Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God FRANCESCO PALEARI

Saturday, September 17, at 10.00, in the Church of the House of Divine Providence in Turin H. E. Most Rev. CARDINAL ANGELO AMATO, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will preside over the rite of Beatification of the Venerable Servant of God FRANCESCO PALEARI Priest of the Cottolengo Institute of Turin Franciscan tertiary

Biographical Profile

Francis Paleari was born in Pogliano Milanese in the Archdiocese of Milan on October 22, 1863; he was brought up in a truly Christian family peaceful, joyful, and well-disposed in nature.

On January 8, 1877, he entered the Seminary of the Little House of Divine Providence in Turin, founded by St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo. This seminary, placed under the protection of St. Thomas Aquinas – hence its name, “Family of Tommasini,” – welcomed aspirants to the priesthood without financial resources.

Having completed his theological studies with great results, Father Francis was ordained a priest on September 18, 1886. He served in the Little House of Divine Providence as a teacher, confessor, and spiritual director of young seminarians. He showed himself inspired in all things by the same spirit of charity that moved the Holy Founder who loved to help the poor, materially and spiritually, with boundless trust in Divine Providence.

He carried out important tasks for the Archdiocese of Turin as Pro-Vicar General, Vicar for the Nuns, and Promoter of Justice. He joined the Third Order Franciscan in the early years of his priesthood, renewing his membership to it in both 1920 and 1927.

The last three years of his life were marked by illness, which did not prevent him, nonetheless, from exercising his mission as a confessor. He died on May 7, 1939, in the Little House of Providence in Turin

The cause of beatification begun in 1947 was entrusted to Rev. Br. Antonio Cairoli, Postulator General, OFM, in 1980.