Tributes Pour In For Dingli Bishop Who Spent Over 60 Years Serving The Church In Brazil
A Maltese bishop who served in Brazil for over 60 years is being remembered for his dedication to spreading the Gospel in rural areas.
Mgr Walter Michael Ebejer – who is the brother of author Francis Ebejer – died at the age of 91, the Archdiocese of Curitiba said yesterday.
Ebejer, who was the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of União da Vitóri in Brazil, had been hospitalised last Thursday before passing away on Friday.
Ebejer had spoken about the culture shock he faced when he arrived in Brazil back in 1957 for missionary work.
With the express aim of celebrating Mass, hearing confession and preaching to the Brazilian people, he had opened up about the challenges he faced, including travelling by mule over large distances.
“You get lost and you have to ask someone for directions. Sometimes I would spend hours in the forest without meeting a soul. You sleep wherever you can. It is a primitive and poor way of life,” Ebejer had said in a previous interview with TVM.
Transport Minister Ian Borg, who is from Dingli, also marked his death.
A family friend shared an older interview with Ebejer, showing the man speaking in fluent Maltese, even decades after he had left the island.
Ebejer was born in Dingli on 3rd August, 1929. He was nominated bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1976.
RIP Ebejer
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