Giorgio La Pira
1904-1977 20th century
Putting prayer at the beginning of action; taking the whole world as the subject of intercession.
Who was Giorgio La Pira?
A professor of Roman law and a Dominican tertiary, he became mayor of Florence and governed by requisitioning empty housing for the homeless and opposing factory closures. For twenty years he wrote to hundreds of cloistered nuns, entrusting the affairs of the world to them. He also carried messages of peace to Moscow, Hanoi and Cairo, with no mandate from anyone.
In their own words
The world has entered a phase that demands the utmost of peace, of adoration, of recollection and of the taste of God.