Angelo Buccarello

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Angelo Buccarello, OSST, was born on 12 May 1942 in Castrignano del Capo, Italy. He joined the Trinitarian Order in 1955, began his novitiate in 1959, studied philosophy in Rome and theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, and was ordained a priest on 28 June 1968. He went to Madagascar in 1969 as a missionary, helping communities, evangelizing, and teaching the faith.

In 1981 he returned to Antananarivo to train young Trinitarians. In 1983 he was named Chaplain of the prisons in Antananarivo and became the Catholic Chaplain for the Prisons of Madagascar. He founded the Catholic Chaplaincy for Prisons (ACP), based at Tonga Soa, to help detainees and their families. ACP is recognized by Madagascar’s government as an NGO, with Buccarello as its founding president. He worked with ACP for 32 years in Madagascar, including 20 years in Antananarivo, before leaving in 2001.

Back in Rome, he was elected general counsellor of the Trinitarian Order and later became President of Trinitarian International Solidarity, focusing on liberation work. He received the French Human Rights Prize in 1996 from President Jacques Chirac. He also served on Madagascar’s National Commission for Human Rights and was decorated Knight and Officer of the National Malagasy Order. In 2000, Madagascar granted amnesty and freed about 3,000 prisoners during the Jubilee Year, a move supported by Buccarello and the Rêve 2000 group, with backing from bishops and the government.