Biloxi, Miss., May 31, 2004 / 22:00 pm
A woman in Biloxi was surprised and delighted to discover that her Italian ancestor, who was unknown to her until recently, is on the road to sainthood.
Regina Palatucci Hines, a certified genealogical record specialist, recounted in the Biloxi Sun Herald last weekend how she discovered a connection to a future saint in her family tree.
Her research began after she received a pamphlet from her ancestral town in Italy, which described the life of Giovanni Palatucci, a World War II martyr. Knowing that she had no direct ancestors named Palatucci (a few people by that name had married siblings of her grandparents over the years) she began an Internet search.
She learned that Giovanni Palatucci was born in Montella, Italy, on May 31, 1909, into a devout, well-to-do Catholic family. He studied law at the University of Turin but decided to be a police officer. Hines recounted that in 1938, the 29-year-old Palatucci was appointed police commissioner in Fiume, Italy, which is now part of Yugoslavia.