Domenico Mangano (1938-2001) answered God’s call “with readiness, loyalty,  continuity,  but above all, with an absolute freedom of conscience. He freely chose social commitment, which refined itself into a political commitment. When he met the Focolare Movement, he tried daily to improve his spiritual life by choosing to live “the holy journey” in unity with others. This experience rooted itself deeply in this active and resourceful citizen, committed and combative layman, fiery and pungent politician, true and faithful Christian, that was Domenico”. These words were said by the Hon.Tommaso Sorgi on the death of his “dear friend, a discreet and wise confidant, who was more than a brother”. For many years, Sorgi shared with him “the same yearning to unite heaven and earth and the same ardent passion to convey the provocative gospel message in a tough political situation. Above all, we lived together the birth of the Movement for Unity in Politics, that type of political experience which aims at building universal brotherhood and which was launched in parliament by Igino Giordani, a model for both of us” Domenico Mangano was born on February 22,1938 in Anzi, in the province of Potenza. In 1949 his family moved to Viterbo. In 1958, after finishing his high school studies, he managed to succeed in getting a job at the National Institute of Social Security in Pavia. He went to live there, and enrolled as a student-worker at the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. He met Maria Pia when he went back to Viterbo and they got married on August 24, 1966. They had three children: Paola (1968), Giuseppe (1970) and Maria Flora (1972). During these years, Domenico was fully committed to family life, work, university students, trade union, Catholic Action and studies. They were years in which he started his political activity as a public administrator in Viterbo. Domenico met the Focolare Movement in 1974 and together with Maria Pia adhered to its ideals. He was a Volunteer of God, a member of that branch of the Movement where lay people are radically committed to bring the light, that springs from Chiara Lubich’s charism, to all aspects of social life. He was determined “to walk in God‘s way” as indicated by Lubich, and he frequently wrote to her. Lubich remarked that he was a mystic. Domenico died at Viterbo on December 22, 2001. The year before when he was diagnosed with an incurable tumour, he knew it was time “to end the first long chapter of life by entrusting it to God’s merciful heart, and open another one that is completely new”. This was what he wrote to Chiara to share his situation. With the official Edict dated March 9, 2017, Mons. Marcello Semeraro, Bishop of Albano accepted the petition to allow the initialization of the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of Domenico Mangano, presented by the postulator Waldery Hilgeman, and invited the ecclesial community to pronounce itself on the fame of holiness and signs of the  new Servant of God. See also: Domenico Mangano