Giovanni Schiavo

Father Giovanni Schiavo arrived in Brazil on September 5, 1931, in Jaguarão, before settling shortly after in Ana Rech, in the municipality of Caxias do Sul (Rio Grande do Sul). It was in this region that he would carry out the bulk of his missionary and pastoral activity.

In 1936, he was appointed director of the school and parish priest of Galópolis. His commitment to the workers and his denunciations of social injustices made him undesirable to certain local notables, forcing the Josephites to leave the locality in January 1937. Upon returning to Ana Rech, he assumed the roles of director and vice-provincial for Brazil from 1937 to 1940.

A builder and educator, he founded the Fazenda Souza seminary in 1941, where he became the director and novice master. In 1947, he created the 'Abrigo de Menores de São José' (Saint Joseph Shelter for Minors), a major social work intended to welcome, educate, and reintegrate street children and disadvantaged youth.

From 1946 to 1955, he held the position of first superior of the new autonomous province of the Josephites in Brazil. At the same time, he played a decisive role in the establishment and development of the female branch of the congregation in Brazil, the Murialdine Sisters of Saint Joseph, whose first Brazilian community was officially established on May 9, 1954. He accompanied these religious sisters spiritually with tireless dedication until his death.

The reputation for holiness of Father Giovanni Schiavo, already widely spread during his lifetime, intensified after his death on January 27, 1967, in Caxias do Sul, following a serious illness. His tomb, located in the cemetery of the Murialdine Sisters in Fazenda Souza, quickly became a frequented place of pilgrimage. The cause for beatification and canonization was officially opened in the Diocese of Caxias do Sul on April 28, 2001. The diocesan phase of the inquiry closed in October 2003, and its validity was recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on November 19, 2004. On December 14, 2015, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The path to beatification materialized with the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession. It concerns the inexplicable healing of a man that occurred in 1997 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. After a diocesan inquiry conducted in 2009 and validated by the Vatican in 2010, the medical commission of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints concluded on February 18, 2016, that this healing was rapid, complete, lasting, and scientifically inexplicable. On December 1, 2016, Pope Francis signed the decree officially approving this miracle. The beatification ceremony was celebrated on October 28, 2017, in Caxias do Sul, presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis. During the Angelus on October 29, 2017, Pope Francis honored the memory of the new Blessed, describing him as a priest who had "worked with zeal in the service of the people of God and the formation of religious men and women."

The spirituality of Blessed Giovanni Schiavo is deeply marked by the charism of Saint Leonardo Murialdo: a total abandonment to Divine Providence, a discreet humility, and a preferential love for the poor and young people in difficulty. Always smiling, he was renowned for sowing peace and joy around him.

He spent long hours in prayer, drawing from his interior life the strength necessary for his many apostolic activities. His final words, spoken on his deathbed, summarize the orientation of his entire existence: "Father, I am your son; I have always wanted to do your will."

His legacy continues today through the numerous social and educational works he developed in Brazil, as well as through the vitality of the Josephites and the Murialdine Sisters of Saint Joseph, who continue to be inspired by his example of charity and evangelical gentleness.