Quintino Sicuro

After two years with the Franciscans, and having received the habit with the Friars Minor of Treia in 1949, Quintino Sicuro felt a more radical call toward solitude and total stripping away of worldly goods. He left Franciscan community life in the autumn of 1949 to withdraw to the hermitage of San Francesco in Montegallo (province of Ascoli Piceno). There, he lived in extreme poverty, seeking a radical detachment from the world. After passing through other hermitage sites (such as Mount Carpegna), he settled permanently in 1954 at the hermitage of Sant'Alberico (Eremo di Sant'Alberico), located at Balze di Verghereto, on Mount Fumaiolo (province of Forlì-Cesena). Desiring to enter the priesthood while maintaining his life as a hermit, he undertook rigorous studies in theology and philosophy at the regional seminary of Bologna. He was finally ordained a priest on December 23, 1961, in the church of Balze by Msgr. Carlo Bandini, Bishop of Sarsina. To give thanks to the Virgin Mary for his ordination, he undertook a pilgrimage on foot of nearly two months to Lourdes in the autumn of 1962. At the hermitage of Sant'Alberico, Don Quintino Sicuro led a life of rigorous penance: he walked barefoot (even in winter), slept on bare boards, and took only one meal a day. At the same time, he undertook major restoration and expansion work on the hermitage between 1963 and 1966, rebuilding the old hospice to turn it into a center for hospitality and spirituality. His hermitage became a place of peace and renewal for many priests, laypeople, and young people in search of spirituality. He thus reconciled rigorous contemplation with an active apostolate, making himself available to the local parish priests and helping the most destitute. He was particularly devoted to the orphans of members of the Guardia di Finanza who had fallen during the war.

The life of Father Quintino Sicuro was marked by a constant search for the divine will through silence, prayer, and concrete charity. Although isolated in the mountains, he was a sought-after spiritual advisor and maintained an abundant spiritual correspondence. He also had discreet contacts with Padre Pio. On December 26, 1968, the day after Christmas, while walking on a snowy path on Mount Fumaiolo, he was struck down by a heart attack at the age of 48. He was buried, according to his wishes, in a sandstone sarcophagus that he had carved himself into the rock, just outside his hermitage. His tomb quickly became a place of pilgrimage.

Given the persistence of his reputation for holiness, the cause for beatification and canonization was officially opened at the diocesan level on November 1, 1985, by Bishop Luigi Amaducci, Bishop of Cesena-Sarsina. The diocesan inquiry concluded on August 28, 1991. The acts of the inquiry were transmitted to Rome, to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on May 27, 1993. The Roman phase officially began on December 16, 1993, at the headquarters of the General Command of the Financial Guard in Rome, highlighting the strong bond that united the Servant of God to his former military corps. On January 27, 2025, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, officially declaring him "Venerable."

The spirituality of Father Quintino Sicuro rests on a unique dual dimension: that of the priest and the hermit. He knew how to combine the absolute silence of the desert with an overflowing pastoral charity. His life testifies to the absolute primacy of God in an increasingly secularized modern world.

His legacy is preserved today by the association "Amici di Don Quintino Sicuro" (Friends of Don Quintino Sicuro), which maintains his memory, disseminates his writings, and manages his birthplace in Melissano. In October 2023, the city of Rimini inaugurated a roundabout in his name ("Rotonda Don Quintino Sicuro - Finanziere, eremita e sacerdote") in the presence of civil, military, and religious authorities, testifying to the lasting impact of his figure as the "saint of the Financial Guard."