On one hundred years since the birth of Don Oreste Benzi we publish the interview with Credere n. 35/2025 dated 31 August to Elisabetta Casadei, postulator of the cause of beatification and professor of Philosophy at the “Alberto Marvelli” Institute of Religious Sciences in Rimini.
Who was Don Oreste Benzi? 100 years after his birth, on 7 September 1925 in Rimini, it is legitimate to ask what profile the priest with the threadbare cassock, founder of the Pope John XXIII Community, had. The association today is spread throughout the world with family homes, recovery communities, reception centers and peace operations. Strange people, it is said, who “do not know how to do normal things, but do the impossible ones very well”. The “don”, as many called him, “cannot be mistaken for a benefactor of the poor”, cuts short Elisabetta Casadei, postulator of the cause of beatification and professor of Philosophy at the “Alberto Marvelli” Institute of Religious Sciences in Rimini. «Don Benzi», continues the professor, «was a man of thought, capable of seeing the social consequences of the Gospel». He was a mystic-operator, someone who started from prayer and then worked in the world, in every area of life. “To stand you need to be on your knees,” he often repeated. Anchors well planted in the ground, firm faith and the ability to look forward. «He anticipated Pope Francis by at least 30 years», continues Casadei. «The apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium contains the same words that Don Benzi used.” Go out, travel the streets of the world, make travel companions.
Ahead of the times
He was a great educator, notes the postulator, starting from pre-adolescents up to drug addicts: «He applied his own method, made up of work, prayer and meetings with people. It was for direct sharing, “24 hours a day”. He was also criticized for his tireless commitment. But he saw reality with the eyes of God.” In the pastoral field, Casadei says, already in 1968 «he was making decisions together with all the parishioners, in the perfect synodal style that is so talked about today. Even on pastoral plans he often had objections. “Before building roads,” he said, “you need to see where people go.” The postulator delivered 19 thousand pages of testimonies and unpublished writings contained in 56 folders to the Vatican: a mountain of paper, videos, CDs… to document the thoughts and activities of the Rimini priest, in the odor of sanctity already in life. “He lived an incarnate Gospel,” he says. «Don Benzi was the advocate of the relationship society. Already in the 1980s, he spoke about civil economy and the value of the gift, developing a vision of the world in light of the social doctrine of the Church.” But not in the abstract, in the concrete, as when, in times that today seem distant, he proposed the closure of all institutions for the elderly or seriously ill. And he hoped that every family, or at least every parish, would take care of a person. «I proposed Don Benzi as a doctor of the Church as an interpreter of Christian social doctrine», states Casadei. «It would be the first and it would be the most beautiful enhancement of her figure. Don Oreste was a prophet, it now seems clear. For him the Gospel changes life. It is the good news that transforms the world”, little by little, by attraction. Because this way of life is truer and more beautiful, not just for a few, but for everyone.
An all-round priest
In the volume coming out on September 7th, entitled The mystique of the threadbare habit (Sempre Editore), Elisabetta Casadei traces the profile of Don Benzi without hiding anything. He also sees defects and fragilities in man. She describes him as «self-centered, childish and proud. One who dramatizes, ruminates and is sometimes absent, intransigent and centralizing, sanguine, and also proud. Impulsive and impetuous.” Characteristics that are titles of the paragraphs of the volume. On the other hand, Don Oreste was a “serene, generous and lively, smiling and optimistic, friendly and welcoming, empathetic, intellectually curious, creative and dreamer” priest. A man animated by the sacred fire he carried inside, with the makings of a leader and fragmented sleep. Don Benzi had all the characteristics to put himself at the head of a people. His was not only the people of the last, even if some battles, especially those for the liberation of prostitutes and in favor of the Roma, brought him to the forefront of the news and caused him a lot of suffering. «He was annoying», recalls the postulator, «because of his commitment in favor of the gypsies. He has lost the respect of many, and this was his darkest night. His parishioners were also angry. They said: for us Don Oreste was a god. Since he’s been with gypsies and whores he’s no longer worth anything.”
Fixed gaze on Jesus
However, Don Benzi never backed down. He knew how to keep his gaze fixed on Jesus, and in the faces of the suffering he saw the face of Christ. «He wasn’t afraid, in 1988, to disband the first nucleus of Rimini, because often they only focused on doing and risked losing their identity», which was the reason for all that commitment. «For him, prayer was fundamental, like the Rosary which he recited every time he got into his car, his second home. Ave Maria, he began», and fell asleep, exhausted by non-stop work. Aware of the gifts received, Don Benzi spent himself wherever a person needed closeness, company, warmth, affection. “Restless by nature and love, he embodied the Gospel without mediation, until the end of his days.” Casadei is confident that he will be able to ask the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to open a register of prophets. “Don Lorenzo Milani and Don Oreste Benzi could fit in,” he says. “Both showed us the will of God in society”, the joy of the Gospel in daily life, like leaven in the dough.
