The French-language online news site Corse Matin offers the article “Du Sartenais au Valinco, sur les traces mystérieuses de l’ermite frère Robert,” which translates as ” From Sartenais to Valinco, in the mysterious footsteps of the hermit Brother Robert.”
Brother Robert (1898-1943) was born in Belgium and lived in the French canton of Sartenais-Valinco . He became a surveyor but soon visited the local bishop requesting to become a monk. The bishop sent him to Corsica where at first Robert lived in a cabin, but soon moved into a cave. He corresponded with the bishop, trying to convince him to accept the monk as a religious hermit. The bishop obtained the pope’s permission and assigned Robert to a parish chapel. Robert complied but took up dwelling in another cave, walking the two hours daily to the church.
In 1941, Corsica was occupied by the Italian army and Robert went to live in the hermitage of San Michele di l’Ortolu. It was his last known dwelling-place. Brother Robert disappeared in 1943. Only recently have informal groups with historical interests retraced the hermit’s life, the caves, the documents associated with the church, and the grounds and paths he hiked. But the story of Frere Robert’s last days remains a mystery.