Paul KeenanThe faithful of the country are mourning the passing of Fr Luigi Pezzoni, an Italian missionary who spent nearly 50 years working with lepers as a member of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions. Fr Pezzoni, who was 82, was ordained in 1958 and first travelled to India in 1966. By 1973 he had founded the Leprosy Health Centre in Nalgonda.
Today, the centre includes a school and a boarding school for 500 children, a hospital, where 200 leprosy sufferers are in care, and residences where 100 leprosy sufferers live.
Many thousands more are helped by outreach services established by Fr Pezzoni.