Elvira Petrozzi

Born in Sora on 21 January 1937 to an alcoholic father, Petrozzi and her family fled to Alessandria during World War II.^[2] She claimed to have "never thought of learning to read or study".^[3] In 1956, at the age of 19, she joined the Sisters of Divine Charity in addition to working as a caregiver at a children’s daycare.^[2]

On 16 July 1983, Petrozzi founded the Comunità Cenacolo in an 18th-century house in Saluzzo.^[4] She first intended to create a community for marginalized young people, but turned to helping young drug addicts, eventually devoting herself to the latter.^[2] On 16 July 2009, the community was recognized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a private international association of the faithful.^[3]

By 2013, there were sixty Cenacolo communities, with a presence in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Poland, Russia, Ireland, France, the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil.^[2]

Elvira Petrozzi died in Saluzzo on 3 August 2023, at the age of 86.^[5]

• Padre Léo