The sudden death of longstanding Catholic priest, Father Richard Woodarek earlier this month, caused many to worry about the fate of the Phuket Catholic community and even more to be surprised that there even was one.

Italy-born Father Ferdinando Ronconi, who worked alongside Father Richard, assured the Post that services would resume as normal and that - at least to him ? his colleague and good friend?s passing was not a surprise.

?I?d known him ever since I arrived in Thailand back in 1972, he had a good character. His death wasn?t a shock; he?d had problems with his heart for many years. We were all expecting it as during Mass he often used to faint.?

The taking of Mass at the Assumption Church in Phuket town is just one of the duties that Father Ferdinando will now be taking over.

?It?s the only real church in Phuket; it?s the mother so it definitely needs to continue. The Sacred Heart Catholic Chapel in Patong will also run as normal.?

Ever since Father Ferdinando finished high school in his native city of Verona, Italy, he was quite clear of his path, just not so sure of the destination.

?When one wants to become a priest, after the regular schooling, you study two years of Philosophy and four years of Theology, and then the church asks you what you want to become. I said I wanted to be a missionary, and the church assigned me to Thailand in 1972.?

After stints in Trang, Ranong and Bangkok, Father Ferdinando settled in Phuket to where he now resides, and sometimes gives classes, at the Dowroong Wittaya School.

As well as taking over the late Father Richard?s duties of performing Mass and wedding ceremonies, Father Ferdinando also travels around the island donating bags of rice to around 35 poor families every Friday.

Surprisingly, only three of which are Catholics, ?We separate faith and charity; I don?t want to be buying their faith, at those times I don?t even talk about Christianity.?

His life as a missionary is perhaps far from what one may assume it to be, ?We don?t really go around knocking on doors anymore. Sometimes they come here and ask us for help, if they want to become Catholic and learn about the faith they will come and find us.?

This typically occurs whenever a Thai family wishes their offspring to follow in their or in fact adopt a whole new religious tradition. ?They tend to bring their child to the school or to one of the places of worship, and we will talk to the parents about whether they know what Catholicism is and if they really know what they are doing.?

He added that, ?At about 6, 7, 8 years old, we will baptise them and they will start attending Mass and learning about the faith, and then at 10 ? 12 years old they will take communion.?

Central to this philosophy, is that parents and then their children do so completely of their own volition.

?Christianity is on radio, TV, newspapers and the internet; people know that if they wish to learn more about it they can, we don?t force it. Even if we put up large billboard signs, more people will not necessarily come.?

This refreshing no-pressure approach is at the core of Father Ferdinando?s preaching and view of Catholicism as a whole.

Underpinning this philosophy is his view that the recent decline of church-goer numbers in Europe is not necessarily a particularly negative thing, ?Although 20 years ago, churches were full, if we were to ask why they actually went, we would get many ?I don?t know? answers. It?s much better now, as many people believe because they want to believe.?

He added that this freedom to choose religion, or not, was undoubtedly a good thing, ?In a way, all the faiths are improving along with their quality of followers. Instead of just accepting Catholicism or Buddhism or Islam as fact and as part of tradition, now people are questioning the concept of faith and asking why.?