Mossèn Ramon Rossell Celebrates 60 Years of Service in Andorra's Canillo Parish

Mossèn Ramon Rossell marked 60 years of pastoral service in Canillo parish on Sunday with an emotional eucharistic celebration and tribute attended by Andorran authorities and parishioners.

The event at Sant Serni church drew a full but not overcrowded congregation, including Síndic General Carles Ensenyat, Canillo ministers Guillem Casal and Mònica Bonell, Cònsol Major Jordi Alcobé, and various general and communal councillors. It featured a review of Rossell's ministry, highlighted by anecdotes from his arrival in Canillo on the first Sunday of 1966 from Coll de Nargó, when the parish had just 500 residents and Andorra around 14,000.

In his homily, Rossell reflected on key moments, such as founding the Aina summer camps in 1982 to promote companionship and values. He credited "the coffee from the village people" for his learning, noting that "by serving, you learn." He quipped that he never had a formal parish council—"some other rectors might disagree, but my parish council was the coffee"—and stressed that "life means being humble, learning, serving, and loving like Jesus." Emphasising humility as the path to growth, he added, "No one is greater than the one who kneels before the Father." After six decades, he declared his gratitude: "Today, it is I who give thanks to you all."

Alcobé described the day as "one of joy" and Rossell as "a reference figure for a parish and a country." He praised the priest's integration into local life—swapping his cassock for football trousers or riding a motorbike—his support for vulnerable people, his writing, and his endurance through generational changes while always seeking a better society.

The tribute concluded with the inauguration of an exhibition displaying around 60 photographs from Rossell's personal life.