The Memorial of Saint Joseph Cafasso

Saint Joseph Cafasso is the Patron Saint of

• Italian prisons
• Prison chaplains
• Prisoners
• Those condemned to death

Saint Joseph Cafasso Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death, Feast Day, Beatification Date, Canonization DateMatrimony/Holy OrdersPriests who became Saints

Saint Joseph Cafasso Short life History

Saint Joseph Cafasso is also known as
• Giuseppe Cafasso
• Priest of the Gallows

• He was born with a deformed spine, and into a wealthy peasant family; he was short in stature and crippled throughout his life.
• He was ordained in 1833.
• He was a professor of moral theology at the ecclesiastical college at Turin in 1836.
• He was superior of the college from 1846 to 1860.
• He was a retreat house director.
• He was a pastor of Saint Francis Church in 1848.
• He was a renowned confessor.
• He promoted devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
• He was a friend of and advisor to Saint John Bosco, having first met him when Joseph was 12 years old; Saint John wrote a biography of Saint Joseph.
• He was uncle of Blessed Joseph Allamano.
• He founded religious fellowships.

• He worked to reform prisons and prisoners, and to improve prison conditions in Turin.
• He ministered to condemned prisoners, winning converts.
• He once escorted 60 newly converted condemned to the gallows. Since many of the prisoners were hanged immediately after confessing and receiving absolution, Joseph referred to them as “hanged saints”.

Today’s Catholic Quote:

Saint Joseph Cafasso was born on 15 January 1811 at Castelnuovo d’Asti, Italy and died on 23 June 1860 at Turin, Italy of pneumonia, a stomach hemorrhage, and complications of his congenital medical problems. His will bequeathed everything to aid the ministry of Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo