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 Father Giuseppe Diana 25th Anniversary of the Death Scott 1712 (2019) On March 19, 2019, Vatican City issued the stamp shown above to memorialize the 25th anniversary of the murder of Father Giuseppe Diana. The stamp was issued as a six-stamp minisheet, which is shown at the bottom of this article. This was the second stamp release honoring 20th century martyr-priests, the first being a stamp issued for Don Pino Puglisi in 2018 (Scott 1673/1673M). Born on July 4, 1958, Giuseppe Diana was ordained in 1989 and was assigned as a parish priest in his hometown of Casal di Principe, in the Campania region of Italy. His defining work was to establish a welcome center for African immigrants coming to the region. The reason for this was to prevent them from being recruited by the Camorra, a criminal enterprise based in Naples, the capital of Campania. This move was in direct opposition to the business practices of the Camorra. In 1991, he published a letter entitled "For the love of my people I will not stay silent", which is highlighted in the selvage of the minisheet shown below. It called on the church to resist the practices of the Camorra. He stated the actions of the clans have: "...left our region with no potential for development…(and) has created gangs of marginalized youth and unskilled workers at the beck and call of criminal organizations".  Don Giuseppe (or Peppe) Diana Oil on canvas by G. Guida (2010) From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license In early 1994, he testified at an investigation which linked the Camorra to local politicians and businessmen. The government suspended the local council in Casal di Principe because of its links to the Camorra. Father Diana threatened to stop administering the sacraments to camorristi. He also sided with the newly elected mayor of Casal di Principe, who was trying to prevent firms connected to the Camorra from receiving public contracts. On March 19, 1994, Father Peppino, as he was affectionately called by his parishioners, was shot twice in the head in the Church of San Nicola di Bari as he prepared to offer Mass on the feast of Saint Joseph. He was 35 years old. The legacy of Father Diana lives on in his writings, as well as those of his contemporaries. On March 20, 2014, twenty years following his assassination, Pope Francis gave a speech urging the mafia to change their ways and repent, and he threatened them with excommunication. After the speech, he donned a priestly ceremonial garment once worn by Father Diana.  Father Giuseppe Diana Minisheet, Scott 1712M (2019) REFERENCES: |
