Giuseppe Rizzo (priest)

He attended the Royal Gymnasium (high school) in Alcamo, and completed his philosophical and theological studies, at the diocesan seminary of Mazara del Vallo, where he was ordained as a priest, on 22 September 1888.

He founded an oratory, dedicated to Saint Francis de Sales, and later the Association of Azione Cattolica "Don Bosco",[2] to give an appropriate social, political, and religious formation to the young.

This dramatic experience weakened his body, but not his spirit; in fact, Don Rizzo resumed his activity with greater energy.

He started a bank Cassa Rurale ed Artigiana, a farmers cooperative and a consumer cooperative, to help his poor fellow citizens, who had suffered a serious economic crisis caused by the bankruptcy of two local banks (the Banca Segestana of Castellammare del Golfo and the Popolare Cooperativa of Alcamo) and major problems in the agricultural field, due to the Phylloxera.

[5] From the beginning, Credit Unions have had a close relationship with a territory, linking their history with that of communities, enough to win the appellation of "local bank".