At 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 22, 2020, a commemorative Mass for our brother Friar Placido will be streamed live on the Internet from the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, Italy. Prior to the Mass, at 4:50 p.m., a documentary will be streamed entitled “Padre Placido CORTESE – Il Coraggio del Silenzio” [Father Placido CORTESE – The Courage of Silence].

The Mass will be presided over by the Most Reverend Gianfranco Agostino GARDIN, OFM Conv., Bishop Emeritus of Treviso, Italy. The installation of a “Stolperstein” dedicated to the Servant of God will also be officially announced. A Stolperstein (literally a “stumbling block”) is a concrete, cobblestone-sized cube capped with an engraved brass plate. Stolpersteine have been set into the pavement of streets in major European cities as commemorative markers for persons who were deported to Nazi extermination camps and others who helped persecuted Jews. The installation of the Stolperstein for Friar Placido is scheduled for Armistice Day, January 27, 2021. It will be placed next to the churchyard of the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua, near a plaque commemorating St. Maximilian M. KOLBE.
“We are very happy about the news of having a Stolperstein dedicated to our brother,” said Friar Giorgio LAGGIONI, Vice-postulator for Friar Placido’s cause for canonization. “It is another important element that recognizes the value and historical significance of the work that Friar Placido did in defending the oppressed and persecuted, and the sacrifice he made by remaining silent in order to defend those who collaborated with him and those he had saved”.
To learn more about Friar Placido, the website of the Order has a page dedicated to the Servant of God. Go to: https://www.ofmconv.net/en/servo-di-dio-fra-placido-cortese-sacerdote-1907-1944/.
We would also like to mention two books that have been published (in Italian) by Edizioni Messaggero Padova: “Padre Placido CORTESE – Vittima del Nazismo” [Father Placido CORTESE – Victim of Nazism] by Apollonio TOTTOLI, and “I Fioretti di Padre Placido” [The Little Flowers of Father Placido] by Friar Giorgio LAGGIONI and Piero LAZZARIN.
For more information go to https://areastampa.messaggerosantantonio.it/content/nel-76deg-anniversario-della-morte-di-padre-cortese-medaglia-doro-al-merito-civile-lannuncio.

From the editorial staff