Born in 1885 in Gaiarine (Treviso), a well-known anti-fascist, he was appointed parish priest of Montaner di Sarmede in 1927, almost as if it were a ‘punishment’, given that this mountain hamlet was, at the time, effectively a place of ‘exile’. Here, the priest immediately set about ensuring that a nursery and an orphanage were built, and he had a small church dedicated to St Giovanni Bosco erected, along with a hall, which was later used as a theatre and cinema. These initiatives earned him the affection and support of the people of Montaner, who all stood by their parish priest when, after 8 September 1943, Don Faè began organising aid for the former prisoners of war in the village and for the scattered Italian soldiers. It was a short step from the conversion of the church bell tower into a weapons depot to the parish priest’s full collaboration with Giovanbattista Bitto, a local partisan commander.
Unfortunately, the anti-fascist parish priest was betrayed by two false partisans, and on 27 March 1944, the Republic of Italy forces arrested Don Faè and his sister Giovanna. Taken to Udine and imprisoned, the priest was tried and sentenced to death, but then, probably through the intercession of the then archpriest of Pordenone, he was confined to the seminary in Vittorio Veneto, which became his place of forced residence until Liberation. His sister Giovanna, however, was not so fortunate: she remained in prison in Udine and was subsequently deported to a German concentration camp, probably Dachau, from where she never returned.
From then on, the priest began to be known as, and to refer to himself as, “Don Galera”. Upon returning to his parish in May 1945, he resumed his tireless social work. Thanks to his efforts, the people of Montanero gained access to electricity, telephones, running water in their homes, a daily coach service to Vittorio Veneto, a post office, and a new school building. In 1961, the priest also had a small chapel built in honour of Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners, in memory of the workers who had died on the job. At the funeral of Don Giuseppe Faè, attended by the then Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, Albino Luciani (who would later serve, for one month, as Pope John Paul I), and all the inhabitants of Montaner attended, many of whom would later convert to the Orthodox Church when the Catholic hierarchy refused to allow Don Antonio Botteon to be appointed as his successor as parish priest; Botteon had assisted the man whom many in Montaner considered a saint for three years, and a monument has been erected in his honour, with a street in Montaner named after him.
To his sister Giovanna the Municipality of Sarmede has dedicated the Montaner Primary School, as well as a large fresco on the outer wall of the Civic Library, depicting her life story.
