euskalkultura.eus

07/04/2015 - Kanbo, Lapurdi

After some months of fighting the disease, father Joseph Camino died Saturday, July 4th, 2015, at 88 years old. Born in Arnegi (Lower Navarre), he was a priest, for more than a decade vicar general of the Diocese of Bayonne, also a conscient Basque and supporter of the Basque language and culture. He loved singing specially in family gatherings surrounded by family and friends; and preserving the Basque customs and traditions he inherited from his family in the mountains of Arnegi and Luzaide. He wrote and published books and articles in Basque and French, and was also a honorary member of Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language.

Being a Baxenavarrese from Arnegi he was closely linked to the Basque Diaspora, coming from an area that in the last century and a half sent much of its population to the Americas, particularly to the United States. In addition to numerous neighbors and many other paternal and maternal relatives, two of his brothers, Martin (+) and Denis, emigrated to America, specifically to the town of Buffalo, in Wyoming. In 2002, being vicar general of the Diocese of Bayonne, he accompanied the then Bishop Pierre Moleres on a visit to the Basque communities in the Western US throught the states of Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California.

UPDATE 09/07/2015: The funeral of Joseph Road has been carried out on Wednesday, July 8 at the Church of Kanbo (Cambo), with a Catholic Mass concelebrated by 80 priests, leaded by the current bishop of the diocese of Bayonne Marc Aillet, and bishop Emeritus Pierre Moleres. Moleres, born otside the Basque Country, in Landes, got as pretty good command of Basque while he was bishop in  Bayonne and gave much of his sermon in Euskara. The church was packed and speakers were placed outside for those who had to follow the ceremony from the street. From the United States, his niece Kate Camino came to Kanbo and to the family home in Arnegi-Argaraia to participate on behalf of the American family in the last farewell to her beloved Otto Joseph.

GB