The story of Father Felice, who brings everyone together to help those who suffer
Taipei (AsiaNews) – Father Felice Chech (傅立吉 神父), an Italian-born Camillian missionary in Taiwan, is known throughout the island as a top-notch and eager fundraiser on behalf of the sick. It is thanks to him if the St. Mary’s Hospital Luodong, Yilan province (台灣 宜蘭 縣, 羅 東 聖母 醫院), has become one of the island’s main health care facility.
How did your mission begin in Taiwan?
I arrived in Taiwan in November 1971. I had entered the Camillian seminary (天主教 靈 醫 會) when I was 12 in Brianza, even though I am originally from Treviso. At the end of my theology studies, I studied in Boston, in the United States, because I had to practice my English to go on mission.
In Taiwan, the Camillians are not organised as a province; we are a delegation. Currently, we are about 1,100 around the world. In 1952, after we left mainland China, some of our missionaries went to Thailand, others to Taiwan. We opened a hospital in Luodong and another on the Pescadores Islands (澎湖縣). Those islands and the eastern part of Taiwan are the country’s poorest areas.
I remember when I left Italy, on 19 November 1971, without telling my parents. I only told my brother and sister. In order to call them on the phone, I had to call the local inn to ask them to tell my folks that I would call back in an hour. There were no mobile phones or Internet back then. Indeed, my parents did not even have phone at home.
After studying Chinese in Hsinchu for a year and a half, I moved to Luodong and served as the miners’ chaplain for four years. Then I was pastor in Luodong for 12 years. After these early experiences, I was sent to Magong (澎湖縣 馬 公 市) for six years as a parish priest and deputy director of the hospital.
At the time, there were still some old missionary doctors and nurses, like Brother Marinello and Father Di Doné, and the famous Slovenian surgeon Janez Janež (范鳳龍 醫師), a well-trained and efficient lay doctor who worked at the hospital for 38 years, performing more than 80,000 surgeries. He also saved my life after I had a terrible motorcycle accident.
Where does your Camillian vocation come from?
Actually, I wanted to enter the diocesan seminary, but my parents could not afford the fee, which was low too. However, through a friend, I entered the minor seminary of the Camillians. Then I got into the story of Camillus de Lellis (聖 嘉 民. 德. 雷列斯).
Saint Camillus was born in 1550, in the stable on the first floor of his home, when his mother was already in her sixties. When he was 25, he converted. He wanted to become a Franciscan, but he was not accepted because he had a festering wound on a foot and wearing the habit caused more swelling in the leg. He required constant treatment.
His superior told him they were sorry, but that he was not cut out for the Franciscan life. In a smart move, Camillus asked for a written statement that said he “was turned away by the Franciscans, not because of ill will or because he was a bad character, but because of this physical problem."
After he left the monastery, he went to stay in a hospital. He was seen with suspicion because before trying the Franciscan life, he was gambler and lost money. He could not pay for his hospital care.
Nevertheless, the hospital head allowed him to be hospitalised but in return asked for his help with the nursing staff. Through his actions after conversion, he showed hospital administrators that he was a new man, and was allowed to stay. Slowly, a group of volunteers caring for the sick developed around him.
At the time, when people were admitted to the hospital, they had to confess. Saint Camillus said, “No! The first thing [to do] is to give the patient a nice bed, have him or her washed well and have him or her seen by the doctor." Only afterwards does one ask, if necessary, for a confession.
Camillus trained a group of men of good will, even though at the start of his mission he met various jealous people. He was tempted to give up everything, but then felt refreshed and decided to study with the young people, a towering man of more than two metres, in order to become a presbyter and found the institute he had in mind.
What you did for the Luodong Hospital is very well known here in Taiwan, especially between 1995 and 2004, when the facility expanded thanks to funds that you and your team raised.
When I returned to the Luodong Hospital in 1995, I was appointed deputy director, a position I held for the next nine years, until 2004. In those nine years, thanks to major fundraisers I led, we expanded the small hospital that had opened in 1952.
The School of Nursing, which we had started, now offers courses to more than 3,500 students as part of a five-year programme. We were the first to open the nursing profession to males; previously, it was reserved only for women.
What are your fundraiser secrets?
The secret of course is to know how to highlight the good work already done. The good work is undeniable. Secondly, our entire administration has always been transparent. Each offering from donors comes with our receipt. This is the basis of our credibility. Some friends, especially at the Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualian (門 諾 醫院), told me a few things about fundraising. I was very inspired by them and this led the way.
I start from the principle that what I am asked to do becomes my absolute interest. It becomes my passion, following in the footsteps of Saint Camillus, who, when he began his mission among the sick, created a movement of interest and dedication to the suffering that led his disciples to the farthest continents!
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18/03/2019 18:50
20/03/2023 18:21
