Bearded former punk band guitarist Father Giulio Vannucci and former policeman Father Michele Di Stefano flank Bishop Giovanni Nerbini following their June 8, 2024, ordination to the Catholic priesthood. | Credit: Diocese of Prato, Italy The Cathedral of Prato, Italy, was the setting last Saturday for the ordination of a former punk band guitarist and policeman.
Fr Giulio Vannucci, who has long hair and a beard and who earlier in life was part of the group i Quanti, a local punk band, was ordained along with Fr Michele Di Stefano, a former police officer, by the bishop of Prato, Giovanni Nerbini.
“The Lord has not chosen administrators or supermen but simple and always generous people,” Bishop Nerbini said in his homily at the ordination Mass.
Fr Vannucci, 38, was born in the town of Pistoia. Of his punk band past, he told the Italian newspaper Avvenire it was “a period in which I had a lot of fun and that I do not regret”.
During the past eight years, Fr Vanucci has worked as a bricklayer in a Catholic housing apostolate. “For me, being a priest means putting oneself even more at service, it means taking care of everything and everyone,” Fr Vannucci said.
The other priest, Fr Michele Di Stefano, 39, is a former police officer in the town of Bardonecchia. He completed his priestly formation in Florence.
“Today is not a goal achieved but rather the beginning of a new path, even an exhausting one,” Fr Di Stefano said. “But I am sure that I am not alone and that I have God’s help. My intention is to be close to people who suffer, who feel alone,” said Fr Di Stefano, who was accompanied by several policemen who were former colleagues of his.