From demon worshipper, to a man of God: Vatican makes former Satanic priest a Saint — The wild story of Bartolo Longo

More than 700,000 people crowded St. Peter’s Square in Rome this month to witness a moment that might sound straight out of fiction — the canonisation of a former Satanic priest. On 19 Oct 2025, Pope Leo XIV officially declared Bartolo Longo, along with six others, a saint of the Catholic Church. For the faithful, it was a celebration of redemption. For everyone else, it was a reminder that some of the Church's most powerful stories begin in darkness.

Who was Saint Bartolo Longo?

Born in 1841 in Latiano, Italy, Bartolo Longo trained as a lawyer. After his father's death, Longo lost faith and turned toward the occult, engaging in extreme practices including fasting and even making a pact with the devil. According to Daily Mail, he plunged into séances, and was even "ordained" as a Satanic priest — until one night, he heard what he believed was his dead father’s voice: "Return to God."

Terrified, Longo confided in a close friend, Professor Vincenzo Pepe, who was appalled at how far he’d gone into Satanism. Pepe, as per the report, warned him that he was heading toward madness. These words reportedly jolted Longo into seeking help from a Dominican priest, Father Alberto Radente. What followed was a month-long process of confession and repentance that transformed his life. Longo renounced Satanism, took a vow of celibacy, and threw himself into service.

Why was the former Satanic priest given sainthood?

Bartolo Longo would then dedicate six years of his life to charitable work before taking a vow as a lay Dominican on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. He later founded the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, built orphanages for the children of prisoners, and spent years working with the poor and sick. He became known for walking the streets preaching against spiritualism. He even attended what was his last séance, where he declared, "I renounce spiritualism; it is nothing but a web of lies and deception."

He died in 1926, remembered not for his sins but for his conversion — a man who went from invoking demons to building one of Italy’s most visited places of prayer. At his canonisation on October 19, Pope Leo said, "Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new Saints, who, with God's grace, kept the lamp of faith burning".