Being a priest is the vocation of Francesco Fiorio, a 25-year-old Italian seminarian from the Society of Apostolic Life of the Sons of the Cross, the male branch of the House of Mary community, a Marian organization born out of the experience of Medjugorje.  Thanks to the support of the CARF Foundation, many of its members—seminarians, priests, nuns, and lay people—have been able to train at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Now, he is beginning his second year of theology.

Since childhood, he has lived in the parish as a second family.

The roots of his vocation date back to his childhood. He was born and raised in Rome, in the outlying neighborhood of Trullo. From a young age, he attended the parish, which was entrusted to the Sons of the Cross in 2005. From the age of 6 or 7, he attended the oratory every day, which had become a second home for him.

“The priests and nuns of the Daughters of the Cross accompanied me to receive all the sacraments: from First Confession, First Communion, to Confirmation. The Sons and Daughters of the Cross, along with the other children in the parish, were like a second family, and I believe that all the goodness they showed me left an indelible mark on my heart and my conscience.”

“I remember once, as a child, someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I calmly replied, ‘a priest,’ because I saw the Sons of the Cross playing soccer every day and being simply happy, and so I wanted to be like them.”

Another anecdote that explains this connection with his childhood is that the Daughters of the Cross, who were his catechists, are now the same ones who care for his daily needs in the seminary. “These people were for me an extension of the hands of the Virgin Mary who cared for me since I was a child. Through them, I learned about and came into contact with the reality of the House of Mary, our superiors, and the other boys in the community.”

Adolescence and the distancing from faith

Everything was going well until adolescence, when he began to seek out other friendships that distanced him from the true bonds offered by the Virgin Mary. “I began to have two feet in two shoes. I never completely broke with the faith: I continued to go to Mass on Sundays, to frequent the parish; but at the same time, the only thing I was interested in was building an image of myself in the world and wooing girls.”

This continued for a while until 2016, when, at World Youth Day in Krakow, while on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, he felt the call to the priesthood. This call had left me completely bewildered, because it was like a bolt from the blue. In fact, I can say that it came precisely at the time when I was most out of my depth.

When I returned home, I completely shut down, because I absolutely didn’t want to be a priest: I had other projects and other programs. I wanted to build a self-directed life. I resisted it for several years, until 2018, when, on my way to Medjugorje for the summer retreat, we passed through Široki Brijeg, a town at the center of Catholicism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The impact of Široki Brijeg

On February 7, 1945, Yugoslav communist partisans murdered 30 Franciscan friars, burning their bodies and destroying the convent, library, and archives. It was an attempt to erase the Catholic cultural and religious presence in Herzegovina. In total, more than 120 Franciscans from the province
were killed during that persecution. Today the friars are remembered as martyrs of the faith, and their sacrifice is commemorated every year.

«When I visited Široki Brijeg, I learned that dozens of Franciscan friars were martyred there during the communist occupation of the 20th century, and many more during the preceding centuries of Turkish domination.

The history of that place was explained to us by a local woman. I vividly remember how she was moved and wept as she told us about the priests’ devotion to the people, even to the point of giving their lives for them, and also the people’s devotion to their priests. She wept as she spoke about the priests and the Holy Mass.

That testimony of his touched me deeply and began to stir something in my hardened heart. As we descended to the
place of martyrdom, one of our priests, who was following our youth group, asked me, “Do you want other answers?” he realized, noticing that I had not remained indifferent to those words.

Lent 2019, rediscovering the love of Christ

During Lent 2019, he rediscovered the love of Christ and the centrality of prayer.  Lent that year was guided by the words of Saint Benedict: “Prefer nothing to the love of Christ.” “These words stayed with me, and I associated them with those of Saint Paul: ‘For Him, I have lost all these things and considered them rubbish, in order to gain Christ.’” So I began once again to put prayer and my relationship with the Lord at the center, considering everything I had previously desperately sought as superfluous.

The ordination of eight Sons of the Cross became an occasion that confirmed Francesco’s certainty of his vocation, showing him the joy of a dedicated life.

«However, the priestly ordination of eight Sons of the Cross, which took place on May 12 of that same year, was decisive for me. Seeing the joy and happiness of those new priests, who had welcomed and loved me as a younger brother, giving themselves totally to the Lord in their virginity, in the offering of their entire lives for the Church, for the brothers and sisters of the House of Mary, and for the many other souls that Our Lady would have them meet, made me say: “Lord, if this is what you want from me, what you are calling me to, fine, I accept.”

A spiritual family

The Vocation in the House of Mary made him understand that the Virgin Mary already offered him everything he desired in that place:  a spiritual family and the meaning of her dedication.

“Then I realized that everything I sought and desired, the Virgin had been offering me for a long time in the House of Mary, waiting only for me to welcome and accept her call. She fulfilled all my most sincere desires: she gave me a spiritual family, brothers and sisters, the love of a spiritual father and mother, the fulfillment of my affectivity by calling me, not to love a specific person, but to a total dedication to the Lord and to others. It was clear to me from the beginning that, if I were to become a priest, I would never have wanted to be one outside the House of Mary, because only in this family does my vocation have meaning.”

In 2021, she consecrated herself to the Virgin Mary and in 2022, she entered the House of Mary, where she lives her vocation in community today.

“So I began a journey of more radical rapprochement with the House of Mary. On January 6, 2021, I consecrated myself to the Virgin. On December 4, 2022, I entered the community, and to this day I have lived in the House of Mary for two years.”

Thanks to the benefactors

“I would like to conclude my testimony by explaining how, beyond any particular events or experiences I can recount, my vocation is founded on the love the Virgin Mary has had for me throughout my life and which she has expressed to me through the people she has placed at my side, accompanying me at every moment and in every circumstance.”

“Therefore, I also take this opportunity to thank the benefactors of the CARF Foundation for the financial support they are providing to support my studies and those of my siblings at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. I hope to repay them with my prayers and also with good results in my university studies.”