July 28, 2011 ~Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States since early 2006, died on July 27, at John Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, following complications of lung surgery that had been performed several weeks earlier. He was 73. Archbishop Sambi was respected not only by the diplomatic community in Washington but by the thousands of Catholics and especially Italian American catholics in the Washington area. As Michael Sean Winters wrote in the National Catholic Reporter, Archbishop Sambi "made the faith appear attractive, never defensive, always open hearted. His personal manner exuded the same charism. He was almost always smiling, his hand extended, his conversation lively. "

Archbishop Sambi was a frequent celebrant at the Holy Rosary Church, the National Italian Parish in Washington D.C. Particularly moving was the homily that he delivered at Holy Rosary Church on December 2, 2007, on the occasion of the Memorial Mass in remembrance of the100th anniversary of the Monongah mine disaster where hundreds of Italian miners lost their lives. He said that we all needed to be prepared, because "you don't know the hour when your Lord will come." Click here to hear the Archibishop's homily.. | Archbishop Sambi remembered across America

|CiaoAmerica.net|