Milan – Don Antonio Mazzi has died. The priest passed away at the age of 96 in the house in Parco Lambro where he had lived and worked for over four decades. With his passing, Italy has lost one of the most prominent voices of social Catholicism—a man who consistently carried out his priestly ministry on the streets and, as a result, often found himself at odds with others.
He was born in 1929 in the province of Verona, trained at the seminary there, and later studied philosophy in Ferrara. The turning point came in 1984: In a run-down corner of Milan’s Parco Lambro—then a gathering place for the heroin scene—he founded the Exodus community. What began as a makeshift effort has grown into a network of about forty facilities across the country, which has long since expanded its focus beyond drug addiction to include gambling, alcohol, and media addiction.
Why Don Antonio Mazzi Was Considered a Thorn in the Side of So Many
He became known to an audience of millions through television appearances, columns, and books. He used this platform to speak about young people who otherwise only appeared in police reports—and to remind both politicians and the Church that prevention costs more than outrage. Not everyone in the church hierarchy found this pleasant; he himself never made a secret of the friction.
Most recently, after a hospital stay, he had retired to his room at Parco Lambro. Staff members of the foundation report that he had asked not to be left alone. The funeral service is scheduled for Monday afternoon at the Basilica of Sant’Ambrogio in Milan. According to the Exodus community, he gave thousands of young people something that no one else believed they were capable of: a sense of purpose.
