Zeno Saltini

Zeno Saltini (30 August 1900 – 15 January 1981) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and the founder of the Nomadelfia movement. He also had set up a war orphans refuge at the old Fossoli di Carpi concentration camp in the Emilia-Romagna region but this was closed in 1952 after ecclesial authorities ordered his departure and the camp's closure. The movement moved to Grosseto after a countess donated land to them to use and Saltini's communal group flourished and grew in numbers despite the Church's severe reservations regarding Saltini's work. In 1965 he proposed a new form of apostolate known as the Nomadelfian Entertainment Evenings which consisted of a dance. Further to this was the publication in 1968 of the "Nomadelfia is a Proposal" magazine issued once a month. On 12 August 1980, the Nomadelfians performed for Pope John Paul II in Castel Gandolfo and the pope later remarked: "If we are called to be the sons of God and brothers, then Nomadelfia is a presage of the world to come".

Saltini died in 1981 in Grosseto due to a heart attack and his remains are buried at the Chiesa Comunitaria di Nomadelfia.

Beatification process On 30–31 March 2009 the Tuscan Episcopal Conference met and provided their assent to launching the beatification cause for the late Saltini; the cause opened a month after on 9 April 2009 after the then-Bishop of Grosseto Franco Agostinelli issued an edict assenting to the cause being launched in Grosseto.