Pace was born on 16 May 1862 in
Paglieta. In 1879, Camillo enlisted in the
Guardia di Finanza. Upon his discharge from military service, he turned to
trade. His encounter with Protestantism and the
Plymouth Brethren took place in
Pescara where he began studying
theology, which he furthered in
London and
Plymouth. From 1889, Pace began
evangelizing in
Abruzzo to Paglieta,
Gissi,
Lanciano and Pescara. In 1925, he moved with his wife Lucia Pace form Pescara to
Florence, where he took part as leader of the "Istituto Comandi", a center founded in 1876 by
Giuseppe Comandi as an
orphanage. In 1928, Pace published a
religious treaty about
Augustine of Hippo. In 1930, along with
Gino Veronesi, Pace became the Director of the "Ebenezer", a newspaper printed by the Istituto Comandi which, despite its Plymouth Brethren roots, published articles open to most important social and human activities and gave voice to the
Protestant anti-Nazi resistance in Germany. Before his
Religious conversion, Pace had belonged to a
Masonic Lodge. This was held against him by the Italian Fascists, as were his alleged
sermons opposing the war. In 1939, he was charged with being
anti-fascist and was subsequently deported to
Calabria in 1942. He accepted the persecution without rebelling, believing that to be the will of
God. At the end of the war he returned to Pescara. Camillo had five children. His descendants include
Aurelio Pace, a member of the
Partito d'Azione in Florence, an historian of
UNESCO and father of founder of the "Filtranisme", the artist
Joseph Pace, and
Mario Vonviller of the Plymouth Brethren in
Switzerland. Camillo Pace died in 1948 in Pescara, then 86, in the house of his son Aurelio Pace, who fought as an Italian Officer with the British
Eighth Army in Italy in
World War II. == References ==