THE PATRON SAINT OF MOTORCYCLISTS

The sanctified Irish monk COLUMBANUS, 543–615, is the patron saint of motorcyclists. During his work in Europe, he founded several monasteries and loved to travel along roads all over Europe. The Anglican bishop John Oliver (Hereford, England, born in 1935) is himself a motorcyclist and was approved by the Pope in the Vatican for Columbanus to be the patron saint of motorcyclists. Every year there are various events in Italy, both inside churches and in open spaces, where motorcyclists are blessed by the men of the church, sometimes even by the Pope himself.