Returned to Father’s House

Fra Salim Rizkallah, 40 years of service to the least in Lebanon

Our brother Fra Salim Rizkallah returned to Heavenly Father's House on January 21, 2020. "He has been serving the needy, especially immigrants, for more than 40 years," said his nephew Fra Andrea from Lebanon. Fra. Salim’s funeral will be on January 25, 2020.

I was personally touched by Fra Salim when I met him many years ago. He had a great passion for the Capuchin Franciscan family, manifesting the goodness of God to all immigrants and others belonging to different cultures and religions.

He was a very simple and kind friar in his way of speaking, but he had a big heart with which he always tried to help people who suffered. He expressed Franciscan Capuchin goodness with extraordinary enthusiasm and his heart was ready to understand the silence and tears of the poor and abandoned.

He served immigrants, collaborating with Jesuits and other charitable institutions. He had a radio station, the post office, a cell phone with his contact number for any help so that he was able to communicate with immigrants from different countries. The radio station broadcasted various songs, hymns, cultural programs and important information for people who suffered because they were homeless or undocumented. He talked with the officials of the local administration and helped those in need who had lost their documents to find a solution. He had created an intercultural center, where these people could come to see a film about their culture, they could eat something, meet people who could listen to their stories and share a fraternal moment. So this center has become a sacred and comforting place for many people who had no one.

Today Fra Salim Rizkallah is a model of interculturality and fraternal witness for all of us. His spiritual life was always connected with God in Capuchin Franciscan contemplation and prayer. Like Brother Francis and Sister Clare, he already had a fraternal openness and sensitivity towards people of different religions and cultures in the 1970s. Thus he created a respectful environment, open to knowledge, dialogue and training. He wanted everyone to come to the center of interculturality to grow in human values, in respect for other cultures, religions and for human ethics. With his Franciscan goodness and spirituality he inspired many people. The message of Fra Salim's life is this: we must open our hearts to other cultures, to people and religions, learning the beautiful and spiritual things from them. Afterwards we can also share something that Jesus taught us above all about His love and goodness.

Fra. Salim, pray for us!

In this link you will find some more information about his life:
https://www.ofmcap.org/it/curia/nostri-blog/segretariato-generale-della-formazione/item/2986-witnessing-integral-formators-of-our-time

The continuation in:
http://www.sgfcap.org/index.php/documenti/176-an-integral-inspirational-approach-of-fra-salim-rizkallah-ofm-cap

Charles Alphonse Ofm Cap
General Secretary for Formation