Father Mario Pantaleo was a very popular priest during the 80s and 90s, due to the healings attributed to him. A man at the service of God and the people, who left deep marks on people, due to his merciful and helpful attitude.
It was known that sooner or later he was destined for sainthood. After several years of the beginning of the cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God priest José Mario Pantaleo, the Argentine stage for the beatification of Father Mario.
This Wednesday morning, the full investigation of the process was completed with a formal closing that took place in the Cathedral of Buenos Aires and was presided over by the Buenos Aires archbishop, Monsignor Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva.
The next stage will be in Rome, at the Vatican. There the sealed boxes with all the statements and testimonies will be sent to the Cause of Saints.
Who was Father Mario?
“Giussepe Mario Romolo Pantaleo was born in Pistoia, Florence, Italy on August 1, 1915. The Pantaleo family, in 1924, migrated to Córdoba, Argentina where they formed with the Salesians. The Pantaleo couple returned to Italy, but Mario and his brothers did so later, in 1931, where Mario completed his clerical studies in Italy. In 1944 he was ordained a priest in Matera,” summarizes the Brief Biography of Fr. José Mario Pantaleo, by Geraldine Mackintosh.
Pantaleo returned to Argentina in 1948. He lived in Santa Fe and in 1957 he moved to Buenos Aires. He was successively appointed chaplain of the Santojanni Hospital, the Railway Hospital and the Roffo Oncology Institute. He cared for the sick, by laying on his hand, in private homes and parishes. And in 1968 he settled in González Catán, where he built the Cristo Caminante chapel and carried out his work.
Mackintosh’s biography summarizes that Father Mario obtained the degrees of philosopher at the University of Buenos Aires and psychologist at the Kennedy University, and continued caring for the sick in both González Catán and the Federal Capital. He undertook numerous trips to Europe, Asia and America. “On August 19, 1992, he died from a lung condition, with an already widespread reputation for holiness, in the city of Buenos Aires,” he points out.
The Italian priest with laying on of hands It “cured” diseases, but above all it gave a spiritual support to people who were going through a health problem. As a great sign of humility she said “I am the guitar, the guitar player is God.” Every day many people waited for him, hoping for a cure, and he attended to everyone, even though sometimes he was overcome with fatigue and fell asleep.
He also became known in artistic and political environment. The then president Carlos Menem, Juan Alberto Badía, Jorge Luis Borges, Jorge Guinzburg, Dr. Raúl Matera and Astor Piazzolla went to see him when they brought him sick from Paris, among many others. Most of them built a friendship and felt great affection for Father Mario.
He had an angel who accompanied him for many years, Perla Gallardo de Garavelli. She went to see him because she was sick, he cured her and Perla became his great companion in the work of González Catán, where she complemented him in the construction and administration of the enormous work that has given and continues to give so much fruit for the inhabitants of that town of La Matanza. Currently, Carlos Garavelli, Perla’s son, is the president of the Presbítero José Mario Pantaleo Foundation, following the line of family commitment.
Several books and biographies were written about Father Mario. In 1995, Antonio Cervi made the documentary “Mario, life and work of Father Mario Pantaleo.” In 2006, the film “Las Manos” by the prolific Alejandro Doria, based on part of his story.
The Work of Father Mario Pantaleo is carried out, especially, in favor of education, from kindergarten to college level (with degrees in Administration, University Nursing and Psychopedagogy). Also the contribution to local development, care for the elderly and health care for neighbors. That is to say: the integration of the entire community. Education in values through sports is included. The foundation has a sponsorship system and a school of arts and crafts. The great dream of the Tuscan priest is still more alive than ever.
What was the beatification process like?
Two priests intervened, in accordance with the process of the Catholic Church for the Cause of Saints. Both lawyers, canonists specializing in causes of saints. In 2020, the Vatican expressed that there were no obstacles to starting the process and demonstrating that Father Mario lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree and his reputation for holiness.
Father Daniel Medina as postulator, regarding the need for a miraclestates: “It is customary in the Church that the process ends with an extraordinary event, giving confirmation by that fact.”
The miracle is an extraordinary event that has no scientific explanation. Then a court in Rome will determine if it is a miracle or not. The majority of its members are doctors of different faiths, including agnostics and atheists. At least science must say that it cannot be explained. If there are doubts, it is not approved. It has to be a total reversal of a health issue, and a certain number of years have to pass after it occurred.
Father Luis Carballo, as the bishop’s judge to investigate the case and carry out the process, through the testimonies of people who knew him or who received graces, says that “the work of González Catàn is very important, but the fundamental thing is his life. What is analyzed are his virtues through his works: faith, hope and charity. “The charity in what he did, the faith in what he really worked and in his love for his neighbor in what he was as a priest.”
“Father Mario cured me”
It is one of Father Mario’s miraculous cases. María José is 49 years old, she is married to Caio Grau Baena. She lives in the northern area. She defines herself as a non-believer, or rather, as non-religious. She believes that there is a higher force. In July 2015 she underwent successful surgery for a benign tumor in her brain. A few months later, while she was fully recovering, a very large edema grew rapidly and began to put pressure on her brain, rapidly deteriorating her health.
The doctors could not find the cause, they told him that, in order to diagnose it, they only had to operate again. There was a possibility that the cavernous angioma, perhaps misdiagnosed, could be a glioma, a type of malignant cancer, which caused this great inflammation. She was very weak, she thought that maybe she could lose her life if she had surgery.
Despite what the doctors told him, he decided not to have surgery. A relative gave him the biography of Father Mario, he devoured the book and went to González Catán, on December 8 of that year. She goes to her mausoleum with her husband, she invokes him, she does not ask him to cure her but to help her through that difficult moment, to guide her. That day was the day of the Virgin, and when they returned something unusual happened to them: a procession carrying an image of the Virgin on a litter was passing by the door of their house and, without thinking about it, they spontaneously joined those people.
A week later they did a new study to determine if the angioma could be a glioma. The result was “inconclusive.” Maria Jose started to feel better, to recover his body. She decided to visit Father Mario’s mausoleum frequently, asking him for peace and patience to get through that moment. A month later, another study was performed and the edema had reduced by 80%. In the study carried out in June 2016, the edema had disappeared.
María José, “the non-believer” who believed in the Italian priest, affirms with certainty: “Father Mario cured me.” She says that she dreams about it frequently. Both she and her husband, who do not have children, became involved with the work of González Catán, to the point that they have three godchildren through the child support system that although they have families, they need financial support for education, nutrition, health and recreation.
Father Mario’s remains are found in the González Catán mausoleum, surrounded by white roses swaying by the wind in spring. You feel life in that place. Thousands of parishioners come to ask sometimes but always to thank a life given to God and from God to othersto the next, until the end.
