OUR PRIESTS
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Fr Raffaele Cossa
I was born
Fr Luca Speziale
I was born on 3 March 1983 in Pavia, a small city near Milan where St Augustine’s body rests—a presence that has always inspired me with his restless heart and love for Christ and the Church. In 2005 I graduated in Electronic and Information Engineering at the University of Pavia. Just months earlier, on 22 February 2005, Fr Luigi Giussani - whose passion for life had profoundly shaped my journey of faith - had died. That day I felt a clear conviction: the time had come to follow the One whom he had followed so faithfully. This led me to join the Fraternity of St Charles, a community of priests rooted in fraternity and in the charism of Fr Giussani.
I was ordained in 2012 and served for five years at the Navicella Parish in central Rome. On 27 May 2017, the feast of St Augustine of Canterbury, I was sent with Fr Raffaele to England to establish a missionary house in the Diocese of Portsmouth.
I love music of every kind - classical, rock, rock and roll, pop - and I am also passionate about Inter Milan, whose motto “brothers of the world” resonates deeply with me. Today I am grateful to serve the Church here, together with my brother priests and our wonderful parish community.
Fr Matteo Pagani
I was born on 7th May 1991 and grew up in a small village in Brianza, an area north of Milan near the city of Monza, which some may know for its famous Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The eldest of three brothers, I have always been a huge Inter Milan fan, although I have played basketball, my great passion, since a young age.
I studied at the University of Milan, first completing a three-year Economics degree, followed by a Master's in Business and Management. During my time at university, I began to realise that God was calling me to dedicate my whole life to Him. After graduating, I started working while discerning my vocation.
On 8th September 2017, I entered the seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St Charles Borromeo in Rome.
I was ordained a deacon on 24th June 2023 and joined our parish of St Swithun Wells that September. On 22nd June 2024, I was ordained a priest in Rome.
Fr Mario Toma
Born near Venice (in north-eastern Italy), just a few hundred metres from the seashore, I spent my youth on the beach, but when I discovered the mountains as a teenager, I fell in love with them and climbing became my favourite sport.
Then, whilst studying electronic engineering at university in Padua and working in Vicenza, I was looking for a girl to start a family with. But I encountered Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She helped me realise that Jesus was calling me to care for a larger family: the family of the Church.
So I began my priestly journey at the seminary of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St Charles Borromeo in Rome. Upon completion, I was first sent to Budapest, in Hungary; then, after a brief stint in Africa that ended due to Covid, I ended up in Prague in the Czech Republic. I tried really hard to learn the language, but with limited success. So, both because of the language and the need for priests in the English mission, I ended up in Eastleigh.
What can I say: the adventure continues. Places change, people change, cultures change, but the destination remains the same: Jesus in Heaven!
Fr Pietro Paiusco
I was born