Fr Emmanuel Camilleri (1942-2016)

Appreciation

As St Margaret’s Parish of Ta’ Sannat (Gozo)was concluding its annual festivities in honour of its patron saint on Sunday, 24 July, a member of its clergy, Rev. Emmanuel Camilleri, passed away at Gozo General Hospital in the early hours of Monday morning.

Fr Camilleri, who was born on 28 January 1942, was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Pace together with three other priests at Gozo Cathedral on 30 April 1966. He then proceeded to the United States where he furthered his studies and worked in various parishes in Maryland. He came back to settle in his native Gozo in the mid-1990s and served the Good Shepherd Community at Taċ-Ċawla on the outskirts of Victoria.

I consider Fr Emmanuel as one of my benefactors; he was very helpful as a counsellor during my formative years at the diocesan seminary in Gozo before I was ordained in 2004. He can also be counted among the benefactors of the island’s major seminary, helping many seminarians in the disernment process of their vocation. He also served the Englishspeaking community of Gozo by saying Mass for them at the Gozo Seminary chapel on a regular basis.

During the last decade or so he became ill but accepted his illness with great resignation and bore his cross quietly and patiently. He is survived by his brothers and sisters, among whom there is Mgr Tarcisio Camilleri, Vicar General of the Diocese of Gozo, and by his friend of a lifetime Rev. Dr Emmanuel Magro of Victoria. I extend my sympathies to his family.

It is our duty to keep Fr Camilleri in our prayers. May the Lord grant him eternal peace. Fr Geoffrey G Attard Victoria, Gozo