by ANS.

19. What message would you like to leave to young Salesians called to communication?

– I would say: Roma non uno die aedificata est—Rome was not built in a day. Nothing is improvised; but if all of us, together, give it our best, everything will eventually help us grow. We will grow as we go!

20. If you had to sum up your 26 years at ANS in one sentence, what would it be?

– Before saying it, I would like to thank the five Sector Councilors I have had as my superiors, the four directors of ANS, and every member of the Social Communication team, confreres and lay collaborators alike, present and past. To all of them—through Fr. Fabio, Fr. Fidel, Fr. Pedro, and Fr. Harris—I would like at least to say: “A THOUSAND THANKS!”

And if I had to sum up my 26 years at ANS in one sentence, I would say: “Omnia iterum facerem“—”I would do it all again.”