21 Facts About Bartolo Longo

Bartolo Longo was an Italian lawyer who has been beatified by the Catholic Church.

Bartolo Longo presented himself as a former "Satanic priest" who returned to the Catholic faith and became a Dominican tertiary, dedicating his life to the rosary and the Virgin Mary.

Bartolo Longo was eventually awarded a papal knighthood of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Bartolo Longo was born into a wealthy family on February 10,1841, in the small town of Latiano, near Brindisi, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

In 1861, Bartolo Longo succeeded in convincing his stepfather and was sent to the University of Naples to study law.

On October 7,1871, Bartolo Longo became a Dominican tertiary and took the name "Rosario".

Bartolo Longo kept up his law practice, which took him to the nearby village of Pompei.

Bartolo Longo went to Pompei to take care of the affairs of Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco.

In Pompei, Bartolo Longo later recounted, he was shocked at the erosion of the people's faith.

Bartolo Longo wrote of his personal struggles with mental illness, paranoia, depression, and anxiety.

Bartolo Longo wrote that this promise is what convinced him to encourage public devotion to the Rosary.

Bartolo Longo sponsored a festival in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary.

In 1875, Bartolo Longo obtained as a gift a painting portraying Our Lady of the Rosary, with Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Siena.

The painting was in bad condition and Bartolo Longo wrote of his immediate distaste of the poor artistic quality when he first saw it.

Bartolo Longo raised funds to restore the image and placed it in the church in an effort to encourage pilgrimages.

Bartolo Longo continued promoting the Rosary until his death on October 5,1926, at the age of 85.

Bartolo Longo's body is encased in a glass tomb and he is wearing the mantle and regalia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a papal order of knighthood.

In 1902, Bartolo Longo was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for organizing a petition drive for world peace from 1896 to 1900, collecting more than four million signatures in dozens of countries.

Bartolo Longo's nomination was submitted to the Norwegian Nobel Committee by Pietro Chimienti, Antonio Cardarelli and 8 members of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

Bartolo Longo's cause was formally opened on February 28,1947, and he was given the title Servant of God.

On October 26,1980, Bartolo Longo was beatified by Pope John Paul II, who would call him the "Apostle of the Rosary" and mentioned him specifically in his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae.