Fr. Angelo Mutti

Italian priest, Fr. Angelo Mutti, who was the founder of the very popular Echo of Mary, Queen of Peace newsletter (Eco di Maria Regina de la Pace) died today, March 3, 2000. He suffered from the degenerative disease, muscular dystrophy, and over the past several months became increasingly disabled, until finally he was bedridden, unable to move, speak or write. The Echo of Mary Newsletter, at that time, was translated into 17 languages and had a monthly distribution of 900,000. Fr. Angelo always came to the defense of Medjugorje. Reportedly, even Pope John Paul II received the Echo which he enjoyed reading as it helped him keep up with what was going on in Medjugorje. He was a deeply beloved priest among the Medjugorje world. Fr. Slavko, just eight month’s before his own death, wrote of Fr. Angelo’s death on behalf of the whole village of Medjugorje:

“We are sorrowed by the news of the death of this great friend of Medjugorje, a tireless promoter of the messages of Our Lady, Queen of Peace. We are certain that Our Blessed Mother welcomed him with great joy and that Jesus said to him: ‘Come, good servant, into the house of the Father which has been prepared for you and earned by you because you served the others with love.’ Only the Lord knows how much good he brought to others. With this letter all of us here in Medjugorje wish to express our gratitude for the friendship and love which he showed us, and we promise to remember him in our prayers. To the friends who work so that the Echo of Mary publication may continue, our wish is that you be inspired by the same spirit and the same love for Our Lady and for Her messages. Hoping in a fruitful collaboration, we assure you of our prayers.”

Fr. Jozo also sent his words on condolences:

“Fr. Angelo was a guardian angel for the great Marian movement and renewal in the Church which comes from Medjugorje. Thank you, Lord, for your son Fr. Angelo who so many times protected the Mother with Her Son, just like St. Joseph…The ECHO of Medjugorje was the voice which united millions of pilgrims in all the continents. It was a great mission with many obstacles, but Fr. Angelo overcame them all. He lived to witness and to love. Thank you! Dearest Queen of Peace, take your son into God’s kingdom! His hope and desire was that someone would come forward to take on the responsibility of keeping the ECHO of Mary in publication. Fr. Angelo expressed this desire in a letter to his parishioners that he wrote to say goodbye.”

“…I bless the work of the volunteers who will continue to echo Mary’s voice, with the wish that these pages serve to prepare hearts for the Great Jubilee…I thank you all in advance for the donations you will make, without which this little instrument cannot continue. Thank you all again for your moving expressions of concern and for your prayers. Let us continue, also with the help of this little instrument, to remain one big united family which follows the messages of Mary to bring Her work to fulfillment…”