Gizo, Solomon Islands, Jan 7, 2019 / 19:00 pm
Known as the "flying bishop" of Solomon Islands, Bishop Luciano Capelli visits Catholics across dozens of islands by piloting a small airplane he also uses to deliver food and medicine.
Capelli, an Italian, was a Salesian missionary in the Philippines for 35 years before coming to the Diocese of Gizo in October 2007. He arrived six months after an earthquake destroyed homes, schools, and churches across the Solomon Islands, a nation of nearly 1,000 islands in Oceania.
"My first task was to encourage the people to rebuild the cathedral, the seven parishes and the 12 schools," he explained in an interview with the Missioni Don Bosco portal.
The Diocese of Gizo is comprised of some 40 islands with a total population of 136,347 inhabitants, 11 percent of which are Catholics, i.e. about 15,000.