The remarkable story of Bl. Rolando Rivi

The Catholic Register, 02 July 2020

Blessed Rolondo’s brief life summarizes the totalitarian persecution of the faith in the 20th century.

Anniversaries remind us to learn the lessons of history and, for a Christian disciple, to remember the workings of Providence

The big anniversary in May was the centennial of the birth of St. John Paul the Great on May 18. Following by just a few days the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day at the end of the Second World War, John Paul’s impact on ending the subsequent Cold War was highlighted.

There was another papal centennial in May, the priestly anniversary of St. Paul VI. Ordained on May 29, 1920, that date has now been set as Paul VI’s feast day.

More remarkable still is the story of a little known martyr, Rolando Rivi, who shares a feast day with Paul VI. In 1945, on the very day that the future Paul VI was celebrating his silver jubilee, the remains of 14-year-old Rolondo were being carried to their resting place. His body had been found in a makeshift grave in the woods and he was being returned to the parish seminary.

His martyrdom 75 years ago highlighted the shifting history of our time. While John Paul was a protagonist of resistance to the twin evils of Nazism and communism, Rolondo was an early victim of both — though in Italy, not behind the Iron Curtain.

Blessed Rolondo’s brief life summarizes the totalitarian persecution of the faith in the 20th century. Indeed, the final year of Rolando’s life is like a precis of the 40 years that Karol Wojtyła lived under the Nazis and the communists in Kraków.

Continue reading at The Catholic Register:
https://www.catholicregister.org/opinion/columnists/item/31823-fr-raymond-de-souza-the-remarkable-story-of-bl-rolando-rivi