Born in Latiano, Italy, in 1841, Longo seemed destined for worldly success. He studied law at the University of Naples, where the intellectual fashions of the time-positivism, rationalism and spiritualism-distanced him from the faith of his youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He immersed himself in the occult, even practicing for a time as a self-proclaimed satanic priest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
From occultism to love of the Virgin<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nHowever, as Father Salvatore Sorrentino, director of the 'Bartolo Longo' historical archive in Pompeii and author of the book on the future saint, told OSV News: \"The most striking thing that emerges from his writings is, above all, his immense love for the Virgin Mary. Bartolo Longo can be considered, in every sense, a Marian mystic\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was this love that became the seed of his redemption. Although far from the sacraments, he never completely abandoned the daily recitation of the rosary, a habit from his school years with the Piarist Fathers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Through that little door,\" Father Sorrentino said, \"Mary triumphed over his heart and brought him back to Christ.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The turning point came on May 29, 1865, exactly one year after he had leaned toward spiritualism. \"Oh, my God, ever patient, ever kind... on that very day, May 29, when I rejected you to embrace the serpent, you willed your mother's triumph in me,\" Father Sorrentino said, quoting Longo's words to his Dominican spiritual director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"From that moment on,\" says Father Sorrentino, \"his life was totally oriented to the Gospel and to charity.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"If you seek salvation, spread the rosary.\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 1872, Longo heard in his heart what he called a divine whisper: \"If you seek salvation, spread the rosary. It is Mary's promise: whoever spreads the rosary will be saved.\" <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obeying that call, he swore not to leave the region until he had sown there the devotion to the Virgin of the Rosary. From that promise, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii was born and, around it, a whole city was reborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SantuariodelaVirgendePompeya-Santuario_della_Beata_Vergine_Maria_del_Santo_Rosario_di_Pompei_Juli_2023_22-1024x683.jpg\")
Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii (Italy), in 2023 (Kasa Fue, Creative commons, Wikimedia commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFounder of a sanctuary and a new city<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\"Blessed Bartolo Longo was not only the founder of a shrine,\" Archbishop Tommaso Caputo of Pompeii, pontifical delegate for the shrine, told OSV News. \"He was the founder of a new city, a city born of faith,\" the archbishop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, Longo laid the foundations of a living community: post and telegraph offices, running water, a train station, an observatory. He built not only monuments, but also infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius 79 years after the birth of Christ, a disaster that buried the Roman city under thick layers of volcanic ash and pumice, killing thousands of residents. And it was Longo's efforts that truly brought it back from the ashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Married to Countess Mariana di Fusco<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 1885, Longo married Countess Mariana di Fusco, a widow who shared his deep Marian devotion and passion for the poor. Together they ran the shrine's charitable works, combining prayer with service. Their marriage, lived in chastity by mutual choice, was a sign that holiness can flourish in ordinary lay life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Longo has lived his whole existence rooted in the Gospel,\" said Archbishop Caputo. \"He is the pure expression of the 'Church in mission going forth' that Pope Francis spoke of. He loved the poor, cared for abandoned children, the sons and daughters of prisoners, orphans; he spread the holy rosary, gave witness to the faith, became an instrument of charity and sowed hope in the world.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charitable works<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIn 1887, she founded an orphanage for girls; in 1892, an institute for children of prisoners; in 1922, another for daughters of prisoners. Her understanding of charity was deeply theological, not merely philanthropic. That conviction continues to animate the shrine today. \"The social works of the shrine follow the path traced by the founder,\" said Archbishop Caputo. By the time of his death in 1926, Blessed Bartolo Longo had transformed what was literally ashes into a spiritual and social oasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rebirth of Pompeii. What Benedict X said<\/strong>VI<\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhen Pope Benedict XVI visited Pompeii in 2008, he summed up the miracle: \"Who would have thought that here, next to the ruins of ancient Pompeii, a Marian Shrine of worldwide importance would arise, as well as so many social practices aimed at expressing the Gospel in concrete service to the most needy? Where God comes, the desert flourishes!\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Devotion to Our Lady of Pompeii has spread throughout the world. \"There is no continent that does not venerate Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii,2 Archbishop Caputo told OSV News. \"Now, the canonization will give even more recognition to the one who was called the 'Apostle of the Rosary' and the 'Advocate of Our Lady'.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.omnesmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/JoseGregorioHernandez-Photo1502317-Enhanced_1.jpg\")
Old photo of Dr. Jos\u00e9 Gregorio Hern\u00e1ndez,
of Venezuela. The image is more than 70 years old
(Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe 'doctor of the poor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe so-called \"doctor of the poor\", Jos\u00e9 Gregorio Hern\u00e1ndez, a layman, is one of the two Venezuelans who will be canonized. Although he tried twice to join the religious life in Italy, Jos\u00e9 Gregorio's life path developed mainly in the capital of Venezuela, where he worked almost all his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pope will also canonize<\/a> to the first woman saint of Venezuela, Blessed Carmen Rendiles Mart\u00ednez (1903-1977), Venezuelan foundress of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\nPeter To Rot, Papuan, advocate of marriage and the family<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe third layman to be canonized by Pope Leo XIV is Peter To Rot, a Papua New Guinean husband and father and catechist. Born in 1912, he was arrested in 1945 during the Japanese occupation in World War II and was killed by lethal injection while in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peter To Rot \"will be the first native Papuan saint<\/a>He was a fervent defender of marriage and the family, a catechist committed to the mission of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. His holiness is the fruit of the close collaboration of priests and laity in evangelization,\" the Vatican agency noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFirst Venezuelan saints on Mission Sunday<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nJos\u00e9 Gregorio Hern\u00e1ndez and Mother Carmen (Rendiles) are signs of hope for Venezuela. In declarations to Vatican News, the Archbishop of Caracas, Monsignor Ra\u00fal Biord Castillo, SDB, and Monsignor Carlos M\u00e1rquez, auxiliary bishop of the capital, informed that have thanked<\/a> to the Pope the canonization of the first saints of Venezuela. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1872, Longo heard in his heart what he called a divine whisper: \"If you seek salvation, spread the rosary. It is Mary's promise: whoever spreads the rosary will be saved.\" <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obeying that call, he swore not to leave the region until he had sown there the devotion to the Virgin of the Rosary. From that promise, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii was born and, around it, a whole city was reborn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"Blessed Bartolo Longo was not only the founder of a shrine,\" Archbishop Tommaso Caputo of Pompeii, pontifical delegate for the shrine, told OSV News. \"He was the founder of a new city, a city born of faith,\" the archbishop said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Longo laid the foundations of a living community: post and telegraph offices, running water, a train station, an observatory. He built not only monuments, but also infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius 79 years after the birth of Christ, a disaster that buried the Roman city under thick layers of volcanic ash and pumice, killing thousands of residents. And it was Longo's efforts that truly brought it back from the ashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1885, Longo married Countess Mariana di Fusco, a widow who shared his deep Marian devotion and passion for the poor. Together they ran the shrine's charitable works, combining prayer with service. Their marriage, lived in chastity by mutual choice, was a sign that holiness can flourish in ordinary lay life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \"Longo has lived his whole existence rooted in the Gospel,\" said Archbishop Caputo. \"He is the pure expression of the 'Church in mission going forth' that Pope Francis spoke of. He loved the poor, cared for abandoned children, the sons and daughters of prisoners, orphans; he spread the holy rosary, gave witness to the faith, became an instrument of charity and sowed hope in the world.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1887, she founded an orphanage for girls; in 1892, an institute for children of prisoners; in 1922, another for daughters of prisoners. Her understanding of charity was deeply theological, not merely philanthropic. That conviction continues to animate the shrine today. \"The social works of the shrine follow the path traced by the founder,\" said Archbishop Caputo. By the time of his death in 1926, Blessed Bartolo Longo had transformed what was literally ashes into a spiritual and social oasis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Pope Benedict XVI visited Pompeii in 2008, he summed up the miracle: \"Who would have thought that here, next to the ruins of ancient Pompeii, a Marian Shrine of worldwide importance would arise, as well as so many social practices aimed at expressing the Gospel in concrete service to the most needy? Where God comes, the desert flourishes!\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n Devotion to Our Lady of Pompeii has spread throughout the world. \"There is no continent that does not venerate Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii,2 Archbishop Caputo told OSV News. \"Now, the canonization will give even more recognition to the one who was called the 'Apostle of the Rosary' and the 'Advocate of Our Lady'.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n The so-called \"doctor of the poor\", Jos\u00e9 Gregorio Hern\u00e1ndez, a layman, is one of the two Venezuelans who will be canonized. Although he tried twice to join the religious life in Italy, Jos\u00e9 Gregorio's life path developed mainly in the capital of Venezuela, where he worked almost all his life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Pope will also canonize<\/a> to the first woman saint of Venezuela, Blessed Carmen Rendiles Mart\u00ednez (1903-1977), Venezuelan foundress of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The third layman to be canonized by Pope Leo XIV is Peter To Rot, a Papua New Guinean husband and father and catechist. Born in 1912, he was arrested in 1945 during the Japanese occupation in World War II and was killed by lethal injection while in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter To Rot \"will be the first native Papuan saint<\/a>He was a fervent defender of marriage and the family, a catechist committed to the mission of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. His holiness is the fruit of the close collaboration of priests and laity in evangelization,\" the Vatican agency noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jos\u00e9 Gregorio Hern\u00e1ndez and Mother Carmen (Rendiles) are signs of hope for Venezuela. In declarations to Vatican News, the Archbishop of Caracas, Monsignor Ra\u00fal Biord Castillo, SDB, and Monsignor Carlos M\u00e1rquez, auxiliary bishop of the capital, informed that have thanked<\/a> to the Pope the canonization of the first saints of Venezuela. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFounder of a sanctuary and a new city<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Married to Countess Mariana di Fusco<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Charitable works<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The rebirth of Pompeii. What Benedict X said<\/strong>VI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
of Venezuela. The image is more than 70 years old
(Wikimedia Commons).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe 'doctor of the poor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Peter To Rot, Papuan, advocate of marriage and the family<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
First Venezuelan saints on Mission Sunday<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n