Raimondo Calcagno

The priestly ministry of Father Raimondo Calcagno is entirely placed under the sign of pastoral charity and the education of disadvantaged youth. Upon his ordination in 1914, he founded the "San Filippo Neri" Oratory-recreation center in Chioggia, a center for leisure and Christian education intended to rescue street children from poverty and idleness. There, he deployed an innovative pedagogy inspired by Saint Philip Neri and Saint John Bosco, using games, singing, theater, storytelling, and the local dialect to transmit the faith and moral values.

In 1921, he accepted the direction of the "San Gerolamo Emiliani" patronage in Chioggia, an institution that welcomed extremely poor children and the orphans of fishermen. Affectionately nicknamed "il prete dei fioi" (the priest of the children) by the local population, he spent himself without counting the cost to ensure them an education, shelter, and a dignified future.

Alongside his work with the youth, Father Calcagno assumed various ecclesial responsibilities. He was appointed spiritual director of the diocesan seminary on January 10, 1932, a task he would fulfill with wisdom for many years. He was also appointed diocesan director of the Apostolic Union of the Clergy and the Adoring Priests in August 1932. His spiritual influence extended beyond the borders of his diocese: he was called twice to Palermo (in 1931 and 1936) to support and reform the local Oratorian congregation.

In February 1948, in obedience to his superiors, he temporarily left Chioggia to settle in Verona. There, he was appointed pastor and provost (preposito) of the local Oratorian community, which had been severely tested by the destruction of the Second World War. In Verona, he worked to restore the community materially and spiritually and became the spiritual director of the institute of the "Poverette della Casa di Nazareth" (the Little Poor Women of the House of Nazareth), a religious congregation founded by Father Filippo Bardellini.

In 1957, he returned to Chioggia, where he was re-elected provost of his original community. Despite his age and declining health, he resumed his apostolate among the youth and seminarians with the same zeal.

Father Raimondo Calcagno passed away piously on Saturday, July 18, 1964, in Chioggia, at the age of 76, after a long and painful illness that had confined him to bed for more than a year. Faithful to his love for children, while he was in his agony and those around him tried to silence the cries of the children playing under his windows in the oratory courtyard, he uttered his famous last words: "Lasciateli giocare" ("Let them play").

The reputation of holiness of Father Calcagno, already firmly established during his lifetime, continued to grow after his death. On November 7, 1991, the cause for canonization was officially opened at the diocesan level in Chioggia under the episcopate of Bishop Alfredo Magarotto. During this diocesan process, 66 witnesses were heard to attest to his heroic virtues. The diocesan inquiry was officially closed on April 25, 1994, in the Cathedral of Chioggia by the local bishop, and the acts of the process were sent to Rome to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On November 7, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of the virtues of Father Raimondo Calcagno, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

Subsequently, a diocesan process regarding an alleged miracle attributed to his intercession (the unexplained healing of a sick person) was opened. This diocesan process "Super miro" was officially closed on May 28, 2017, by Bishop Adriano Tessarollo, Bishop of Chioggia. In March 2019, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome signed the decree of legal validity for the acts of this diocesan inquiry, paving the way for the scientific and theological examination of the healing with a view to a future beatification.

The spirituality of the Venerable Raimondo Calcagno is deeply rooted in the Oratorian charism of Saint Philip Neri: a holiness of daily life, characterized by simplicity, Christian joy, humility, and boundless charity. He loved to repeat: "Holiness consists in doing the ordinary things of life with great love for God."

His legacy is particularly alive in Chioggia and Verona. The former "San Gerolamo Emiliani" patronage of Chioggia now bears his name, and his tomb, located in the crypt of the Filippini church in Chioggia, remains a place of pilgrimage and prayer for many faithful. During a canonical recognition of his remains, a singular discovery left a lasting impression: while his body had decomposed, his brain was found mysteriously preserved and incorrupt.