The relics of the first married couple to be beatified will be venerated at St. Peter’s Basilica during the World Meeting of Families in Rome. Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi are the official patrons of the 10th World Meeting of Families held from June 22- 26.
Married for 45 years, the Italian couple endured two world wars and nurtured the vocation of their children. Their two sons, who are priests, concelebrated the beatification Mass of their parents with Pope John Paul II in 2001. During World War II, their apartment served as the hiding place for fugitives and Italians with Jewish heritage. Pope John Paul II remarks about this couple “this couple lived an extraordinary life in an ordinary way. ”
Their eldest son Fr. Tarsicio Beltrame is a Benedictine monk, other son Fr. Paolino, a Trappist monk, eldest daughter Sr. Stefania, Benedictine nun and their youngest daughter Enrichetta Beltrame, a lay consecrated woman, who is now a venerable. The couple is buried together in Rome’ s Sanctuary of Divine Love.
