Only death was capable of eliminating the smile from Fr Joshua Muscat's face, as the 27-year-old priest succumbed to cancer last Monday, two years after the priest he replaced in Nichelino, Italy, suffered the same fate.

Fr Joshua from Nadur was sent in 2007 to serve in the parish on the outskirts of Turin to fill the shoes of another much-loved Gozitan priest, Fr Joe Galea, who had died following a brief illness after serving the parish for 25 years.

Fr Joshua never abandoned his parishioners in Turin even though he spent the last year in Gozo battling an aggressive bone cancer before he died.

Described by his brother Paul as "unassuming" and "always ready to listen", Fr Joshua left a big impact on the community in Nichelino despite the relatively brief period he spent there.

"He continued with his pastoral work through the internet. He used to chat and communicate with parishioners by e-mail. He was always online, with a good word for somebody who needed it," Paul Muscat said.

A Facebook group set up after Fr Joshua's death has already notched up 1,589 members in less than a week bringing together people from Nichelino and Malta. On another website, Nichelino online, parishioner Enrico recalls Fr Joshua's character.

"You always had a smile during joyous moments, but also in the period when you carried your cross, which you accepted with impressive strength and faith," Enrico reminisced.

Members of the tight-knit Nichelino community came to see Fr Joshua in recent days and were present at his funeral last Wednesday.

The Gozitan priest's sister, Nathalie, said she would remember his strong will to live: "He was always smiling and even during his illness always made an effort to joke and cheer up my children despite the pain he was going through. He was a man of few words but he had a strong will," she said.

The sentiment was shared by Deacon Maximilian Grech, who had studied with Fr Joshua at the Gozo seminary for two years.

"He never complained despite the pain he was in. Whenever I used to ask him how he felt, he was always positive. He did everything the doctors told him to do to try and get better but he was at peace with himself. He accepted the suffering as God's will," Fr Grech said.

He described Fr Joshua as a person of strong values, very determined and who used every occasion to be a witness to Christ.

For Fr Joshua, "every occasion" meant getting involved with the Nichelino community, its scout group and the football club, which had been set up by his predecessor.

"He loved sport and football in particular. He supported Juventus and it was not the first time that I went up with him to watch them play," Paul Muscat said, recalling that one of the altar gifts presented during his brother's funeral mass last Wednesday was a Juventus T-shirt signed by all the squad's players.

In fact one of the last things Fr Joshua did was watch the Juventus vs Roma league match on television with his brother. It was the day before he died, Paul Muscat said, and he was happy that the Turin team won.

Fr Joshua's intention was always to let God guide his path, Paul Muscat said, and at the end that is what he did.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com