Fortunata "Natuzza" Evolo (; 23 August 1924 – 1 November 2009) was an Italian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

mystic who has been declared a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

. She is said to have evidenced

stigmata Stigmata ( grc, στίγματα, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, and feet. Stigm ...

Life

A few months before Natuzza's birth at Paravati near

Mileto Mileto ( Calabrian: ; grc, Μίλητος, translit=Míletos) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vibo Valentia in the Italian region Calabria, located about southwest of Catanzaro and about south of Vibo Valentia. Mileto is the ...

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, her father emigrated to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to look for work and the family never saw him again. Maria Angela Valente (Natuzza's mother) took on all sorts of work to feed her numerous family. As soon as she was able to, Natuzza (a diminutive of Fortunata, a common name in Calabria) tried to help her mother and brothers. She was therefore unable to go to school and indeed never learned to read or write. In 1944 Natuzza's mother married Pasquale Nicolace, a carpenter and they had five children, but from quite an early age she was said to have had visions of Our Lord and Our Lady. There is a 10-volume bibliography on Natuzza by Prof. Valerio Marinelli with many interviews where she explains these facts. The bibliography also has interviews with others who claim to have been healed by her prayers or to have received other

graces In Greek mythology, the Charites ( ), singular ''Charis'', or Graces, were three or more goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity, goodwill, and fertility. Hesiod names three – Aglaea ("Shining"), Euphrosyne ("Joy"), and Thali ...

. Natuzza became known for the appearance on her body of blood-coloured images and words around the time of Easter and these caused her great psychological and physical pain. Some of the words were found to be Hebrew and Aramaic which was strange because she could not read or write, even in her native Italian. For decades devout Catholics from Calabria, then the rest of Italy and other parts of the world, began coming to her to ask for advice and prayers and to ask her for information about the souls of their relatives. On 13 May 1987 work began on building a shrine in Paravati dedicated to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

, Refuge of Sinners, destined to be her home for the rest of her life and to provide accommodation for the elderly. This is still awaiting authorisation by the Archbishop of Mileto. Italian television crews came several times to interview her and in 1994 she published her autobiography. A documentary film about her was produced in 1987. In 2007 a special programme was broadcast about an entrepreneur from Calabria who had recovered from leukaemia and he interviewed Natuzza. Fortunata Evolo was admitted to hospital on 29 October 2009 but almost immediately she was released and died of renal failure on the morning of Sunday 1st November at the Immaculate Heart old people's home. The Church bells were ordered by the Parish Priest, Natuzza's spiritual director, to peal out for the Feast of All Saints. Thousands of Catholics came from all over Europe to pay their respects and the cause for her

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

is expected to be started very soon.

Reception

Psychotherapist and skeptic Armando De Vincentiis has published an article claiming that Evolo may have suffered from painful bruising syndrome: In July 2019, a decree from Luigi Renzo, the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Mileto-Nicotera-Tropea, ordered the suppression of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Refuge of Souls Foundation, which had been founded by Evolo.

References

External links

Foundation Natuzza Evolo

Article by parapsychology researcher Michael Nanko

http://www.prodottitipicicalabria.com/Ipersonaggicalabresi_NatuzzaEvolo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evolo, Natuzza 1924 births 2009 deaths People from Mileto Stigmatics Roman Catholic mystics Marian visionaries Visions of Jesus and Mary Italian Servants of God 21st-century venerated Christians