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The
people in a remote Italian village walled
up their local priest in the parish church
to prevent him from leaving.
Fr Emilio Succhiella became a 'prisoner
of love' after Capuchin Franciscans
decided to withdraw from Trasacco, in
the mountainous Abruzzo region near
Rome, after 428 years of service.
Protesting villagers took the unusual
step after they had unsuccessfully appealed
to the Order¹s Provincial and to
the local bishop.
They bricked up the main entrance to
the 17th century Convento della Madonna
del Perpetuo Soccorso to prevent Fr.
Succhiella, its sole occupant, from
leaving.
Other doors were secured with chains
and padlocks and protesters mounted
a 24-hour guard outside.
The local mayor described the priest's
imprisonment as a popular uprising,
adding that villages were feeding the
priest by passing food through a grille.
Church services continued with Fr Succhiella
passing the bread and wine for Communion
through the grill so it could be used
at open air Masses.
A bemused Fr. Succhiella, who had arrived
in Trasacco only last December after
serving as a missionary for 30 years
in Colombia, told reporters he was well
used to hardship.
"But the last thing I imagined
was that I would be held hostages back
in Italy. I am a prisoner of love. They
are keeping me here because they love
God, and they love me."
After intervention from police and
church authorities, Fr Succhiella finally
managed to persuade his captors to release
him. He explained the need to be obedient
to the will of his superiors and the
villagers, bowing to the inevitable,
agreed.
- Sept 16, 2003
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