The Community of Sant'Egidio received with sorrow the news of the death of Waldensian pastor Paolo Ricca, who died last night in Rome, at the age of 88.
A disciple of Pastor Valdo Vinay, he shared his love for the Word of God and the care for preaching that, for many years, also accompanied the prayer of Sant'Egidio. A sign of Christian unity not just desired, but lived in prayer and fraternity.
‘Everything begins with love,’ he said in his last homily in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Thus he emphasised that unity in prayer was ‘a very meaningful sign of the fact that Christians are already united in the essentials’.
The Community of Sant'Egidio joins the Waldensian Church and his family in mourning his death and in expressing its gratitude for the gift of his life, his friendship and his love for the Word of God.
