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| Hardcore porn from 1892. |
Alessandro Serenelli was the murderer of St. Maria Goretti. The then 19-year old Serenelli violently killed Maria on July 6, 1902, during a failed rape attempt. Serenelli was a pornography addicted farm-hand who stabbed Maria a total of 14 times after she refused his sexual advances. On her deathbed, Maria revealed that Serenelli had been repeatedly sexually harassed her. He was captured and sentenced to 30 years in prison. He remained unrepentant, until a local Bishop visited Serenelli, and he revealed that Maria appeared to him in jail and presented lilies which burned in his hands. After his release, he met Maria's mother who forgave him; later, he accompanied her to the canonization of Maria in Rome. Afterward, Serenelli became a lay brother of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, living in the monastery and working as an extern and gardener until his death in 1970.
Of his earlier life in depravity and sin, Serenelli said:
“Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself. My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried.”
Not being an expert on the history of pornography, I was somewhat surprised to discover that Serenelli mentioned porn as one of the impetuses for his violent sexual tendencies. His words reminded me of the similar testimony given by serial-killer Ted Bundy during his later interview before execution. So, I did some research: during the mid-Nineteenth Century, photo sets of pornographic nudes were already being sold near train-stations; by the late-Nineteenth Century, there were laws in Great Britain and the US concerning the sale and distribution of obscene material; near the Turn-of-the-Century, the first widely distributed porn films came into production. Therefore, even to a country boy, porn could have been readily available to Serenelli. I recommend that all those addicted and tortured by the demonic entities of pornography, ask for the prayers of Alessando Serenelli.
