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Francesco Spoto
Italian missionary (1924–1964)
Feast: 27 December (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
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.
The cause
The cause continues. No postulation address is published here yet. Favours received through this person’s intercession, and offers of help, are best sent to the religious order or congregation they belonged to, or to the diocese where the cause was opened; either will pass them to the postulation.
- 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.