Philippines, Manila and Mindanao pray for Fr. Bossi
Mass in memory of the missionary who died yesterday in Rozzano sul Naviglio (Milan) will be held tomorrow afternoon in the parish of Mary Queen of Apostles in ParaƱaque (Manila). Prayer vigils in Payao island, Mindanao. The funeral will be held tomorrow in Italy in the parish of Castelletto di Abbiategrasso at 3pm. PIME regional superior: "His loss is a great sorrow for all those who knew him during these years of mission."

Manila (AsiaNews) - "A friend, a brother with whom I have lived almost ten years of my life. His loss is a great sorrow for all those who knew him during these years of mission." This is what Fr. John King, regional superior of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in the Philippines what tells AsiaNews. Fr. King is also a former missionary companion of Fr. Giancarlo Bossi, who died yesterday in Rozzano sul Naviglio (Milan) after a long illness. The funeral will be held tomorrow in the missionary parish of Castelletto di Abbiategrasso at 3pm.

Fr. King explains that the news of his death arrived this morning in the Philippines, reported by local agencies. Tomorrow night the first celebrations in honor of the missionary will be held in Parañaque (Manila) in the parish of Mary Queen of Apostles. They will be followed by moments of prayer in Payao (Mindanao), the parish where Fr. Bossi served for several years until his kidnapping in 2007.

"The people - says Fr. King - remember him mainly for his discretion, his good character and willingness to give all of himself to follow an initiative or help a person. He had suffered the publicity and notoriety that followed his kidnapping and liberation in 2007. He loved simple things and he worked in silence, that's why people loved him. "(S.C.)