With deep sadness I wish to inform the faithful that His Grace Archbishop Giuseppe De Andrea passed away yesterday evening in Rome at the age of 86. His Grace was hospitalised following an emergency on 29th June. The funeral will take place in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, at 10:00 am on Friday, 1st July 2016.

Archbishop De Andrea came to Kuwait in 1999 to take up his responsibility first as chargé d'affaires and later as apostolic nuncio and delegate to the arabian peninsula. He retired after my appointment as bishop in 2005. Since retiring, Archbishop De Andrea served as an assessor for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and senior canon at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

I was full of admiration for His Grace, both, for his personal qualities and because he served the Church tirelessly. For me, he will always be a model bishop who was dedicated to God and to the people.

May God grant his soul eternal rest.

+Camillo Ballin, mccj