The cause of beatification and canonisation

After several unsuccessful attempts blocked by various procedural difficulties, the diocesan process for the beatification of the Servant of God Don Angelo Lolli was solemnly initiated on 7 May 2000, at Santa Maria in Porto, chaired by the Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia Monsignor Luigi Amaducci. The diocesan phase was concluded on 20 April 2008, in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Ravenna, with a solemn ceremony at which the archbishop Monsignor Giuseppe Verucchi presided: this was an impressive conclusion of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the death of Don Lolli, Servant of God. The impressive documentation was delivered to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome. The preparation of the Positio super vita et virtutibus et fama sanctitatis is underway. “A contemplative in the streets of Ravenna”, an “Angel in the city”, Still today Don Angelo Lolli offers testimony as to how the human and Christian experience can be lived in an extraordinary fashion in everyday, ordinary life.

“On the day on which we conclude the centenary celebrations of the Greek Madonna, patron of the city of Ravenna and of the Diocese of Ravenna-Cervia, we wish solemnly to open the Diocesan Process of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Monsignor Angelo Lolli. […] He was an extraordinary witness of charity. For him every human being, no matter in what conditions s/he was found, was a brother or sister, image of the living God, to be loved unconditionally and without any discrimination.”
Monsignor Luigi Amaducci, Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia
(Homily at the Pontifical Mass on the occasion of the opening of the Diocesan Process, 7 May 2000)

“This is the 50th year since the death of Don Lolli. It is the year in which the diocesan phase of the Process of Beatification of Don Angelo Lolli is concluded. […]
A priest imbued with the Lord, with his Word, with his grace. His heart beat with the rhythm of the love of the Lord, towards the poor, the sick, the lonely, the abandoned…
Thus, in Don Angelo, it was the Lord who continued to bend over those most in need with ‘the oil and the wine’ of mercy, hope, sharing and joy.”
Monsignor Giuseppe Verucchi, Archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia
homily at the Mass that concluded the diocesan process, 20 April 2008

“Inspired by a passionate, creative charity, Don Angelo Lolli never held back in the face of the needs of the poor, the sick, the marginalised of his time in Ravenna. Only a few decades have passed, the social situation today is very different, yet we always have the poor with us. The Church of Ravenna-Cervia still needs that fire of charity that flooded into the heart of Don Lolli and set it afire, throughout his life.”
Monsignor Lorenzo Ghizzoni
introduction to the book Una Casa rifugio per gli abbandonati, Edizioni Feeria, 2018