Eugenio Scarpellini, bishop
Bishop Eugenio Scarpellini of El Alto, Bolivia, died on July 15, 2020, after contracting COVID-19. He was 66.
The Italian-born bishop was remembered by colleagues as a tireless promoter of missions, who worked to improve relations with the government and intervened to defuse tensions in 2019 after protests over election irregularities rocked the South American country.
Scarpellini was hospitalized in El Alto — situated at an elevation of more than 13,000 feet next to the capital, La Paz — but on July 15, he twice suffered "cardiac arrest, and the doctors were unable to do anything."
Scarpellini was born Jan. 8, 1954, in Verdellino, Italy, and ordained in 1978. He was drawn to the priesthood at a young age, telling his parents at his first Communion, &qu...