Daniel Comboni
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The heroic virtues of Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Comboni Missionary Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosoli (1923-1987) dedicated his life to helping the people of Kalongo, Uganda. On December 17, 2015 Pope Francis recognized the heroic virtues of Fr. Giuseppe, an Italian surgeon, priest and missionary. This is the first of several steps on the road to being named a saint. Fr. Ambrosoli was assigned to Kalongo, Uganda in 1956 where he served as a Parish Priest and took charge of running the local dispensary. The dispensary was started in a grass hut by Comboni Missionary Sister Eletta Mantiero in 1934. Soon after, she started delivering babies and attending to medical and pediatric patients.
In 1957 Fr. Giuseppe Ambrosoli began transforming the dispensary into a full-fledged hospital. At that time the dispensary was treating many leprosy patients.
Fr. Giuseppe revolutionized the care for leprosy patients by admitting them to the same hospital as other patients instead of confining them to the often neglected and poorly managed leprosarium. Today the Kalongo Hospital, recently renamed the Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital, is a 350-bed facility that treats nearly 60,000 patients every year.
Another of Fr. Giuseppe’s achievements was establishing the St. Mary’s School of Midwifery in 1959.
As Pope Francis continues challenging us to love and care for one another in this Year of Mercy, how fitting that Fr. Giuseppe, who dedicated his life to caring for the sick, starts his journey to Sainthood.
Learn more about the Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital here.
