Submitted by Val Hiscock on
On Sunday 20 October, a celebration was held in San Colombano al Lambro (Milano) to commemorate the 122nd anniversary of the birth and the 15th anniversary of the beatification of Blessed Don Carlo Gnocchi.
A delegation of Dames and Knights of the Grand Priory of Italy, led by the Grand Prior of Italy, H.E. Basilio Viola GCLJ, took part in the event, accompanying the relics of Blessed Don Carlo in procession and standing in the church as an honour guard during the Holy Mass. The civil and religious authorities present expressed their appreciation and gratitude to the Grand Prior of Italy, for the participation of the Dames and Knights and for the honours bestowed to Blessed Don Carlo.
Extract from the biography of Blessed Don Carlo:
During World War II, he was a military chaplain of the Alpini, the elite mountain warfare soldiers of the Italian Army, and after the tragic experience of the war, he strove to ease the wounds of suffering and misery created by the second World War. Gnocchi felt it his duty to help the children who had been most affected by the war.
He died in 1956, just in time to see the Foundation's project realised.
On 17 January 2009, Pope Benedict XVI recognized a miracle attributed to Gnocchi with a papal decree, a decisive step towards the beatification.
The Fondazione Don Gnocchi is a non-profit, private foundation, established in 1952 for the care of severely wounded child victims of the war. https://www.dongnocchi.it/ricerca-scientifica/scientific-research