Many the faces of the next saint: migrant, nurse, pharmacist, but above all Salesian "coadjutor"

(Rome, Oct. 6, 2022) - At 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, on the parvis of the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father Francis shall preside at the Eucharistic Celebration during which Blessed Artemide Zatti, professed layman of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco (Oct. 12, 1880, Boretto, Italy - March 15, 1951, Viedma, Argentina), and Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza and founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles and the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, (July 8, 1839, Fino Mornasco, Italy - June 1, 1905, Piacenza, Italy), shall be canonized.

The canonization of Salesian Artemide Zatti - the first non-martyr Salesian to be proclaimed a saint - is a source of profound joy and gratitude for the entire Congregation and Salesian Family, as well as for the Church in Argentina, the land to which the future saint emigrated at the age of 17.

Different, yet equally relevant, the two figures of holiness united in the same celebration by Pope Francis. The founder of the Scalabrinians dedicated his mission to those who had to leave their homeland in search of work. The Salesian Zatti, a migrant himself, dedicated his life to caring for the sick, in whom he found ways to serve Jesus Himself.

Zatti's biographical profile and history of holiness are varied and very rich: originally from Boretto, in the Province of Reggio Emilia, he found himself emigrating with his entire family. He worked in the fields and as a tiler, before devoting himself body and soul to the mission that engaged his entire life: the care of the sick at the missionary hospital that the Salesians animated in Viedma, in Argentine Patagonia.

He worked in that hospital for about 50 years (1902-1951) as a nurse, pharmacist, and administrator, never losing touch with his primary vocation, that of Salesian coadjutor - consecrated with the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Esteemed by all the sick and by the healthcare workers themselves, who gradually gave him greater and greater freedom of action, "the holy nurse," the "relative of all the poor," as he was called already during his lifetime, saw and served Jesus Himself in the sick.

He died on March 15, 1951, from a tumor he self-diagnosed and fully accepted.

He was declared Venerable on 7 July 1997 and beatified by St. John Paul II in St. Peter's Square on April 14, 2002.

The unexplained healing that paved the way for Artemide Zatti's canonization occurred in the Philippines in August 2016 and concerned a man who had suffered an ischemic stroke - accompanied by further complications - whose brother, a Salesian coadjutor, started a prayer chain invoking the family member's healing through the intercession of Blessed Artemide Zatti.

It is worth remembering that the Holy Father Francis also has a great devotion to Artemis Zatti because, when he was a Jesuit Provincial in Argentina, through his intercession, he obtained numerous vocations of lay brothers for the Society of Jesus. It was Pope Francis himself who testified to this in a letter he wrote to an Argentine Salesian in 1986, and which Fr. Juan Edmundo Vecchi, Don Bosco's 7th Successor at the head of the Salesian Congregation, enclosed in the Letter published in view of Artemide Zatti's beatification.

Because of the canonization of Artemide Zatti, the Salesian Congregation has scheduled other important events in the immediately preceding and following days.

On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 8, at 10 a.m. (UTC+2), in the "Paul VI Hall" at the Vatican, the Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, will preside at a solemn Mass; following this, several testimonies on the figure of the future saint shall be offered. At noon, there will be a special audience by Pope Francis for all Salesians and members of the Salesian Family who have convened because of Zatti's canonization.

In the afternoon, the many pilgrims present in Rome will be able to embark upon a guided pilgrimage to Don Bosco's places in Rome, with itineraries for different language groups.

On Monday, Oct. 10, at 11:00 a.m. (UTC+2) at the Argentine National Church in Rome, Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches, will preside over a Mass of thanksgiving for Zatti's canonization for the Argentine faithful gathered in Rome.

While on Oct. 11, at the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin-Valdocco - the birthplace of Don Bosco's Oratory and the Salesian Congregation - Rector Major presides at a Eucharist of thanksgiving for the gift of sainthood of Artemide Zatti, together with many Salesian coadjutors who have come especially from all over the world.

For further information and to coordinate any interview requests, contact Fr Maciej Makula, SDB: +39 349 983 3841 or +48 692 477 615 (also via WhatsApp).