Teresio Olivelli
Italian teacher, blessed (1916-1945)
Feast: 17 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
The Vatican record
- 14 December 2015 — Heroic virtue declared — title Venerable (decree list, 2015)
- 16 June 2017 — Martyrdom recognised (decree list, 2017)
Who they were
Teresio Olivelli was born at Bellagio on 7 January 1916 to a middle-class family of deep Christian roots, grew up in Mortara and graduated in law at Pavia in 1938. Active in the Catholic university federation and the St Vincent de Paul conference, he did many works of charity for the poor, the sick and the old.
Named rector of the Ghislieri College in Pavia, he broke with Fascism. Deported, he died in the infirmary of the Hersbruck concentration camp on 17 January 1945 from a blow to the stomach, killed for his Christian faith.
The miracles
His martyrdom was then examined by the Dicastery's theologians on 7 March 2017.
Why that counted as sanctity
A young lawyer of Catholic charity who died in a Nazi camp for his Christian faith.
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.
Connected on this site
- Vincent de Paul Saint“Active in the Catholic university federation and the St Vincent de Paul conference, he did many works of charity for the poor, the sick and the old.” — this site's research
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Teresio Olivelli
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — promulgated decrees (causesanti.va), summarised in our own words
- Wikidata Q3984333 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Teresio Olivelli (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.