That's me in 2006, in Monza (Italy).

My life in brief

I'm Fr. Dario Semino, a Roman Catholic missionary priest, member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). I am Italian, but I was born in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), in 1972. I lived my childhood in several African and Middle Eastern countries, along with my family. In 1991 we moved back to Italy (Gradisca d'Isonzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia) and I started getting in touch with the parish. As time passed I became first cathechist and then Minister of the Eucharist. I finished my University studies and entered the diocesan Seminary in 1999, wich I left in 2003 to join PIME. Here I finished my theological studies and became a missionary priest. I have been assigned to our mission in Mexico, where I am supposed to start working in the beginning of 2007.

More details

·        1972. Born in Bulawayo, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where I have been baptized.

·        1973-76. Iran (Teheran), along with my family (parents and a little sister), as it was for all the next years until 1991.

·        1977-78. Nigeria (Lagos, Sokoto, Ifo).

·        1978-80. Liberia (Monrovia), where I attended the First year of Elementary School and part of the Second year.

·        1980. Gorizia (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy), where I finished the Second year of Elementary School.

·        1980-81. Saudi Arabia (Nuhairiya, Al-Kobar, Ad-Daharan), where I attended part of the Third year of Elementary School.

·        1981. Rome (Italy), where I finished the Third year of Elementary School.

·        1981-1990. Somalia (Mogadishu), where I attended the Italian State School all the way up to the last but one year of High School. In Mogadishu I received the First Communion and the Confirmation.

·        1990-1991. Rome, where I finished High School and took my "Maturità Scientifica" diploma.

·        1991-92. London (England), where I worked for eight months as a waiter, while attending English classes.

·        1992-1993. Orlando (Florida, U.S.A.), where I worked for a year as a waiter in Epcot Center (Walt Disney World), as part of the Disney Cultural Representative Program. Meanwhile I attended a Flight School in Kissimmee, where in August '93 I completed the approved Professional Pilot Course (F.A.A. Commercial Pilot Licence, Multiengine, IFR flight).

·        1993-1994. Rome (Italy), where I lived for about a year, attending a Flight School in order to convert my F.A.A. Pilot Licence into an Italian Pilot Licence.

·        1994. Gradisca d’Isonzo (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Itlay), which is now my home town. In October I entered the University of Trieste (Faculty of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators).

·        1995. During summertime, I worked as a waiter in a Hotel in Limone sul Garda (Lombardy, Italy) on the Lake of Garda.

·        1996. During summertime, I took Spanish classes in Salamanca (Spain).

·        1997-99. During summer, I went for three times to Cambridge (England), taking English classes and working as a translator.

·        1999.  I entered the Diocesan Theological Seminary “San Cromazio di Aquileia”, in Castellerio, near Udine (Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy).

·        2001.  In December I graduated from University, as a Translator (English and Spanish), with a graduation thesis on The religious and spiritual aspects of Bob Marley's songs.

·        2003. I entered PIME, attending the first year in Rome.

·        2004. During summer, I went for three months in Cairo (Egypt) to take Arabic classes in Dar Comboni Institute, in Zamalek (Cairo).

·        2004-2006. I attended the last two years in PIME Seminary in Monza (Milan, Italy), thus completing my Theological studies.

·        2006. I was ordained priest on June 24, in the Patriarchal Basilica of Aquileia (Diocese of Gorizia, Italy), and assigned to the mission in Mexico.

Travels

Besides the places I mentioned above, during my life I was lucky enough to visit, as a tourist, many other world countries, cities, towns and places:

·        Kenya (Nairobi and the Serengeti Park) and Zimbabwe (Bulawayo, Harare, Vittoria Falls and the historical site of Great Zimbabwe), during my Somali period (1980s). In Somalia, I got the chance to visit Afgoy, Jaseera, the Tomba del Santone Bay, Marka, Brava, and the former seat of the Italian Duke of Abruzzi on the Webi Shabeli River.

·        Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Ibiza (Balearic Islands, Spain), during summer 1991 .

·        Atlanta and Athens in Georgia (U.S.A.), Nassau (Bahamas), besides Tampa, St. Petersburg, Daytona, Miami and Key West, during my Florida period (1992-1993).

·        Cadaqués and Port Ligat (Barcelona, Spain), during summer 1994.

·        Toledo and Madrid (Spain), during my summer in Salamanca (1996).

·        Mozambique (Maputo, Chimoio and Beira), early summer 1998.

·        Cornwall (England), late summer 1998, while I was in Cambridge.

·        Romania (Oltenia and Moldova, including the Ortodox monasteries in Bukovina), summer 1999.

·        Egypt (Cairo, Geezah, Memphis, Saqqara, Alexandria and Mount Sinai), summer 2004.

·       The main towns of western Slovenia (including the capital Ljubljana), of Istria (Croatia) and of Carintia (Austria), besides Budapest (Hungary), during my University and Seminary periods.

Hobbies and interests

I love cinema and music (above all the U2 and Bob Marley, but also Gospel and Blues). I like Formula One car racing (Forza Ferrari!) and soccer (I have been a Qualified Soccer Referee for some years in Italy).

My faith

My Christian vocation and my religious call are both "adult": I found the faith early in my Twenties, after a slow and long personal path. I know what is like living without faith, without Jesus and without God. I think that can now help me to approach other people's life in a serene and objective way, no matter what their faith, religion or ideas. So help me God!