In the afternoon of 23 August of the year of the Lord 2019, at the age of 88, after a period of a patiently endured illness Fr. Vincenzo Santalucia TOR gave his soul to God. He was supported by the affectionate and loving care of Fr. Paolo Raviotta, with whom he shared a good part of his religious life.
Fr. Vincenzo was born in Montalbano Elicona on 24 September 1930, the son of Gaetano and Fortunata Santamaria. On 10 December 1930 he received Holy Baptism. While still a child, he came to know the friars of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis in our Seraphic College “Jesus Ecce Homo” of Calvaruso (ME). There he, on 10 September 1942, made his studies. Sensing the vocation of special consecration, he completed his novitiate year in Sciacca in the Convento del Giglio, and made his profession of the evangelical counsels on 4 December 1948. Returning to Calvaruso, he completed his middle school education, and, in Rome, his high school studies. Finally, again in Sciacca, he completed a period of internship in our College, where he made his solemn profession on 11 April 1951. In Rome, he completed his philosophical and theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, obtaining a Licentiate in Theology. On 14 July 1957, he was ordained a priest. He exercised his priestly ministry briefly in Syracuse at the Collegio S. Maria, but mainly at the Chiesa del Giglio in the town of Sciacca, where he moved in 1960 to serve as Prefect for the discipline of boys.
On 21 June 1968 he graduated from the University of Palermo, with a degree in literature. He devoted himself to teaching in the Seraphic College. He later served a professor of history and philosophy at the classical literature lyceum T. Fazzello and at the E. Fermi School. Since 1986, he had taught at the Superior Institute of Religious Sciences in Agrigento.
He was called to occupy positions of great responsibility within the Order: several times he was local minister, Provincial Minister (1976-1984, 2000-2004); Vicar Provincial (1988-1996, 2004-2008). He participated in the General Chapter in 1977, 1983, 1989, and in 2001. At the General Chapter of 1995, he was elected Definitor General. On 15 December 2006, Minister General Ilija Živković awarded him the title of Magister Ordinis. In 1987, the Bishop of Agrigento appointed him Episcopal Vicar for consecrated life and the following year, Chaplain of the district house of Sciacca.
A far-sighted man of profound intuition and prudence in the service to the Church, he harmonized the demands of faith with those of reason, demonstrating, by word and example, the beauty of adhering to the liberating message of the Gospel. On the occasion of the VIII centenary of the birth of the Poor Man of Assisi (1982) he promoted a series of religious, artistic and cultural events involving the students of the city and revitalizing the Franciscan message.
He had a profound sense of belonging to the Order, rediscovering its charism both through the research and historical studies in which he was engaged and in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the presence of the TOR friars in Sciacca (1585-1985). On that occasion, with the help of other confreres, he offered to all citizens a mission to the people, inviting laity and religious missionaries to joyfully announce the Gospel in the family. With the help of the faithful and the Institutions, he embellished the Church and the Convent and encouraged the cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He later assigned some rooms of the College to house the patients of the S. Maria del Giglio Nursing Home suffering from mental illnesses. Among the pastoral initiatives that bore fruit over time and left an impression – the care of the Secular Franciscan Order, the Franciscan Youth, the ministry of Preaching and Confessions should be mentioned. Liturgical celebrations were made even more solemn thanks to the obtainment of a pipe organ and the re-foundation of the polyphonic choir of S. Maria del Giglio. Starting in 1996, in the time of Lent, he re-launched the pious exercise of the “seven last words” of Jesus on the Cross, entrusting the reflections, highly appreciated by the faithful who filled the Church, to speakers of clear fame and strong intellectual and literary gifts. In his last years, even if tested by illness, he never completely neglected his attendance with the faithful, many of whom were his former students. He faced his disease with great patience and strength of spirit.
On 24 August, the Provincial Minister, Fr. Filippo Todaro presided over his funeral, in the Church, crowded with the faithful and in the presence of the whole clergy of the city and numerous brothers from various parts of Sicily. At the end of the celebration, some faithful, including the former Honorary Minister Calogero Mannino, paid tribute to the memory of the loving departed, remembering his human, spiritual and religious qualities.
His mortal remains lie in the cemetery of Sciacca in the Chapel of the Friars of the TOR, which he designed; awaiting the resurrection, which he desired.