Servants of God
Sergio di San Giuseppe
Biography
Sergio Sorgon was born in San Donà di Piave on 12 November 1938, the fourth of ten children. In 1949, he entered the minor seminary in Verona. In 1955, he took the religious habit and professed his vows the following year. In 1963, he was ordained a priest in St Mark’s Basilica in Venice. He carried out his first ministry in Treviso and Brescia. On 7 June 1969, he left for Madagascar with two other priests to start a Carmelite mission on the island. His missionary work over the course of 16 years was intense and varied in terms of commitment and different places of residence. On the afternoon of 7 January 1985, he was expected in Moramanga, a town 120 km from the capital, where he was parish priest and Episcopal Vicar of the diocese. He had left Tananarive on his motorbike. He was waited for in vain in Moramanga, and his horribly mutilated body was found the following day at the edge of a forest.
Procedure
1. The canonical norms concerning the procedure to be followed in the Causes of Saints are stated in the Apostolic Constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister promulgated by John Paul II on 25 January 1983 (AAS LXXV, 1983, 349-355).
2. To initiate a Cause it is necessary that at least five years pass after the death of the candidate. This is to allow for greater balance and objectivity in the evaluation of the case and to allow the emotions of the moment to decant. There must be a clear conviction among people about his/her sanctity (fama sanctitas) and about the efficacy of his/her intercession with the Lord (fama signorum).
