ST MARIA GORETTI: FIRST OF ALL, A CHILD
Love, responsibility and faith. Maria’s story needs to be told gently, with her dignity always at its centre.
Maria Teresa Goretti is born in Corinaldo on 16 October 1890. Her family moves to the countryside of the Agro Pontino in search of work. Her parents are farm workers and money never stretches far enough. Before everything that follows, there is a child growing up amid these hardships.
A home that needs her
After her father Luigi dies of malaria, her mother Assunta has to support the family alone. Maria cooks, mends clothes and looks after her younger siblings. Sources also recall her prayer and her strong wish to receive Communion. Love and responsibility arrive early in a life with few opportunities.
Violence does not define her
On 5 July 1902 Alessandro Serenelli attempts to sexually assault her and fatally wounds her. Maria dies the next day, aged eleven. Responsibility lies entirely with the attacker. No victim loses their dignity through what they endure, or has to prove they resisted enough.
Church sources recall the forgiveness Maria expressed before dying: Catholics see it as part of her witness. But every victim has a right to their own time, protection, help and justice. Her story must never become a demand placed on them.
A mother in St Peter’s Square
Maria is beatified in 1947 and canonised on 24 June 1950. Assunta, her mother, is there in the square as her daughter’s name becomes known around the world. Keep that detail close when you look at pictures of that day.
Pius XII’s address belongs to the language and context of 1950. Today, telling Maria’s story calls for words that respect consent, safeguarding and people who have experienced abuse.
Her memorial is on 6 July, and her remains rest in the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace in Nettuno. Her story deserves attention for the years she lived and the people she loved, without sensational details of the violence.
