At least 65 priests have already fallen victim to the corona virus in Italy.
(Rome) The count hurts. However, it is part of reality and therefore necessary: at least 65 priests (as of March 23) have already died in Italy as a result of the coronavirus infection. The Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, documents their names. The oldest of these priests was 104 years old, the youngest 45 years old.
While devout Catholics criticize the pastoral measures in connection with the coronavirus or at least complain about a hesitant attitude, many priests are exposed in particularly hard-hit areas.
Although the diocesan priests make up only 0.05 percent of the total population, they make up one percent of the dead. This means that their share of coronavirus victims is twenty times higher than their share of the population. Numbers that say something.
The Bergamo diocese, like the province of the same name in Lombardy, is most severely affected by the coronavirus epidemic. At least 20 priests of the diocese have succumbed to the coronavirus. Most of them were still involved in pastoral care, despite some of them having advanced ages. They should be named as witnesses
Diocese of Bergamo
Monsignor Achille Belotti
Monsignor Tarcisio Ferrari
Don Mariano Carrara
Don Savino Tamanza
Don Battista Mignani
Don Alessandro Longo
Don Adriano Locatelli
Don Ettore Persico
Don Donato Forlani
Don Enzo Zoppetti
Don Francesco Perico
Don Gianni Pietro Paganessi
Don Remo Luiselli
Don Gaetano Burini
Don Umberto Tombini
Don Giuseppe Berardelli
Don Giancarlo Nava
Don Silvano Sirtoli
Don Tarcisio Casali
The oldest priest among the mountain masks was 91, the youngest 59 years old.
Pastoral care in the age of the corona virus presents priests with new challenges. The bodies are all being cremated in Italy by government order. A funeral is made impossible by the state because of curfew or restrictions on meetings, and by the church because of the suspension of Mass and religious ceremonies. The coronavirus infected mostly die lonely in intensive care units. The relatives cannot even say goodbye. Not to mention the concerns about cremation.
The dead among the priests who are mourned by the other dioceses:
Archdiocese of Milan
Don Giancarlo Quadri
Don Franco Carnevali
Don Cesare Meazza
Don Marco Barbetta
Don Luigi Giussani
Don Ezio Bisiello
Diocese of Parma
Don Giorgio Bocchi
Don Pietro Montali
Don Andrea Avanzini
Don Franco Minardi
Don Fermo Fanfoni
Don Giuseppe Fadani
Diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio
Don Giorgio Bosini
Don Mario Boselli
Don Giovanni Boselli
Don Giovanni Cordani
Don Paolo Camminati
Don Giuseppe Castelli
Don Giovanni and Don Mario Boselli are twin brothers. Both died a few days apart.
Diocese of Cremona
Monsignor Giuseppe Aresi
Don Vincenzo Rini
Don Mario Cavalleri
Don Albino Aglio
Diocese of Brescia
Monsignor Domenico Gregorelli
Don Giuseppe Toninelli
Don Giovanni Girelli
Diocese of Pesaro
Don Zenaldo del Vecchio
Don Graziano Ceccolini
Don Giuseppe Scarpetti
Archdiocese of Trento
Don Luigi Trottner
Don Salvatore Tonini
The names of the priests who died in the other Italian dioceses:
Don Guido Mortari, Diocese of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla
Don Luigi Bosotti, Diocese of Pavia
Don Carlo Patti, Diocese of Lodi
Don Mario Defechi, Diocese of Casale Monferrato
Don Giacomo Buscaglia, Diocese of Tortona
Don Alessandro Brignone, Diocese of Salerno-Campagna-Acerno
Don Antonio Di Stasio, Diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia
Don Pietro Muggianu, Diocese of Nuoro
Dozens of diocesan priests are infected with the corona virus, some are in mortal danger.
Religious priest
The situation among religious has hardly been reconstructed. The Avvenire lists the following deaths:
P. Giuseppe Serighelli, Passionist (CP)
P. Edmondo Zagano, Passionist (CP)
P. Gerardo Bottarelli, Passionist (CP)
P. Remo Rota, Eucharist (SSS)
P. Nicola Masi, Xaverian Missionary (SX)
P. Kidane Berhane, Cistercian (OCist)
P. Tarcisio Stramare, Oblate of Saint Joseph (OSI)
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Avvenire (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG