Gaetano Catanoso

Gaetano Catanoso (14 February 1879 – 4 April 1963) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Suore Veroniche del Santo Volto. Catanoso served as a parish priest in two different parishes for his entire ecclesial life and was an ardent devotee of the Face of Jesus which he promoted to the faithful. He also founded the Poor Clerics to encourage vocations to the priesthood while forming the Confraternita del Santo Volto (1920) to spread devotion to the Face of Jesus. He dedicated his pastoral career to bringing the Gospel message to all people and hiked or rode on a mule to reach distant and surrounding mountain villages in order to evangelize to people.

His fame for holiness was widespread during his life for people hailed his remarkable qualities and the conduct in which he led his life. The cause for his canonization was introduced on 15 October 1981 and he became titled as a Servant of God while he was later named as Venerable on 3 March 1990 upon the confirmation of his model life of heroic virtue. Pope John Paul II beatified Catanoso on 4 May 1997 while Pope Benedict XVI later canonized the late priest in Saint Peter's Square on 23 October 2005. From 1922 until 1949 he was the spiritual director to seminarians and from 1922 to 1933 was a chaplain at hospitals in the region.

For him to be beatified one miracle needed to be investigated and approved; this miracle needed to be a healing that science and medicine were unable to explain. One such case was discovered and investigated in a diocesan process that lasted from 1993 until 1994 when all medical records and witness interrogatories were sent to the C.C.S. who validated the investigation on 10 February 1995. The medical panel of experts approved this miracle on 5 October 1995 as did their consulting theologians on 25 November 1995 and the C.C.S. themselves on 20 February 1996. John Paul II confirmed the healing to be a legitimate miracle on 25 June 1996 and presided over the beatification later on 4 May 1997.

Gaetano Catanoso is a patron saint of chaplains.

Miracles The miracle that led to his beatification occurred in Reggio-Calabria but was not investigated until a few decades later. It involved the healing of Sister Pauline who on 3 April 1963 wanted to see Catanoso before he died. But the priest died on 4 April she – who suffered from severe asthma – knelt beside his remains and felt healed a few hours later with no breathing difficulties whatsoever.

The miracle that led to his canonization occurred in Reggio-Calabria on 9 January 2003 which was the healing of Anna Pangallo from a rare form of meningitis.