From the fronts of planet War II, through a military career to the Franciscan monastery – the destiny of the Servant of God Gianfranco Maria Chiti may surprise, but above all they show that it is possible to service God and neighbour in all circumstances. On the 20th anniversary of the death of this Venerable Servant of God, it is worth reading his story.
Youth on the Front
Gianfranco Chiti was born in 1921 in Ginese, close Novary, but grew up in Pesaro, where his father taught violin at the music conservatory. From his youth he felt a call to 2 things, which later marked his full life – a deep spiritual commitment and military service. As a young boy, he began a spiritual formation with the Franciscans and became active in the activities of the Saint Vincent à Paulo Association. At the age of 15, he entered a military profile advanced school in Milan and then graduated from a higher military school in Rome and the Military Academy in Modena.
When he left the college's threshold was already planet War II, so 21-year-old Gianfranco in the rank of lieutenant was appointed commander of the Grenadier Division of Sardinia and sent to the Slovenian-Croatian front. Despite his early age, he rapidly gained designation from both subordinates and superiors, who valued him for innate charisma and courage, but besides helpful disposition. His religiousness was besides known, due to the fact that wherever he went with his branch, he always took with him the figure of Our woman and appointed a place to pray the rosary.
Shortly thereafter, 1 of the most hard periods in his military career began – in June 1942, already in the rank of lieutenant, he set off on the east front where he commanded the company in the anti-tank battalion. Initially, the situation favoured the Axis states, but in autumn the situation changed dramatically as Russian forces moved on to counteroffensive. Gianfranco Chiti then commanded the anti-tank cannon battery, which on 16 December was attacked by much stronger Russian forces. At the time he showed large courage and determination first in defense, and then paved the way for his troops to retreat, for which he was awarded an Italian bronze medal for military valor and by the Wehrmacht with the Iron Cross.
However, this was not the end of the dangers due to the fact that the retreating Italian troops were inactive waiting for a long march through the snowy wilderness. Chiti, himself highly exhausted, suffering from frostbite, sustained his soldiers in spirit, and if it had to be besides on the body, lifting up from the ground those who had no more strength and helping them to go. At these moments he especially saw in his associates Christ, who suffered not for his own faults, but for the sins of the powerful of this world.
Subsequent months brought further deterioration to Italy. In July 1943, the Fascist government collapsed and the fresh government signed a truce with the Allies, which sparked the fury of the Germans who attacked Rome. Disoriented Italian soldiers had to find themselves in these fresh conditions, in which the erstwhile allies became enemies, and the king fled the capital by abandoning the subjects and giving no guidance to the army. In this situation, Gianfranco Chiti, like many another soldiers, decided to join the army of the Italian Social Republic, formed in the north by the Germans and governed by Mussolini. Although Chiti himself did not share Fascist ideology, it was in that country that he saw the continuation of Italian patriotism fighting to the end in defence of his homeland, unlike the south, which capitulated against the Allies.
Upon arriving north, he was assigned to the Grenadier branch, intended to destruct guerrilla troops. His methods differed from those utilized by another commanders – he restrained his people from utilizing panic and unjustified violence, preferring bargaining and exchange of prisoners. He sometimes included the detainees in his own troops, guaranteeing their safety. It is estimated that he saved about 200 guerrillas and Jews. Chiti besides showed courage in the fight, and during the skirmishes he utilized to choice up and reject enemy grenades.
Military and educator
After the war ended, he first went to prison and then stayed in respective concentration camps. He besides stood before the Military Court, which, after assessing his past in the Social Republic, entirely acquitted him, stated that his engagement was solely dictated by the intention of fighting to defend his homeland. This allowed him to return to military service and in 1948 joined the Grenadiers of Sardinia to the rank of captain. A year later, he left for Somalia, where he served on the command of the country's armed forces, and after returning to Italy, in 1954, he conducted a course for Somali sub-camera. Over the following years, he overcame further ranks in his military career, frequently holding prestigious positions. He was besides entrusted with the training of future military personnel, mainly at the Podoficer School in Viterbo, where he was first deputy commander and then commandant from 1973 to 1978.
In all these roles, he was made known as a prominent soldier and an efficient organizer, as well as as as an excellent lecturer who could motivate the subordinates primarily by his own example. In his speeches he frequently quoted the patriotic slogan “God, Homeland and Family” and cited examples of saints. Despite appearances of harshness, he has always treated everyone with kindness, and even sometimes he has helped others materially, with his own modest resources.
Capuchin habit
In early May 1978, he retired and was appointed Brigadier General, and as early as 30 May joined the Capuchin monastery in Rieti, fulfilling his long-standing dream. In 1982, he accepted priestly ordination, and shortly after, due to his deep religion and experience, he was directed by his superiors to work with novices serving as guardian of the novitiate from 1983 to 1985. He was besides constantly associated with Grenadiers from Sardinia, for whom he had officially served as a pastoral minister since 1990.
The same year, the authorities of the Order entrusted him with the restoration of the ruined monastery of Saint Crispin of Viterbo, Orvieto. This was not an easy task, but Chiti's father went to work with a soldier's spirit and found generous donors, after which, with the aid of volunteers from the grenadiers' unit, he transformed the ruins into a place of prayer and a retreat center over respective years. As a parish priest, he besides cared for the mediocre and visited a local drug resort. It was the active pastoral activity in Orvieto that dedicated the last years of his life. He died on 20 November 2004, as a consequence of injuries sustained respective months earlier in a car accident.
Gianfranco Chiti's engagement in the service of God and neighbour was appreciated by the local Church. In 2015, his beatification process began, whose diocesan phase ended in 2019. In January 2024, a decree on the heroics of his virtues was promoted, which brings him closer to beatification and gives him the title “The Venerable Servant of God”. Thus, it is possible that in the coming years this “general of the Lord God” will be raised to altars.
Sylvia Mazurek