Gibraltar says goodbye to Bishop Caruana

GIBRALTAR (The Gibraltar Chronicle / Photo: EuropaSur) Thousands of persons, Roman Catholic and otherwise, have filed past the body of Bishop Charles Caruana, as it lay in the Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes at the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned. Bishops Canilla and Healy lie buried in that chapel, but Bishop Caruana is being laid to rest in the crypt. The casket was moved into the Cathedral yesterday evening, where there was a vigil of prayer. The funeral Mass and burial will be today at 4.30pm in the open air in John Mackintosh Square to where his mortal remains will be carried in procession at 4.20pm from the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned.>
Meanwhile, the Diocese has been inundated by messages of condolences and prayers from abroad. These include the Holy See, the Archdiocese of Westminster, the Diocese of Torbes and Lourdes, the Diocese of Jaen, the Archdiocese of Kingston, Jamaica, the Archbishop Emeritus of Sevilla, Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, the Diocese of Cadiz and Ceuta, the Archdiocese of Tangier, the Diocese of Malaga, the Diocese of Leeds, the Bishopric of Menevia, the Bishoprie of Her Majesty’s Forces, the Anglican Diocese of Walsingham, the Roman Catholic Chaplainry at Walsingham, the Directorate of the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock, the Bishop and Metropolitan Chapter of the Diocese of Zaragoza, the Primacy of Croatia, the Directorate of the Shrine at Fatima, the Archbishop of Trent, the Congregation of Christian Brothers, the Spanish Redemptorist Order, the Lourdes and European Marian Movement, the Spanish Language Secretariat at Lourdes and Archbishop Michael Bowen, emeritus of Southwark.


They all had personal experience of Charles Caruana, and write extolling the virtues of Charles the Man and Charles the Pastor. Many of these will be represented at the funeral today.

Sadness has engulfed Gibraltar, but the Bishop’s death has served to highlight the International Standing of Charles Caruana, and of the Diocese of Gibraltar, said a senior church figure.