Faisalabad (Fides Service) – He is remembered in his diocese as a passionate supporter of youth pastoral, a Bishop who encouraged and accompanied many priestly and religious vocations, built schools, social and cultural centres for young people: Dominican Bishop Paul Andreotti, of Faisalabad who died in 1995 at the age of 74 on July 10 was remembered with a solemn commemoration Mass in the cathedral of the city on 16 July, organised by the Youth Association for Leadership and Development.
Bishop Andreotti lived 47 years in the diocese of Faisalabad first as a priest, then as an auxiliary bishop and lastly as the Ordinary Bishop. Many remember him as “a true Dominican whose prayer was silent and humble. Boys and girls were attracted by this simple and available person always ready to listen, and many vocations were the fruit of his example and witness and the concern he showed for young people” said Sister Razia Chana Superior of the Dominican Sisters in Pakistan.
Father Bonnie Medes of Faisalabad said the Bishop was “a man of peace”, noting the intolerance and violence which in Pakistan today threaten social and interreligious peace, as is testified by the episode on 4 July, precisely in Faisalabad diocese, when a Catholic priest, Father George Ibrahim, was killed.
In memory of Bishop Andreotti the Youth Association for Leadership and Development has launched a new publication AMAL which means Action, edited by Mgr Shaheen Mathew, Father Bonnie Mendes and Father Inayat Bernard, with many young collaborators. PA (Fides Service 18/7/2003 EM lines 24 Words: 273)