Biagio Conte was born in Palermo in the 1960s into a wealthy family of entrepreneurs. As a young man, Biagio decided to turn his back on the comfortable life that his privileged upbringing had guaranteed him. Embracing the Franciscan spirit and adapting it to the modern world, Conte devoted himself entirely to the poor and the forgotten, choosing to live a life of poverty and sharing alongside the homeless people of his city.