Category Archives: Patrick Clayton

A Guest in Two Rectories

Don Antonio Di Pietro

By way of my friends Gian Paolo Ferretti and Antonio Ferretti I’ve learned of a British officer who was sheltered in the comune of Roccafluvione in late 1943.

The officer, Major Patrick Clayton, was the guest of two Catholic priests: Don Antonio Di Pietro, who served the parish in Osoli, and Don Giuseppe “Don Peppe” Ciabattoni, who served the parish in Marsia, both within the comune of Roccafluvione.

The road distance from the Roccafluvione villages (frazioni) of Osoli and Marsia is 6.8 kilometers (about 4 miles)—Google Maps

Antonio Ferretti had previously shared segments of Don Peppe’s chronicon diary, in which the priest briefly mentions Patrick Clayton. (See “Don Giuseppe Ciabattoni—A Hero of Faith.”)

Now Antonio has accessed the chronicon of Don Antonio Di Pietro, which is housed in the Archivio Diocesano.

Paolo notes that Osoli has two churches—one dedicated to San Martino and the other to San Giovanni. Both are outside of the village, and San Martino was chosen as the church of the parish because it is nearer to Osoli.

Today Osoli is under the parish of Marsia.

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