TREVISO – Funeral blocked less than 24 hours before the scheduled date and announcement made, amidst general dismay, during the rosary mass. The death of Father Luigi Bassetto, parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for ten years, who died at the age of 80 in Feltre hospital, becomes a mystery. When everything had been prepared for the funeral, with the funeral ceremony set for today at 10am in Santa Maria Maggiore, and the transport of the body from the Feltre morgue to the Treviso church had been organised, the Belluno Prosecutor’s Office asked to block everything. Reason: to evaluate whether the priest’s death was due to “possible responsibilities in the healthcare sector”. The Prosecutor’s Office then asked the Belluno Health Directorate to carry out investigations on the body. An autopsy has therefore been prepared on the priest’s body and will be carried out in the next few days.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT
What surprised everyone was the way in which the Belluno Prosecutor’s Office decided to act. The request for an autopsy arrived when the green light had already been given for the funeral, complete with epigraphs posted in the city. Don Bassetto is a well-known figure in Treviso, where he left his mark and many beautiful memories in the parishioners. And last night at 6pm the Basilica of Madonna Granda was filled for the traditional prayer rosary. But during the ceremony the announcement came: «Don Bassetto’s funeral has been postponed to a date to be determined by order of the health authority». In reality the request came from the judicial authority which evidently has elements in its hands to suspect that something went wrong during the hospitalization in the structures that looked after the religious man. Result: everything postponed to the amazement of many faithful.
HISTORY
Originally from Roncade, where he was born on 17 March 1944, Father Bassetto was parish priest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for 10 years, from 2000 to 2010, before returning in 2018 but only for one year. Due to a stroke, the following year, he abandoned his pastoral role, however leaving an extraordinary memory not only among his parishioners, but to the entire city. Father Luigi knew how to approach people with a lot of affection and in particular pay attention to people who were experiencing moments of crisis, from couples to families: «A great moral and spiritual attitude» as also recalled by Father Ottavio Bolis, current parish priest of S. Maria Maggiore. On April 9, 2021, Father Luigi celebrated his 50th anniversary of priesthood in the church of Quero castle, home of the Somaschi fathers where, due to the limitations of Covid, only the volunteers who assisted him in his rehabilitation journey participated. In his priestly life Father Luigi had served as superior in various houses and institutes of the Somaschi fathers: in Quero as well as in Bellinzona, in Como and in Treviso, then in Somasca, Milan and, finally, before his illness, he had received the assignment as supervisor of operator training in Somaschi institutes.
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