Rome Newsroom, Oct 8, 2020 / 04:00 am
The president of Italy conferred the highest honor for civil valor Wednesday upon Fr. Roberto Malgesini, a priest who was stabbed to death near Lake Como last month.
Fr. Malgesini was a 51-year-old priest known for his care for the homeless and migrants in the northern Italian Diocese of Como. He was killed Sept. 15 near his parish, St. Rocco's Church. His attacker was reported to be one of the migrants he helped.
"With generous and tireless self-denial he always worked hard, as an authentic interpreter of the values of human solidarity, in caring for the least and their fragility, offering loving welcome and constant support," President Sergio Mattarella said Oct. 7 as he signed the decree.
Malgesini was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Valor along with Willy Monteiro Duarte, an Italian whose parents are from the African island nation of Cape Verde, who was beaten to death in a small town outside of Rome on Sept. 6 after reportedly running into a fight to protect a friend.