Who Was Fr. Stefano Gobbi and What Is His Beatification Cause Announced on mmp-usa.net?

Fr. Stefano Gobbi was the priest whose interior locutions, written down from July 1973 to December 1997 and published as To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons, are tied to the Marian Movement of Priests (MMP). The beatification cause announced on mmp-usa.net is the diocesan process for his Cause of Beatification and Canonization, which opened in Como, Italy, on May 1, 2024, with Cardinal Oscar Cantoni, the diocesan bishop, presiding at a solemn Eucharistic Celebration in the Shrine of the Holy Crucifix (SS. Crocifisso). The site also notes that the Diocese of Como has composed and approved a prayer asking for Fr. Gobbi's intercession.

Who Fr. Gobbi was, according to the site

The website's account begins with Fr. Gobbi praying in the Chapel of the Apparitions in Fatima for priests who, in the description given, had given up their own vocations and were attempting to form an association in rebellion against the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. According to the same account, an interior voice urged him to have confidence in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and he began writing down the messages he was receiving. Those messages date from July 1973 to December 1997 and are published in the book named above.

The site presents him as a model of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: the announcement asks the faithful to thank Our Lady "by renewing our consecration to Her Immaculate Heart, of which Don Stefano was an example and apostle." Note that "Don Stefano" is the same person; the site uses both forms.

What the May 1, 2024 announcement actually says

The "Official Announcement" on the homepage is specific and worth reading literally:

Two clarifications follow from this. First, this is the opening of the diocesan process — the initial investigative stage conducted under the local bishop — not a beatification or canonization itself. Second, the announcement is dated before the event it describes, so it functions as a notice of a scheduled opening.

The approved prayer for his intercession

The site states that a prayer asking for Fr. Gobbi's intercession has been composed and approved by the Diocese of Como, and that this is the only prayer officially approved by the Diocese. The published text opens:

O Most Holy Trinity, we thank You for having given your priest servant, Fr. Stefano Gobbi, to the Church and to the world. In Your Infinite Mercy, through his humble and total yes, You made him a tr…

The homepage excerpt cuts off at that point, so read the full prayer on the site rather than reconstructing it. The practical point for anyone praying for his beatification is the approval status: use the Diocese of Como text, since the site explicitly flags that other prayers are not officially approved.

Why the site pairs the cause with a warning

Among the "Recent Posts" listed alongside the announcement is one titled "URGENT AND IMPORTANT STATEMENT – unauthorized use of messages." Read together with the approval note on the prayer, the site's editorial stance is consistent: it distinguishes what has ecclesiastical approval (the Como prayer, the diocesan process) from what does not (unauthorized use of the messages). If you encounter MMP-related material elsewhere, that distinction is the one the official site asks you to apply.

Where to go next on the site

• The full announcement and prayer text: the homepage "OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT" section.
• The messages themselves: the book To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons, covering July 1973–December 1997.
• Current activity: the "Recent Posts" list, which at the time of this evidence included the October 2026 regional cenacle schedule with Fr. Luca Pescatori, International Director, and Fr. Antonio Carvalho, National Director, across New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, plus 2026 retreat dates for laity and clergy.

If your interest is the cause itself, the diocesan opening in Como is the authoritative reference point; if your interest is the movement's ongoing life, the cenacle and retreat schedules are the practical entries.