OBITUARY OF BROTHER PASCUAL PILES FERRANDO

SUPERIOR GENERAL OF THE HOSPITALLER ORDER OF ST JOHN OF GOD

from 1994 to 2006.

He died at the age of 77 years and 56 years of Religious profession, on 28 December 2021, at the Residence for Retired Brothers, at the St John of God Hospital in Zaragoza.

Born at Benifaió (Valencia) on 8 September 1944, he entered the Postulancy in St. Boi de Llobregat at the age of 24. After completing the Novitiate in Calafell, he made his simple profession in October 1965, and his solemn profession at St. Boi in 1971. On 4 May 1974 he was ordained priest in the chapel of the St John of God Hospital in Barcelona.

In 1974 he was appointed Master of Novices, and at the following Chapter he was elected 2nd Provincial Councillor and Master of Scholastics. At the 1983 Chapter he was elected Provincial of the Province of Aragon – St Raphael.

At the 1988 General Chapter he was elected 1st General Councillor and moved to Rome. A the following Chapter at Santa Fe de Bogotá in October 1994, he was elected Superior General of the Order.  This appointment was renewed for a second sexennium at the General Chapter held in Granada in November 2000.

Having completed his service to the Order as Superior General, he returned to his home Province in November 2006, and at the Provincial Chapter in April 2007 he was once again elected Provincial Superior of the Province of Aragon – St Raphael, and was re-elected at the 2010 Provincial Chapter.

At the 2014 Chapter he was appointed Novice Master of Spain at the Fundación Instituto San José in Madrid.

In June 2016, he resigned his office as Formator for health reasons, and joined the "Jesús Abandonado" Community at the Murcia Centre. As his health gradually deteriorated, in May 2019 he was transferred to the Brothers' Residence in Zaragoza to receive the care he needed. While at this Residence, his condition worsened considerably, leading to his death on 28 December 2021. Two days later, his funeral was presided over by Brother José Luis Redrado – Bishop and Secretary Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers – in the presence of Brother Jesús Etayo, the Superior General of the Order, Brother Amador Fernández, the Provincial Superior, Fr Manuel Almor, the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese of Zaragoza, and five other priests, some from the Order and others friends of the Order close to Brother Pascual. The Brothers of the Zaragoza Community and a large number of Co-workers were also present, as well as a substantial group of Brothers and Co-workers from different Houses of the Order in Spain. Also present were a large numbers of his relatives, his brothers and his sister, and his nephews and nieces. 

The homily was preached by Brother Jesús Etayo who spoke from his personal experience having been closely linked to Brother Pascual Piles from the beginning of his vocational journey. He had no hesitation in describing him as a "father, teacher, brother and friend", to whom he looked back in gratitude and with emotion.

The large chapel of the Centre was practically full, even though the people had been urged in advance to avoid attending as far as possible, in view of the Covid-19 pandemic at the time, especially over that particular period in which there had been a significant rise in the infection rates throughout Europe. In order to alleviate this problem, the ceremony was broadcast through thematic channels but the coverage was unable to meet the great demand for links from so many members of the St John of God Family, Brothers, Co-workers and friends all over the world.

Practically from his first steps in the Order, Brother Pascual Piles Ferrando became involved in formation and, above all, in governance. Hardly had he completed his studies and had been ordained to the priesthood, he was chosen to undertake these services. Initially in the Province of Aragon – St Raphael, to which he belonged, and shortly afterwards at the General Curia. It was only the onset of illness that made him give up these services.

His capacity for hard work was legendary. He was an early riser, and undertook much of his work and his studies before sunrise. He did not spare himself to honour his commitments, appearances and attendances that he considered appropriate and the many others that were required of him in various areas of the Order and the Church. He always endeavoured to keep himself up-to-date through careful continuing formation, urging the Brothers to do likewise throughout his life.

A man with an endearing nature, he enjoyed being among people with whom he immediately empathised thanks to his simplicity, affability and friendliness with which he always revealed. Everyone talked about “Brother Piles’ perennial smile". Everything he did bore the stamp of universality, typical of John of God’s hospitality. His friendships ranged from high-ranking civil and ecclesiastical dignitaries – with whom he often had to interact by virtue of his position – to the co-workers, the sick and their loved ones in all our centres. Naturally, his friendliness endeared him to every Brother in the Order, the vast majority of whom he always remembered individually, knowing their life events. He was a universal man who knew the Order like the back of his hand, and the Order knew him.

Among his many contributions to the different aspects of the Order, the most important were the drafting and dissemination of the Order’s “Charter of Hospitality" (2000), and "The Path of Hospitality in the Manner of St. John of God" (2004) – two crucial benchmarks dealing with the spirituality and mission which are essential to defining the Order's identity, and which he promoted with such great commitment. He addressed many Letters to the whole Order, of great depth of both style and substance, to animate the consecrated life of the Brothers and of the mission of Hospitality of the whole Family of St John of God. We would like highlight two of them in particular: The Power of Charity in 1995, and Be Led by the Spirit in 1996. These reflections are still topically relevant today for the whole Order.

His character was always welcoming and inclusive, always seeking to reach out to others, to involve everyone, and to build up hospitality above any other personal interests. He enjoyed working as part of a team, even if it was not always easy to keep up with him, given his personal involvement and his demanding nature.

But above all, Brother Pascual Piles was a man of God. He was a Religious through and through, who ensured that his personal likings were perfectly set within the framework of the universality of the Charism. He lived an austere life, far removed from fashion, luxuries and whims.

He was a deeply prayerful Brother. He lived his prayer life in total fidelity, often early in the morning – not infrequently before first light. Drawing on the Word of God in prayer and unhurried medication based on the liturgy of the day, he prepared to animate the liturgy for that day and the day that was just dawning. These were prayers that sprang from the depths of his heart, and were undoubtedly the wellspring on which he drew for his serene, balanced life, bathed in the hospitality that was wholly John of God’s. With a deep personal familiarity with our Founder, St John of God, his daily life and all his deeds irradiated a life lived consistently as a disciple of his Founder.

Stricken by sickness with all the limitations this entailed, he spent his final years serenely and peacefully, surrounded by the other Brothers living at the Residence. He may have lost his health, "but he never lost his smile".

Brother Pascual was a true gift of our Lord to the Hospitaller Order and everything that has grown up around it. A gift to the Church which he loved dearly, as the Superior General emphasised in his homily on the day of his funeral, noting the large number of emails, letters and messages from all over the world expressing condolences to the whole Order, and pointing out the many human, religious and Hospitaller values of Brother Pascual Piles, as well as the huge positive impact he had had on everyone, whatever their station in life, who had known him. 

General Curia of the Brothers of St John of God

Rome, 10 January 2022