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Justin Russolillo
Italian presbyter (1891-1955)
Feast: 2 August (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 27 October 2020 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2020)
Who they were
Giustino Russolillo was born at Pianura, near Naples, on 18 January 1891, the third of ten children of a small builder and a seamstress. At his ordination on 20 September 1913, lying prostrate while the Litany of the Saints was sung, he vowed to found a congregation to serve God's call to faith, priesthood and holiness.
As parish priest of Pianura he founded the Society of Divine Vocations, the Vocationists, to seek out and form vocations to the priesthood and religious life, and later the Sisters of Divine Vocations, led by his sister Giovanna. He died on 2 August 1955.
The miracles
A 59-year-old woman — Paterson, New Jersey, USA — 1998
A woman of 59 with cancer was healed in 1998 through Don Giustino's intercession; the case was investigated by the Diocese of Paterson in 2004-2005 and passed the Vatican's medical board in 2009.
A young Vocationist brother — Pozzuoli, Italy — 21 April 2016
A young religious of his own congregation was taken into hospital in Pozzuoli in a coma, with prolonged generalised seizures, severe muscle breakdown, pneumonia from inhaling vomit and acute respiratory failure; his life was in danger. He was healed on 21 April 2016, and on 5 March 2020 a majority of the Vatican's medical board found the healing rapid, complete, lasting and scientifically inexplicable.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a 59-year-old woman was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on 7 May 2011. The case of a young Vocationist brother was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 27 October 2020, opening the way to canonisation. Canonisation followed on 15 May 2022 by Francis.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of St Giustino Maria Russolillo, with both miracles
- CatholicPhilly / CNS, May 2022 - Pope to name 10 new saints
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q2633551 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Giustino Russolillo (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.