The inspiring vocation of Fr. Carlo — widower, grandfather, and priest

Carlo Dei Lazzaretti was ordained in Mexico on Friday, February 10, by Archbishop Víctor Sanchez of Puebla. Carlo, 70 years old, is the father of three children and the grandfather of five. He’s originally from Italy where he was born in 1953. 

After the sudden loss of his wife, Carlo went through a long period of questioning his faith. It was only at the age of 61 that he began to consider the possibility of a priestly vocation. Two years later, he decided to enter the Redemptoris Mater seminary, located in Puebla, southeast of Mexico City. After six years of study in this new setting, he was ordained a deacon on August 20, 2022, and a priest on February 10, 2023. "I said yes to this call that led me to Mexico," Fr. Carlo explained in a video interview just before his ordination, "and I am here to do God's will in this beautiful country."

"It is a way of life that he has chosen himself; no one is imposing it on him. No one is forcing him or pressuring him. He thought about it before God, before the Blessed Sacrament," said the Archbishop of Puebla during the ordination Mass, quoted by ACI Prensa. "Christ himself is present in the person of the ordained priest, despite our unworthiness. It’s a gift, a true gift that the Lord gives us," the Mexican prelate emphasized.

The three children of the new priest were present at the Mass, and they themselves carried the liturgical vestments of their father, who is now vicar of the parish of the Holy Family, in the city of Tres Cruces.