Br. Andrea Dovio OFM Knight of the Italian Republic

On the 11th December 2024, at the Provincial Council Hall of Perugia, the ceremony for the awarding of the honours of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic took place. Amongst the 22 awardees, also Br. Andrea Dovio, Secretary of the Seraphic Province of St. Francis of Assisi.

Br. Andrea Dovio - surgeon, graduated in Medicine and Surgery in Turin in 2000, with a PhD and a Specialization in Internal Medicine - distinguished himself for his activity as a volunteer doctor during the Covid-19 health emergency both in 2020 - with his activity at the Tortona hospital - and in 2021, after responding to the Civil Protection call to serve at the Città di Castello hospital in the sub-intensive care unit.

Also present at the ceremony were Br. Francesco Piloni, Minister of the Seraphic Province of St. Francis of Assisi, Br. Saul Tambini, Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Angels and Director of the Porziuncola Museum, Br. Dario Garioni, Provincial Bursar, and Walter Bianchi, engaged in the restoration work of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Angels as security coordinator.

It was the Prefect of Perugia Armando Gradone who conferred the recognition on Br. Andrea Dovio with the decree of the President of the Republic, together with the vice-mayor of Assisi Valter Stoppini.

"Once, in their simplicity," the Prefect of Perugia began in his heartfelt speech, addressing the 22 honorees, "our parents used to use the expression 'you have done yourself proud', that is, 'you have done your job by giving the best of yourself'; and that is what this recognition means: each one in your field has given the best of himself. But I remember that there is no "exemplary" service that is not also aimed at the community, as an element of growth in society. This recognition also underlines your responsibility to continue to be an example for others."

"I was already Provincial Secretary when the epidemic broke out," says Fr. Andrea, recounting his service in hospitals in the emergency phase of the pandemic, "and the requests for doctors in the wards were multiplying: I was immediately struck by the stories of those who left as volunteers in that electrified moment, where little was actually known about the virus. I could not help but think of St. Francis, of that service to lepers that had been so crucial for his vocation, and of the many religious who over the centuries, like Manzoni's Fra Cristoforo, had done their utmost to serve the plague victims."

The Minister Provincial at the time was Br. Claudio Durighetto, now Procurator General. "He granted me the request to leave, after a long inner struggle of mine: the fear of dying, and secondarily that of not being up to it. But I understood that listening to fear meant being content to survive, whilst listening to the deepest desires of the heart would lead me to experience something more and better: something of Jesus' promise of a life in abundance, a taste of that eternal life that can defy death."

At the conclusion of the ceremony, the delegation of the Friars Minor was welcomed at the office of the new President of the Umbria Region, Stefania Proietti, who congratulated Br. Andrea Dovio for the recognition received and requested a special blessing from the Minister Provincial at the small private chapel adjacent to his office.

From the www.assisiofm.it website