Italian missionary in Brazil beatified on June 13
By Victor Hugo Barros
Father Nazareno Lanciotti, an Italian missionary who dedicated his life to Brazil, will be beatified on June 13 in a ceremony in the city of Jauru, in the state of Mato Grosso, where he served for 30 years until he was martyred in 2001.
Born in Rome, Italy, on March 3, 1940, Lanciotti was ordained a priest in 1966. In 1971, he arrived in Brazil as a missionary and settled in Jauru, where he carried out a fruitful apostolate and left a lasting mark on all who knew him. One such person is Osvaldo Piva, a friend of the new Blessed, who recalls significant aspects of the priest’s life.
“He was very mischievous as a child, but he entered the seminary and learned silence, prayer, and obedience. He had a great devotion to Our Lady and to Jesus in the Eucharist. When he was ordained a priest, he asked two things of Our Lady: to live in purity and not to be attached to money,” Piva testifies.
One of the priest’s most striking characteristics was his trust in Divine Providence. Living in a parish that lacked even electricity and basic means of communication, Father Nazareno never lost heart.
“He built many things; he was someone who made things happen. And then there was no money. The day would come when he had to pay for bricks, cement, and materials—seven thousand five hundred reais. Suddenly, a payment would arrive in his account from who knows where. Divine Providence never left him alone,” his friend recalls.
A blessed friend close to the people
Otávio speaks from the experience of having lived side by side with the future Blessed. Weekly phone calls and visits fostered a deep friendship with a martyr of our own time. “We talked a lot on the phone. He came to my house, and I would go to Jauru and stay at his home. He welcomed my children throughout the month of December every year. He helped me greatly. When I first met him, he was a stern Italian. I thought, ‘If I go to confession with him, he’ll scold me.’ But in confession, he became like Jesus in the Eucharist. It was beautiful, wonderful. ‘Confession is being the prodigal son returning to the Father,’ he used to say. That left a deep impression on me,” he says emotionally.
The Marian Movement of Priests
The friendship between the two men grew through the Marian Movement of Priests, of which Father Nazareno served as the national director in Brazil. Otávio, now the movement’s national lay representative, fondly remembers the spiritual influence it had on the martyr’s life. “He already had the movement’s spirituality in his soul, his heart, and his life. He was Marian and Eucharistic, loved hearing confessions, and practiced great penance. Our spirituality of littleness, spiritual childhood, consecration to the Heart of Mary, and total trustful abandonment to God—these were all characteristics he embodied,” he explains.
Faithful unto martyrdom
It was precisely this complete abandonment to God that led him to devote himself to the poorest and most neglected. At the Parish of Our Lady of the Pillar, where he served, he founded a charitable institution that provided medical care for vulnerable people. He also worked on behalf of laborers and their families, combating drug trafficking and prostitution.
In retaliation for his pastoral work, two hooded men broke into his home on the night of February 11, 2001. One of them shot the priest in the back of the head, striking his fourth vertebra. Father Nazareno Lanciotti died on February 22 at the age of 61, not before forgiving his attackers—a sign of a life wholly offered to God, following the example of the Virgin Mary.
“The secret of Father Nazareno’s holiness was Our Lady, who led him to adore Jesus and to relive Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. That was his secret. He consecrated himself to Our Lady, and she took possession of him and made him another Jesus—Eucharistic, mystical, and adoring. Then he became a martyr. In other words, he gave his life. Just as Jesus gave His life, he too gave his life,” Piva affirms.
Father Nazareno’s death was officially recognized by the Church as martyrdom in odium fidei (out of hatred for the faith) on April 14, 2025, the last martyrdom decree promulgated during the pontificate of Pope Francis. The beatification ceremony will take place on June 13 at the Parish of Our Lady of the Pillar in Jauru, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The celebration will be presided over by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz on behalf of Pope Leo XIV.
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