Goodbye to don Charles Onyenemeremspiritual father of cancer patients a Palermo. Priest of the church of Santa Margherita al Marabitti, had led the parish since September 2020. He died in the afternoon in the intensive care unit of Villa Sofia hospital: last Tuesday he had been struck by a cerebral hemorrhage and subsequently underwent surgery. At 2.30 pm the doctors at Villa Sofia declared his death. Of Nigerian origin, he was 55 years old.
The news of his death was given by the archbishop, Corrado Lorefice. “I am heartbroken – he writes in a note -. Don Charles enriched our local church with his life imbued with African culture and above all our presbytery, which saw him as fraternal and joyful in the beauty of relationships rich in humanity and evangelical freshness”.
On social media, after the news of his very serious clinical condition spread, a chain of solidarity and prayer began from his faithful and the many who knew him. Father Charles had an overwhelming smile, in his life as a priest he was alongside many cancer patients who relied on him for comfort. “Parrì” or “parrino” were the friendly names with which he was nicknamed. As a young seminarian he was in the parish of Brancaccio and for a short period in the church of San Michele Arcangelo. The funeral chapel will be set up tomorrow in the parish of Santa Margherita al Marabitti. The date of the funeral has not yet been set.
