“I cannot abandon my sheep; I prefer to die with them, if necessary.” On Wednesday, August 23, 2023, Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Francesco Patton inaugurated the Chapel in Cappadocia (Aquila) dedicated to the Blessed Salvatore Lilli ofm, martyred in Armenia in 1895.

The celebrations

Reflection and prayer marked the celebrations which preceded the inauguration of the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Salvatore Lilli ofm, in the Mother Church of St. Margaret in Cappadocia, the village in Abruzzo where the Blessed Lilli was born.

 Custos of the Holy Land Fra Francesco Patton--accompanied by the General Commissar of the Holy Land Fra Sergio Galdi d’Aragona, fra Vincenzo Ianniello and fra Gian Claudio Bottini-- was welcomed to Cappadocia by His Excellency Monsignor Giovanni Massaro, Bishop of the Marsi and by  Monsignor Nareg Naamoyan, Exarch of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate for the Holy Land and Jordan, by the Mayors of the neighboring towns and villages, by the Carabinieri and by the village band.