Some weeks ago I visited an older parishioner in her home. As were were chatting, I noticed pictures of two priests displayed in the room.
The priest on the right I recognized, of course, as our own Padre Pio. But who was the priest on the left?
"Oh, that's Fr. Gaetano Tantalo. He was our parish priest when I was growing up in Italy. He was a very holy priest and he's going to be a saint."
And so I learned about Don Gaetano Tantalo, how he had made friends with Jewish families in his youth, shielded people from deportation, and even looked to the religious needs of the Jews under his protection.
Pope St. John Paul II declared him venerable in 1995, and the cause for beatification remains open. Fr. Tantalo is also a Righteous Among the Nations.
For the article about Fr. Tantalo on Italian Wikipedia, click here.
For the Yad Vashem article, click here.
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