Giorgio La Pira
Declared venerable by Pope Francis, Giorgio La Pira was a university professor of Roman law, a deputy in Parliament, and three times elected mayor of Florence — a position he held for about ten years.
He was a well-known personality because of his political engagement with a global reach, and for his testimony of Christian life.
He participated in 1976 in some monthly meetings where passages from the work were read. They were held at the Basilica of Ss. Annunziata in Florence, where Maria Valtorta is buried. (La Pira lived in the San Marco convent of the Dominican Fathers, which is nearby.)
Born in Pozzallo (Ragusa) in 1904, he died in 1977 in Florence, where his cause for beatification was introduced in 1986. The theological examination of all the writings of Giorgio La Pira, the collection of several hundred testimonies, concluded on April 4, 2005. On July 5, 2018, the Holy See published an official bulletin announcing that His Holiness Francis, after receiving Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, authorized the Congregation to promulgate four decrees, including the one concerning the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Giorgio La Pira.
His testimony on the work of Maria Valtorta boils down to a few lines:CHAMBER OF DEPUTIESFlorence, 2/12/1952
I have found no theological error in the work on the Gospel entitled “Words of eternal life”; it is an experience of the greatest interest. This is my opinion.
G. La Pira