Camillia religious were involved for the whole of the year in meetings for priests and people engaged in providing pastoral care. Our religious Fr. Rosario Messina, for the clergy, and Fr. Antonio Marzano, Fr. Adriano Moro and Brother Carlo Mangione for people engaged in providing pastoral care, took part in these diocesan meetings. At the centre of the reflections was the subject ‘the sick person as an agent of evangelisation’ and the ‘subject of the attention of the whole of the Christian community’. The sacrament of the anointing of the sick was described as a sacrament of healing and consolation.

This journey ended on 25 April with a diocesan day of celebrations in which about 400 people took place. For the whole of the morning, with the presence of the bishop, religious, priests, dignitaries and very many lay faithful, the figure of St. Camillus was described through his example and his teachings. On the rostrum, Brother Carlo Mangione was followed by the Daughters of St. Camillus, Sister Laura, Sister Fernanda and Sister Gemma, and by three volunteers from Rome who through their testimonies pointed to the contemporary relevance of the charism of St. Camillus.

The testimony of the Camillian deacon Salvatore Pontillo, a son of this local church, ended the contributions of the morning. After a lunch offered by the diocese to all those who had come to the day of celebrations, in the afternoon the bishop presided over the solemn concelebration of the Eucharist

At that moment the date of the ordination as a priest of the Camillia deacon Salvatore Pontillo was fixed for 30 September, in Grassano, his native city.

This was a fine and lively experience that once again made us touch the contemporary relevance of the figure of St. Camillus and his teachings.