(ANS – Rome) – We are publishing a second extract from the interview given to ANS by Bishop Luciano Capelli bishop of Gizo: an intrepid mountaineer with the savvy of the footballer.

What do you still retain of your origins and then what have you taken from the Solomon Islanders in all these years?

Bishop Capelli:
From my Valtellinesi mountains, – the land of Fr Carlo Braga and of the Venerable Fr Giuseppe Quadrio – from the culture of my origins and of my childhood the period after second world war I still retain the great ability of not giving up in the face of crises or of any kind of danger. The mountains taught me that arriving at the top victorious comes not from just aiming at the summit but from the constant struggle of the climb, putting one step a little further and higher than the last one without losing sight of the peak.
From the Solomon Islanders I have learned, on the other hand, lightheartedness, the joy of living just for today... patience and being content with little, with what is necessary, without stress.

We have heard that with Mons Panfilo, today the coadjutor archbishop of Rabaul, you played in a Salesian football team that even the Philippine national squad could not beat. Do you still play?

Bishop Capelli:
Two ligament operations on my right knee (in 1981 and 1991) did not stop me from kicking a football. But in ’99, during a match, after having trapped the ball with my right foot while I was getting ready to shoot with my left I realised that … the ball was no longer there! Those young scoundrels had taken it away from my feet! That was too much for a former champion... so at 52 years of age I stopped playing seriously. But I’m still happy to kick a ball around occasionally, making sure the opponents are young enough! At 64 I can still join in with the altar servers in the elementary schools. How enthusiastic they all are! Naturally there’s ice cream after the match, which also helps to win over their hearts.

Published 07/06/2012