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Francesco Spoto
Italian missionary (1924–1964)
BlessedResearchedItaly
Feast: 27 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
8 July 1924
verified
Died
1964
verified
Beatified
—
not on record
Canonised
—
not yet
Who they were
Francesco Spoto was born at Raffadali, Sicily, on 8 July 1924, and raised by his parents in a deep faith and sense of duty.
A priest of the Missionary Servants of the Poor and its Superior General from 1959 to 1964, he was killed in 1964, a martyr in the civil war in the Congo.
The miracles
As a martyr, beatified without a miracle.
Why that counted as sanctity
A missionary superior who shared his brothers' danger in the Congo and died a martyr.
Sources
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Francisco Spoto
- Wikidata Q3750699 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Francesco Spoto (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.