Featured Stories | June 19, 2026
“We forgive. My Jesus, mercy!”
Final words of Fr. Martino Capelli, SCJ
In 1944, Fr. Martino Capelli was a 32-year-old SCJ with dreams of being a missionary. However, those dreams soon took a backseat to the terrors of World War II. Alongside a Salesian priest and friend, Fr. Martino became a heroic point of reference for the local population: hiding people to save them from deportation, tending to the wounded, and burying the dead at the peril of his own life. Arrested by the SS, Fr. Capelli was put into forced labor before being executed on October 1, 1944. His final moments, spent blessing and absolving his fellow captives, still resonate today as a pinnacle of forgiveness: “We forgive. My Jesus, mercy!”.
On September 27, 2026, Fr. Martino –– along with two others –– will be beatified in Bologna, Italy.
Resources on Fr. Martino Capelli
Click on the desired item below to download it:
Biography text (five pages)
Illustrated timeline of Fr. Capelli’s life
Prayer card
Winter Has Come, a book written by Fr Juan José Arnaiz, SCJ, of the Spanish Province, that details the final four months of Fr. Capelli’s life. The book explores the historical and social context of Italy during the war, the role of the Catholic Church and the brutality of the SS.
More resources are available on the general website of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. Click here.