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Sante Spessotto was born on January 28, 1923 in Treviso, Italy into a peasant family. One of the people who had a tremendous influence on young Sante was his Aunt Maria who had wanted to become a religious sister but was unable due to a bone disease. Aunt Maria helped care for Sante and other children and helped them develop a strong religious faith.
When he was fifteen, Sante left his family to join the Franciscans, and one year later, he entered the novitiate. In religious life, he was known as Cosma. He made his final vows in 1944 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1948.
Fr. Cosma very much wanted to be a missionary in China, but his mother was against this idea because she feared the Communist party. The following year, however, Fr. Cosma and two other Franciscans were sent to El Salvador as missionaries. The group arrived in the country on April 4, 1950.
For three years, Fr. Cosma studied Spanish so he could communicate with the people and learned about the cultural customs of the people. Finally, on October 8, 1953, Fr. Cosma began his life as a pastor of the church of San Juan Bautista in the town of San Juan Nonualco, La Paz. People recall how when he first arrived in the town on his Vespa scooter, he was covered with dust, for the roads had not been paved in those days.
Like most missionaries faced with their first assignment, Fr. Cosma was filled with energy and enthusiasm. He immediately went about the town introducing himself to the people and identifying what they needed.
He quickly learned that many of the people had not gotten married in the Church, so he arranged for them to have group weddings in the church. He also helped the poor by raising funds to build a school and construct healthcare clinics, and he introduced grapes into the region to help people get jobs making wine.
During his time in El Salvador, however, the junta that was ruling the nation were assassinating people that the government saw as subversive. This made Fr. Cosma angry, and he did not hesitate to speak out against what he saw as abuses not only by left-wing guerillas, but by right-wing military groups.
In May of 1980, Fr. Cosma was admitted to the hospital with liver problems. However, while there, he was diagnosed with leukemia.
One month later, on the evening of June 14, 1980 as he was preparing the altar for an evening Mass, killers entered the church and shot him point-blank range. As he lay dying, he repeated, “pardon, pardon.” Fr. Filiberto del Bosco anointed him before Cosma died.
Who killed Fr. Cosma is still a mystery.
Fr. Cosma Spessotto was beatified on January 22, 2022. Blessed Cosma’s feast day is June 10.
