Saint Leonardo Murialdo

Leonardo Murialdo, CSI (26 October 1828 – 30 March 1900) was an Italian Catholic priest and the co-founder of the Congregation of Saint Joseph - also known as the Murialdines (which he founded alongside Eugenio Reffo). Murialdo's call to the priesthood did not manifest until late in his education in Savona; he pursued his ecclesial studies and was ordained as such in 1851 before dedicating himself to social work alongside the poor and with adolescent men. This put him into contact with other priests of the era such as Giovanni Bosco and Giuseppe Cafasso who held Murialdo in great esteem. His zeal for social concern saw his frequent calls for an end to worker exploitation and the granting of further rights to workers in factories. Murialdo died in the odour of holiness in 1900 and had a reputation for deep personal holiness. This became more prevalent in northern Italian cities where Murialdo and his religious order worked. The cause for his canonization opened under Pope Benedict XV in 1921 with Pope John XXIII later confirming his heroic virtue and naming Murialdo as Venerable in 1961. Pope Paul VI beatified Murialdo in late 1963 and later canonized him just under a decade later in 1970. Leonardo Murialdo was born on 26 October 1828 in Turin as the seventh of nine children to the upper middle-class Leonardo Franchino Murialdo (1776 or 1777-15.06.1833) and Teresa Rho (c. 1795-9.07.1849). His father - a stockbroker - died in 1833 during his childhood. His nickname as a child was "Nadino". Before him, six sisters were born and after him, his brother and sister; his siblings were (in order): Elder - Younger - Murialdo received his baptism on 27 October in the San Dalmazzo parish church. In 1836, both he and his brother Ernesto were sent to the Piarist boarding school (Scolopian College) in Savona which he attended until 1843; the pair arrived via coach on 27 October in the evening after having departed Turin on 25 October.