Bishop Ballin to be interred in family tomb at Fontaniva on 15 April

Abu Dhabi.

In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, the funeral rites and a solemn requiem mass for Bishop Ballin with the presence of the faithful will be organized at a later date when the situation regains normalcy, according to a statement issued by Fr. Anthony Lopez, the Chancellor of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia.

Prior to the transfer to Fontaniva from Rome, there will also be a brief moment of farewell prayer with the body at the Generalate of the Comboni Missionaries in Rome.

Fr. P. M. Peter OFM Cap., the Vicar General of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia, said yesterday that Bishop Camillo’s health had suddenly taken a turn for the worse on 4 February during a Pastoral Visit to one of the many territories of the Northern Vicariate, which spans four countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia). Though briefly admitted in a local hospital, the Bishop was moved to Rome for better treatment on 9 February.

Fr. Peter was also able to spend two days with Bishop Ballin in February while the Bishop was at the Comboni Generalate and had communication with him till 17 March. He recollected that the Bishop was strong and hopeful during the initial period of the treatment at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome. On 7 April, however, due to failing consciousness, the Bishop was moved to the palliative care unit at the Hospice Villa Speranza, where he also breathed his last. 

Msgr. Camillo Ballin mccj. was aged 76, when he passed away on Easter Sunday, 12 April 2020 at 10:00 pm in Rome, Italy.  

Born on 24 June 1944 in Fontaniva, Padua, Italy, Bishop Ballin was ordained a Priest of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus on 30 March 1969. He began his priestly apostleship in Cairo in 1971, where he served till 1977 after which he continued his studies in Lebanon and Rome for his Licentiate in Oriental liturgy. He served as a professor at the Institute of Theology in Cairo from 1981 to 1990. At the same time, he was also the provincial superior of the Comboni Missionaries in Egypt. 

Bishop Ballin founded a training institute for religious teachers in 1990 in Sudan. After obtaining a doctorate in Church History from Rome, where he researched on the history of the Church in Sudan during the Mahdiyyah era, in 2000, he was appointed the Director of the Dar Comboni Center of Arab and Islamic Studies in Cairo, Egypt. In 2004, he also published two of his many written works in Arabic: "The Ways of the Spirit" and "History of the Church".

On 14 July 2005, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the Vicar Apostolic of Kuwait and assigned to him the Titular See of Arna. He was ordained as the Bishop at the Holy Family Cathedral, Kuwait City on 02 September 2005. On 31 May 2011, he became the first Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia which includes the territories of Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. 

Bishop Ballin was a devoted shepherd, missionary and scholar specialising in inter-religious dialogue and interfaith relations. He travelled extensively throughout his Vicariate and was always available to his faithful. In August 2012, the Bishop transferred his residence from Kuwait to Bahrain, where the generosity of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa presented him with a Bahraini passport and 9000 sq m. of land for a Cathedral on 11 February 2013. The Kingdom of Bahrain is one of the few GCC countries to have a local Christian population since 1930.

Bishop Ballin was also instrumental in petitioning and obtaining from Rome the privilege of the Blessed Virgin, under the title “Our Lady of Arabia” proclaimed as the Patroness of both the Northern and Southern Vicariates on 5 January 2011 and a Solemnity celebrated in her honour on the Saturday preceding the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time.