Pietro "Pierino" Gelmini (20 January 1925 – 12 August 2014) was a prominent

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

former

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who founded the

drug abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

rehabilitation center '' Comunità Incontro'' (Community Encounter). Despite his 1971 imprisonment on charges of

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

, Gelmini has been highly regarded for his work with the drug-addicted, having received praise from such figures as

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

, who gave

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

5 million (six million

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Un ...

) to ''Comunità Incontro'' in 2005, and the Italian Senator

Maurizio Gasparri Maurizio Gasparri (Rome, 18 July 1956) is an Italian politician. Gasparri was member of the Italian Social Movement and National Alliance. During the course of his career he has served as Minister of Communications (2001 to 2005 in the Ber ...

, who once celebrated him as "one of the few heroes of our time.""Ex-Priest Faces Abuse Charges"
(18 June 2010). AFP. News24. Retrieved 7 July 2010."Eminent Italian Ex-Priest to Stand Trial for Abuse"
(18 June 2010).

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

. Retrieved 7 July 2010. Personally accused of

sexual abuse Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assa ...

by a total of twelve young men who claim to have been victimized while recovering at Gelmini's Amelia rehabilitation center, Gelmini was indicted in June 2010, but the trial was deferred several times due to his wealth conditions and with his death in 2014 any crime would be extinct. Gelmini had been

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

from the priesthood at his own request.

Biography

Pierino Gelmini was born Pietro Gelmini in 1925 in

Pozzuolo Martesana Pozzuolo Martesana ( lmo, Pozzoeu or ''Pozzoeul'' ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about east of Milan. Pozzuolo Martesana borders the following municipalities: Inzago, C ...

, a small community in the

Province of Milan The Province of Milan ( it, Provincia di Milano) was a province in the Lombardy region, Italy. Its capital was the city of Milan. The area of the former province is highly urbanized, with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, the third highest populati ...

, and grew up and studied in his native

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. (His official biography records him as a member of the

Italian Resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.Don Pierino Gelmini.
Comunità Incontro. Retrieved 7 July 2010. ) He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

in the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church in 1949. Gelmini's younger brother, Angelo Gelmini (born 1931), was ordained in 1952 and is well known as Padre Eligio. Gelmini transferred to work in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in the 1950s where he become the personal secretary of the Argentine cardinal Luic Copello and established himself at the

Infernetto Infernetto is a suburban zone of Rome, Italy. Infernetto is under Rome Municipio X administration. Infernetto is located in Municipio X, the southern area of the city, close to Ostia Lido and the coast, it's almost completely surrounded by Castel ...

, a suburb under

Municipio X Municipio X (or Municipality 10) is one of the 15 administrative subdivisions of the city of Rome in Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in ...

. Gelmini's experiences in Rome prompted his creation of the

drug rehabilitation Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general inte ...

group '' Comunità Incontro'' (Community Encounter) in

Amelia, Italy Amelia is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Terni, in the Umbria region of central Italy. It grew up around an ancient hill fort, known to the Romans as Ameria. Geography The town lies in the south of Umbria, on a hill overlooking the Tiber ...

, where Gelmini purchased an abandoned mill and refurbished it to serve as a community therapy house after a personal encounter with an 18-year-old victim of a

drug addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use of ...

lying in the middle of a

street gutter A street gutter is a depression that runs parallel to a road and is designed to collect rainwater that flows along the street diverting it into a storm drain. A gutter alleviates water buildup on a street, allows pedestrians to pass without walki ...

.Owen, Margaret (1989)
"New Hope for Sero-Positive Intravenous Drug Abusers in a Therapeutic Community House".
''Community Development Journal'' Vol. 24, No. 3. pp. 210-217. Oxford Journals. Retrieved 7 July 2010. (In publications, the Comunità Incontro records the 13 February 1963 date of Gelmini's meeting with the young drug addict, Alfredo Nunzi, as the date of its founding, although its first center at the Amelia mill was only opened on 27 September 1979.Comunità Incontro.
Associazioni. Diocesi di Terni Narni Amelia. Retrieved 9 July 2010. ) Italian investigative press reports during the 2000s uncovered that in the 1960s and 1970s Gelmini was investigated for the white-collar charges of

bankruptcy fraud Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

and writing

bad check Dishonoured cheques (also spelled check) are cheques that a bank on which is drawn declines to pay (“honour”). There are a number of reasons why a bank would refuse to honour a cheque, with non-sufficient funds (NSF) being the most common one ...

s by prosecutors.Nazzi, Stefano (22 June 2010)
"Don Gelmini, il bene e il male".
''Il Post''. Retrieved 9 July 2010. "La vera storia di don Pierino: 'Quattro anni passati in carcere'"
(5 August 2007). ''Quotidiano.net''. Retrieved 7 July 2010. (He was arrested a total of three times between 1960 and 1976.Giannino, Alberto (18 June 2010)
"Pierino Gelmini: un ex prete, rico e potente, rinviato a giudizio per molestie sessuali".
IMGPress. Retrieved 9 July 2010. ) The troubled Gelmini left Italy but ran into similar trouble in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

, where allegations of foul play involved

embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

from the influential

Huế Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Ngô Đình Thục Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục () (6 October 1897 – 13 December 1984) was the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Huế, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Huế, South Vietnam, Vietnam, and later a sedevacantist bishop who was excommunicated by the V ...

and the widow of

Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm ( or ; ; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was a South Vietnamese politician. He was the final prime minister of the State of Vietnam (1954–1955), and then served as the first president of South Vietnam (Republic of ...

, the overwhelmingly

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

country's Roman Catholic first

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

. In Italy, he received a four-year prison sentence for

upon his return in 1971. Although briefly suspended from his priestly work ('' cessatio a divinis'') during this time, he was forgiven by the Catholic Church and continued working within its hierarchy. Such less-than-pleasant facts were not widely publicized in the press at the time and were systematically omitted from all of Gelmini's official biographies. Gelmini's last run-in with the law before the filing of

charges in the 2000s occurred in 1976, when he was investigated for

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

but acquitted in court in 1977. Despite such personal troubles, ''Comunità Incontro'' successfully expanded into a veritable network of services dedicated to the addicted and their varieties of social problems. At the beginning of the 1990s, Gelmini volunteered to be injected with an experimental

AIDS vaccine An HIV vaccine is a potential vaccine that could be either a preventive vaccine or a therapeutic vaccine, which means it would either protect individuals from being infected with HIV or treat HIV-infected individuals. It is thought that an HIV v ...

in a study dedicated to finding an approach to dealing with

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

."Don Gelmini anti AIDS"
(29 June 1992). ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

'', p. 19. Retrieved 7 July 2010. A highly visible social figure towards the end of the 1980s, Gelmini produced written works in the 1990s which described both ''Centro Incontros therapeutic approach and his own experiences. Some writing was translated into

Slovenian Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( sl, Sloven ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

; a 1993

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation, ''A Plan for Life Community Encounter: Origins, History, Growth'', was printed in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

by St. Paul's Press. In Italy, Gelmini's work became a subject of various domestic writers. Having established its first foreign center in 1987, the ''Comunità Incontro'' organization had grown to encompass more than two hundred chapters around the world by the late 2000s, including a number outside Italy and as far away as

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

presented a speech on the occasion of Gelmini's birthday in January 2005. (Berlusconi donated a gift of

5 million to ''Comunità Incontro'' chapters in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

following the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

disaster.) The politician

characterized him as "one of the few heroes of our time."

Mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

reports worldwide have described Gelmini as politically well-connected."Ex-Priest Indicted in Italy for Molesting Kids"
(18 June 2010).

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

. Retrieved 7 July 2010. Two years before, Gelmine had been reduced to the lay state after the charges of minor

Controversy

Abuse accusations and anti-Jewish sentiments

In 2007, nine young men levelled accusations that Gelmini had

sexually abused Sexual abuse or sex abuse, also referred to as molestation, is abusive sexual behavior by one person upon another. It is often perpetrated using force or by taking advantage of another. Molestation often refers to an instance of sexual assau ...

them at the ''Comunità Incontro'' chapter in Amelia; three more followed amid the spate of charges of abuse during the worldwide Roman Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal of the 2000s. One of the men alleged that he and the elderly Gelmini had engaged in fingering and forced

kissing A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

during their sexual encounter. Prosecutor Carlo Maria Scipio and deputy prosecutor Barbara Mazzulo ordered the launch of an investigation."Terni, indagato don Gelmini. L'accusa è di abusi sessuali"
(3 August 2007). ''

La Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

''. Retrieved 9 July 2010. In 2008, Gelmini was

at his own request to

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

. A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' report on tensions in Jewish-Catholic relations described the Catholic Church as a target of additional criticism when Gelmini placed blame for the sexual abuse accusations on unspecified "

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

radical-chic" groups.Fisher, Ian (17 August 2008)
"Vatican Plays Down Meeting That Angered Jewish Groups".
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved 7 July 2010. The

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

n news and information website

Independent Online ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in 2003. The last p ...

provided a translation of remarks Gelmini had made to the ''

''. Gelmini was quoted as saying Gelmini reversed himself after the issue of anti-Jewish hostility was raised and extended an apology to the Jews for his remarks."Chiedo scusa agli ebrei"
(7 August 2008). ''Quotidiano.net''. Retrieved 7 July 2010. Still persisting in assigning blame by accusing the

Freemasons Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, he was quoted by the Italian press as saying "I apologize to the Jews: I have very much respect and consideration for them, but I think there is a

Masonic lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

radical chic fighting the Church on all fronts. . ." As prosecutors moved forward with an

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

in June 2010, Gelmini dismissed the accusations as a "denigrating campaign of lies" and described the allegations as unfounded and impossible because of his advanced age at the time of the alleged abuse episodes. Defense lawyer Lanfranco Frezza offered the explanation that some of the accusers bore a grudge against Gelmini because they had been kicked out of the center for theft and other improper behavior and asserted that "no proof" would be forthcoming to support their claims. Gelmini's trial was due to start in 2011,"Italian Priest Charged with Molesting Youngsters"
(18 June 2010).

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

. Retrieved 7 July 2010. but was deferred several times, also due to his declining wealth conditions, and with his death in 2014 cannot be held anymore, as any crime would get extinct.

Anti-Islamic sentiments

Politically close to the centre-right, in March 2000 Gelmini participated in the presentation of the "manifesto" of the

Alleanza Nazionale National Alliance ( it, Alleanza Nazionale, AN) was a conservative political party in Italy.Luciano Bardi - Piero Ignazi - Oreste Massari, ''I partiti italiani'', Egea 2007, pp. 151, 173n. It was the successor of the Italian Social Movement (MSI) ...

(National Alliance) ''values and ideas without compromise'' as the face of the fight against drugs, but embarrassed Alliance leader

Gianfranco Fini Gianfranco Fini (born 3 January 1952) is an Italian politician who served as the president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies from 2008 to 2013. He is the former leader of the far-right Italian Social Movement, the conservative National Allianc ...

when he declared that "... the Muslims in Italy will soon be 10-15% of the population and they will put at risk the purity of our values. A time has come for them to plunder our cities; today they have a buzzword: marry Catholic women to convert them to Islam. It is necessary to stop this vermin.".

Works

In English translation: * ''A Plan for Life Community Encounter: Origins, History, Growth'' Slough, UK: St. Paul's, 1993. In Italian: * ''Proposta di vita: la Comunità Incontro : genesi, storia, sviluppo''. Milan: Edizioni Paoline, 1992. * ''Don Gelmini incontra la musica italiana a Rock café''. Milan: Edizioni Paoline, 1993. * ''Fiori di mare. Pensieri''. Turin: San Paolo Edizioni, 1999. * with

Alessandro Meluzzi Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * Alessandro Baricco ...

: ''Cristoterapia. Dialogo di vita fonte di speranza''. Roma Morena: Edizioni OCD, 2007.

Distinctions

* :

Grand Officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fr ...

of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

Knight Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

of the

Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem The Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem is a Catholic honorific lay order and ecclesiastical decoration established in 1979 by Patriarch Maximos V Hakim of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, with its seat in the Old City of Jerusalem. ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelmini, Pierino 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in Italy Italian expatriates in Vietnam Italian fraudsters Italian non-fiction writers Italian male non-fiction writers Italian prisoners and detainees Italian resistance movement members Laicized Roman Catholic priests Catholic priests convicted of crimes Members of the clergy convicted of fraud People from the Metropolitan City of Milan 1925 births 2014 deaths Members of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem Violence against men in Europe