Kenya mourns priest who worked for abandoned HIV+ children
-23/11/06
Angelo D’Agostin
Kenya mourns priest who worked for abandoned HIV+ children
-23/11/06
Angelo D’Agostino, a Roman Catholic who was once a surgeon in the US Air Force, but later became known for rescuing abandoned HIV positive children in Kenya for many years, has died aged 80 – writes Fredrick Nzwili for Ecumenical News International from Nairobi.
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki described D’Agostino as a great Christian who worked assiduously in serving vulnerable members of society while demonstrating the true heart of his Christianity. “His death is not only a loss to the Nyumbani community, but to the nation at large,” said Kibaki.
“He had a vision for HIV positive children. He wanted them to live the longest life possible,” the Rev Maloba Wesoga, the administrative secretary of the Nairobi Catholic archdiocese told ENI.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, the Rev D’Agostino died of cardiac arrest on 20 November 2006 at the Karen Hospital in Nairobi, according to his personal assistant, Simon Gachoki. He had undergone surgery three days before.
In 1992, he founded Nyumbani, the largest orphanage for HIV positive children in sub-Saharan Africa. It catered mainly for abandoned HIV positive children and started with only two children, but today it has a programme for more than 2,000 of them.
D’Agostino joined the Jesuit order in 1955, after serving as a surgeon in the US Air force. He came to Kenya in 1987 to serve as priest.
He fought through the courts when Kenyan public schools declined to admit his infected children after the introduction of free primary schooling in 2003. D’Agostino was also a founder of Jesuit Refugee Service in Africa.
[With grateful acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]
Kenya mourns priest who worked for abandoned HIV+ children
-23/11/06
Angelo D’Agostino, a Roman Catholic who was once a surgeon in the US Air Force, but later became known for rescuing abandoned HIV positive children in Kenya for many years, has died aged 80 – writes Fredrick Nzwili for Ecumenical News International from Nairobi.
Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki described D’Agostino as a great Christian who worked assiduously in serving vulnerable members of society while demonstrating the true heart of his Christianity. “His death is not only a loss to the Nyumbani community, but to the nation at large,” said Kibaki.
“He had a vision for HIV positive children. He wanted them to live the longest life possible,” the Rev Maloba Wesoga, the administrative secretary of the Nairobi Catholic archdiocese told ENI.
Born in Providence, Rhode Island, the Rev D’Agostino died of cardiac arrest on 20 November 2006 at the Karen Hospital in Nairobi, according to his personal assistant, Simon Gachoki. He had undergone surgery three days before.
In 1992, he founded Nyumbani, the largest orphanage for HIV positive children in sub-Saharan Africa. It catered mainly for abandoned HIV positive children and started with only two children, but today it has a programme for more than 2,000 of them.
D’Agostino joined the Jesuit order in 1955, after serving as a surgeon in the US Air force. He came to Kenya in 1987 to serve as priest.
He fought through the courts when Kenyan public schools declined to admit his infected children after the introduction of free primary schooling in 2003. D’Agostino was also a founder of Jesuit Refugee Service in Africa.
[With grateful acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches]