Olinto Marella
Italian Roman Catholic priest (1882-1969)
Feast: 6 September (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 27 March 2013 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2013)
- 28 November 2019 — Miracle through their intercession approved (decree list, 2019)
Who they were
Olinto Marella was born on 14 June 1882 on Pellestrina, a small island in the Venetian lagoon; his father, a doctor, treated the poor without charge. Ordained in 1904, he taught in the seminary of Chioggia until in 1908 he was accused of modernism and suspended from his ministry for many years.
Later reinstated in the Archdiocese of Bologna, he began in 1936 to take in orphaned and abandoned children in a poor district of the city, begging for them himself in the street with his hat held out, which earned him the name 'God's tramp'. In 1948 he founded the Children's City. He died on 6 September 1969.
The miracles
A man — Bologna, Italy — February 1985
A man who had lived in Father Marella's family homes, who had been married by him and had become his driver, had surgery for chronic pancreatitis at the Sant'Orsola hospital in Bologna on 29 January 1985. From 5 February he began to bleed, more and more heavily, and his life was in danger. A holy card of Father Marella was put under his pillow, and his wife, relatives, the sisters and the ward sister prayed to him. From 7 February his condition began to improve, and he went on to enjoy good health.
Why that counted as sanctity
The case of a man was examined by the Church's doctors and theologians and approved as a miracle on 28 November 2019, opening the way to beatification. Beatification followed on October 2020 by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, for Pope Francis.
Connected on this site
- John XXIII Saint“Marella was a classmate of Pope John XXIII in Rome and the pope held him in high esteem and supported his pastoral initiatives.” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography of Blessed Olinto Marella, with the miracle
- Vatican News, Oct 2020 - Olinto Marella, 'God's tramp', is Blessed
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q19975023 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Olinto Marella (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.