Vatican opens beatification cause for ‘witness to charity’

Fr. Roberto Malgesini was an Italian priest known for his work with the poor of Como until his murder in 2020.

The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints has approved the opening of the cause of beatification of Fr. Roberto Malgesini, an Italian priest known for his work with the poor in the city of Como, until his murder in 2020.

The Bishop of Como, Cardinal Oscar Cantoni, announced the news on March 21 during the diocesan Lenten retreat for young people, which was attended by Fr. Malgesini’s sister, Caterina.

Malgesini was stabbed to death by a homeless man with mental health issues as he loaded his car with breakfast items to distribute to the poor near the Church of Saint Rocco, where he served.

A statement from the diocese announcing the open cause did not specify if Malgesini is being considered under a 2017 category by which a candidate for beatification can be considered for making an “offer of life,” losing their lives in the service of charity. Shortly after his killing, Pope Francis praised the priest, calling his death a “martyrdom of this witness of charity toward the poorest.”

His killer was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Speaking on Saturday, Cardinal Cantoni called Malgesini “a man of prayer, a man of hope, a man of meekness.”

“He was not merely a philanthropist. He was first and foremost a priest, happy to be a priest, capable of seeing the face of God in everyone he met, from the children in the chapel to the poor of the city.”

Malgesini was born in the province of Sondrio in 1969, and was ordained a priest in 1998. After serving in several towns, he was appointed parish vicar of Saint Rocco in 2008, where he served until his murder.

His sister said in an interview with official Vatican media on Monday that, even though they were raised in a practicing Catholic family, his parents did not respond well to his decision to enter the seminary at the age of 23, and were concerned about his internal clarity about his priestly vocation.

“He was so convinced of his choice, but of course we were worried. He would not tell us everything, partly so as not to make us worry — he was always very discreet and reserved.”

Malgesini quickly became known for his service to the poor, bringing breakfast to all he could every morning with a group of volunteers in his Fiat Panda, which became a staple in the area.

At one point, local media reported that Malgesini was fined for distributing breakfast to the city’s homeless, allegedly breaking a measure imposed by the city council. The fine was later dismissed.

His body was found near the rectory of Saint Rocco’s church in the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, with several stab wounds, including one to the neck.

According to several testimonies, Malgesini had begun his morning distributing breakfast to the poor, and was attacked as he prepared to load more food and drinks on his car by a man who was waiting for him outside the rectory.

The man, later sentenced to 25 years in prison for Malgesini’s murder, was a homeless man from Tunisia called Ridha Mahmoudi, whom Malgesini had helped until very recently, but who suffered from mental health issues.

Days after his murder, Pope Francis said in his weekly general audience that he united himself “to the sorrow and the prayers of his relatives and to the community” of Como.

“I give praise to God for the witness, that is, for the martyrdom of this witness of charity toward the poorest,” he added.

A month after his death, Francis met with his family, calling Malgesini a priest “who does not seek the limelight but lives the Gospel in concrete terms.”

In a homily during Malgesini’s funeral, Cardinal Cantoni said that Malgesini had been “a father to the poor.”

“He gave everything for the poor, even his own blood… He was a happy man and priest because he had discovered that a way to follow Jesus was that of meeting Him in the living flesh of the poor,” he added.

“Fr. Roberto did not flee from the many crosses of his brothers and sisters. He did not make long speeches about his poor, nor did he distinguish between good and bad, between our own and foreigners, between Christians and those of other faiths… He loved to act quietly, almost in secret, in complete discretion,” he said.

Cantoni highlighted Malgesini’s joy.

“I remember Fr. Roberto as a happy priest. Happy to love Jesus by serving him in the poor, refugees, the homeless, prisoners, and prostitutes.”

The Diocese of Como has witnessed the tragic deaths of several priests and religious in recent decades while serving those in need. In 1999, Father Renzo Beretta was killed by a homeless man to whom he had been offering assistance.

The following year, Sister Laura Mainetti was murdered by a group of young women in a satanic ritual after being lured by a false plea for help from one of them, who claimed to be pregnant. Sister Laura was beatified in 2021.

“Saints follow one another,” said Cantoni when announcing the opening of the beatification cause. “I am convinced that Father Roberto was a ‘saint next door,’ for his simplicity, for the loving kindness with which he reached out to everyone, for the esteem he received from so many people, even non-believers and non-Christians.”