Oreste Benzi

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Oreste Benzi (2007)

Oreste Benzi (born September 7, 1925 in San Clemente , Province of Rimini , † November 2, 2007 in Rimini ) was an Italian Roman Catholic clergyman . He became known as the "anti-prostitution priest" and was the founder of the association "Community of Pope John XXIII." .

Life

Oreste Benzi was born the seventh of nine children into a working-class household in San Clemente, near Rimini. In 1937, at the age of twelve, he entered the seminary in Rimini. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1949. He was initially active as a chaplain in the parish of San Nicolò a Rimini, from 1950 he was a teacher in the seminary in Rimini and commissioner for youth work in Rimini, in 1953 he became spiritual of the seminary and teacher of the S. Giovanni Bosco School in Rimini.

In 1968 Benzi founded the "Community Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII. " , Named after Pope Johannes XXIII. This community particularly cared for prostitutes, drug addicts and vulnerable youth. Initially, the community was only active in Italy, where it now operates social houses and residential communities for former drug addicts. Meanwhile she is present in over 20 countries on all continents, especially in Kenya , Tanzania , Zambia , Brazil , Bangladesh , Russia , China and India , and looks after 200 "houses of the family", 32 therapeutic communities, six houses of prayer, seven fraternity houses and 15 social cooperatives. The “Project Rainbow” initiated by him supervised aid programs for AIDS orphans in Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania.

In the last years of his life, Benzi particularly campaigned for women and girls from Eastern Europe and Africa who had been exploited by prostitution. On his initiative, a first Vatican conference on pastoral care for street prostitutes was held in 2005. He was also known for his work with Roma and Sinti .

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  1. ↑ - ( Memento from September 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Antiprostitution priest Oreste Benzi has died ( Memento from July 2, 2007 in the web archive archive.today )
  3. ↑ Vatican: First conference on pastoral care for prostitutes
  4. ↑ http://www.freitag.de/autoren/der-freitag/campi-nomadi-oder-des-metzgers-plastikwanne

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Benzi, Oreste
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian clergyman, founder of the community "Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII."
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH San Clemente , Rimini Province
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 2007
Place of death Rimini