Memoirs of a Catholic Priest from India

In 2021, Father Pedro Camilo Simoes, SAC, known to all as Father Camilo, was assigned to my parish in Palm Harbor, Florida. Society was beginning to slowly emerge from a yearlong quarantine due to the coronavirus disease, better known as Covid-19. I decided to celebrate the release of confinement by planning a trip to a European destination that had been on my bucket list for many years. My plans included a 15-day trip in December 2021 to three major cities in Italy – Milan, Florence, and Rome. When I shared my plans with Father Camilo, he immediately provided an address to the church of Saint Vincent Pallotti in Rome and arranged for me to meet some of the priests at this church. This was the start of my introduction to Saint Vincent Pallotti and the Pallottine Fathers.

Shortly after my return from Italy, my book entitled Mary’s Life Journey & Her Amazing Yes! was published. This was my first book in the religion category. When I shared my book with Father Camilo, he shared his writings, some of which were published in India, and the encouragement he received from some of his friends to publish his stories in the United States. As I learned more about Father Camilo’s life story and his experiences, I, too, felt that his story needed to be told. For this reason, we formed a writing partnership and embarked on a one-year journey to share the life experiences of Father Camilo. Although he insisted that his life was not that important or exciting, as he told his stories, I was intrigued as I learned about his homeland and his many travels around the world.

Father Camilo is from India. Many of us think we know India by recalling the dedication and success of Saint Mother Teresa or remembering the beautiful pictures of the Taj Mahal. However, through Father Camilo’s story, I have learned the breadth and depth of India’s history and rich Catholic heritage.

As of this writing, Hinduism is the most prevalent religion in India, with 79.8% of the population practicing what is known to be the oldest religion in the world. Islam is the next largest religious group in India, with 14.2% of the population. Christianity is responsible for 2.3% of the population. This group includes over 20 million Catholics. The total number of Catholic priests in India in 2020 was 21,100. According to Church tradition, Catholicism was brought to India by Saint Thomas the Apostle in 51 AD.

Father Camilo is one of many Indian priests now serving in the United States of America. As a priest for more than three decades, Father Camilo served nine years as Provincial of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate. Divine Threads: My Journey of Faith and Blessings is Father Camilo’s story on how Catholicism impacted his life in a country dominated by a different religion, his decision to become a priest in his early years, and his role and continued appointment at a young age as the provincial of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province of his Order known as the Society of the Catholic Apostolate.

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