This Is Your Life: Mario Borrelli

Father Mario BORRELLI (1922-2007)

The first 'pick-up' outside of the UK

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Mario Borrelli, Roman Catholic priest, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while playing football with boys in Naples, Italy.

Mario, who was born into a working-class family in Naples, Italy, was forced to leave school at the age of nine to support his family. He worked as a metal gilder and in a barber shop before returning to education to study at the Apostolic School. He was consecrated a priest in 1946 and almost immediately made it his vocation to help the poor and discriminated.

In the 1950s, he dedicated himself to the cause of the scugnizzo - the abandoned children who survived precariously on the streets of Naples in the post-war era. After living among the boys to understand their ways and problems, he revealed his true identity and, having earned the boys' trust, he raised the necessary funds to establish the Casa dello Scugnizzo - a community that offered hospitality, boarding, education and moral support to the young and homeless.

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