Dolindo Ruotolo (6 October 1882,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

–19 November 1970,

) was an Italian Catholic priest. He is a candidate for

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

and the Catholic Church has granted him the title "

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

". Ruotolo has been recognized as an advocate of spiritual practice called the "spirituality of surrender". Polish Cardinal

Konrad Krajewski Konrad Krajewski (; born 25 November 1963) is a Catholic Church in Poland, Polish Catholic prelate who has served as Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity since 2013. He served as master of ceremonies, Papal Master of Ceremonies ...

, the Papal Almoner, has cited Ruotolo's personal devotion as an inspiration. Padre Pio said Don Dolindo was a “saint”, that “the whole of Paradise” was in his soul, and once said to a group of Pilgrims from Naples, “Why do you come here, you have Don Dolindo in Naples?, Go to him. He is a saint.” Dolindo called himself “Mary’s little old man.” He lived in such great poverty that his own family turned away from him. He opened his arms without fear to embrace contagious sick people, caressing and kissing them. He offered himself as a victim soul for mankind, and was afflicted with many sufferings, including complete paralysis for the last ten years of his life. In 1941, Ruotolo, writing under the pseudonym of "Dain Cohenel", distributed to the Italian Catholic bishops a pamphlet attacking Catholic biblical scholarship, ''Un gravissimo pericolo per la Chiesa e per le anime. II sistema critico-scientifico nello studio e nell'interpretazione della Sacra Scrittura, le sue deviazioni funeste e le sue aberrazioni'', for which he was censured by the

Pontifical Biblical Commission The Pontifical Biblical Commission () is a pontifical commission established within the Roman Curia to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of the Bible. Since 1988, it has been closely attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the ...

. He accused

historical-critical method Historical criticism (also known as the historical-critical method (HCM) or higher criticism, in contrast to lower criticism or textual criticism) is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts to understand "the world b ...

s of being the product of an "accursed spirit of pride, presumption, and superficiality, disguised under minute investigations and hypocritical literal exactness". Quoted in Ruotolo authored a ten-thousand page Bible commentary, ''La Sacra Scrittura'', which on 20 November 1940 was placed on the

Index of Forbidden Books The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print o ...

. Ruotolo had the gift of prophecy, writing to Bishop Hnilica in 1965 that “a new John will rise out of Poland with heroic steps to break the chains beyond the boundaries imposed by the communist tyranny.” This prophecy was said to have been realized in

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

References

External links

The Surrender Novena: Let Jesus Take Care of Everything
Catholicexchange.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruotolo, Dolindo 1882 births 1970 deaths Italian Servants of God 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests People from Naples