Lorenzo stopped to help others. Rome has never forgotten him
Scout leader, volunteer, student and friend to people living on the streets. On 6 November the diocesan inquiry in his beatification cause will open. His story began long before his final act of kindness.
For some people, Thursday was the day the sandwiches arrived. With them came people to talk to, a presence they could count on. That round through Rome’s railway stations, begun in the parish of San Giovanni Battista De Rossi, tells us much about Lorenzo Cuneo.
Lorenzo was a young layman, an Agesci Scout leader and a Caritas volunteer. On 23 October 1998, aged 28, he was killed by a truck on the A1 motorway after stopping to help a motorist. The memory of that willingness to help has endured. Now the Diocese of Rome has announced a new stage in his cause.
The diocesan inquiry begins on 6 November
The opening session is scheduled for Friday, 6 November 2026 at noon, in the Sala della Conciliazione of the Apostolic Lateran Palace. Cardinal Vicar Baldo Reina will preside.
The inquiry concerns the Servant of God’s life, virtues, reputation for holiness and signs. It involves gathering and assessing testimony and documents: beatification has not already been decided. This stage invites us to learn about Lorenzo carefully, leaving the Church to carry out its discernment.
The Thursday round that still continues
Born in Rome in 1970, Lorenzo wove faith and service together. With fellow parishioners he organised the distribution of sandwiches and support for people without homes at the stations. According to the diocese, that service still takes place today.
Perhaps this is one of the loveliest parts of his legacy. A good idea can find other hands, cross the years and become a commitment that lasts. The need for food meets the need to be seen: noticing a person also means giving them time and attention.
A backpack ready whenever help was needed
His volunteering took him beyond Rome: to Umbria after the earthquake, alongside refugees in Bosnia and to Ukraine with Focolare friends. In Romania he helped with work on a hospital and a family home for children with AIDS.
In his own neighbourhood he also worked to protect the Caffarella area. He studied natural sciences at Sapienza University and took part in local public life, becoming a councillor in what was then Rome’s Ninth Municipality. Landscape, shared spaces and the people living there: his story connects care for all of them.
Prayer within a full life
The postulator, Paolo Vilotta, describes him as open to others, humorous and deeply attached to prayer. In the cause’s edict, the diocese also recalls the Eucharistic adoration and participation in Mass that nourished his faith.
This detail helps us understand the rest. Lorenzo’s activity grew alongside an inner life. For believers, prayer can become the place where we bring back the people we have met and ask for the strength to return to them.
Goodness found other hands
Eleven days after his death, his parents Dora and Claudio founded the Associazione Lorenzo Cuneo to continue his work. A statue remembers him in the Caffarella; a nursery school and a public square in Rome also bear his name.
His friends affectionately call him the neighbourhood’s saint. It expresses the bond they still feel with him, distinct from the Church’s judgment, which remains a process underway.
His story leaves us a practical suggestion: choose a service close to home and keep showing up. One evening a month, a shift, a commitment agreed with a charity. The Thursday round still tells us that a shared gesture can become a small promise kept.
