Don Oreste was born on September 7, 1925 in San Clemente (Rimini), the seventh of nine children in a modest family. As early as the age of 7, he expressed the desire to become a priest, at age 12 he went to seminary school and in 1949 he was ordained. His first job was as chapel priest at the Church of San Giuseppe al Porto in Rimini. After 1950, for several years, he was a teacher and spiritual leader at the seminary school in Rimini, which today is named after him. After that he taught religion in many Rimini schools becoming a guide for many high school students.
In 1969 he gave up all of his responsibilities to dedicate himself fully to his new role as priest, which he held until 2000, in the "Grotta Rossa" neighborhood in the suburbs of Rimini. Here he began an innovative pastor experience with other young priests: to decide everything together with the churchgoers, working with the faithful and not for them, requiring responsibility and awareness of their role as king, priest, and prophet and of their mission throughout history. From the moment in which he was ordained, Don Oreste found himself fulfilling his duty as a priest alongside young people and teenagers, and so he understood the importance of spending time with them. Moved by an innovative spirit, he made a revolutionary proposal for that era: to take disabled children on vacation, who were at that time "closed" in their family homes or in institutions.
In 1971, Don Oreste founded the association for the religious training of adolescents “Papa Giovanni XXIII”, which is today called the Community Papa Giovanni XXIII, of which he was general director until November 2, 2007, the day on which he returned to Our Father. The history of the Community Papa Giovanni XXIII is inextricably interwoven with his personal story. In 1973, he opened the first Casa Famiglia of the Community in Coriano, to «give a family to those who are without» and to “regenerate” with love children, disabled persons, people alone and abandoned, the elderly and whoever needed to be welcomed and helped everyday. His compassion for these kinds of people extended to drug addicts, minors without families, nomads, homeless people, prisoners, victims of cults, women working on the streets, and the elderly even when he went on missions. Easily recognizable by his long, threadbare tunic and his rosary always in hand, he changed many people's destiny. All of those that knew him remember his knack for being able to see into people's hearts, to see each person's strengths and uniqueness. The Community Papa Giovanni XXIII was recognized by the Holy See in 2004 as an international association of the faithful with pontifical rights. Today the Community sits down at the table, every day, with more than 41,000 people around the world thanks to 500 different outposts with family homes, fraternities, food banks for poor people, social centers, therapy communities, Bethlehem Mangers for the homeless, open families and prayer houses. Since 2006, APG23 has been part of the United Nations with the status of Consultative Special in the Ecosoc (Social and Economic Council of the United Nations), as a spokesperson for the forgotten people of the world where the world leaders decide on the fate of humanity. Thanks to the strength of its members, volunteers, and those who support it, the Community Papa Giovanni XXIII has carried on the great project of solidarity of Don Oreste: being a family for those who do not have one.