Enzo Bianchi (born 3 March 1943) is an Italian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

layman who founded the

Bose Monastic Community The Bose Monastic Community () is an ecumenical community founded by Enzo Bianchi in 1965 at Bose, a frazione in the commune of Magnano, Italy. In 2020 the Holy See ordered four members, including Bianchi, to separate from the community. Hist ...

and served as its first prior from 1965 to 2017.

Biography

Enzo Bianchi was born on 3 March 1943 in

Castel Boglione Castel Boglione is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about southeast of Asti. Castel Boglione borders the following municipalities: Calamandrana, Castel Rocc ...

, Italy. He earned a diploma in accountancy and then studied economics at the

University of Turin The University of Turin ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an imp ...

. In late 1965, he moved to an isolated farmhouse in the hamlet of Bose in

Magnano Magnano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about south of Biella. Magnano borders the following municipalities: Bollengo, Cerrione, Palazzo Canavese ...

in the

Province of Biella The Province of Biella ( it, Provincia di Biella, Piedmontese: ''Provincia ëd Biela'') is a province of Italy located in Piedmont. It was created in 1992 and its capital is the city of Biella. It has an area of , and a total population of 178 5 ...

. In October 1968, two Catholics, a Protestant minister, and another female Protestant, forming the Bose Monastic Community. He was also friends with Cardinal Michele Pellegrino. With Bianchi as founder and first prior, and based on the rules he wrote, it welcomed men and women, both Catholics and Protestants, who agreed to live in community, maintain celibacy, and devote themselves to prayer and work. In August 2004, Bianchi was part of the Vatican delegation that delivered a 16th-century icon of

Our Lady of Kazan ''Our Lady of Kazan'', also called ''Mother-of-God of Kazan'' (russian: Казанская Богоматерь, translit=Kazanskaya Bogomater'), is a holy icon of the highest stature within the Russian Orthodox Church, representing the Virgin Ma ...

to the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

. Bianchi was also appointed as an expert to assemblies of the Synod of Bishops in 2008, 2012, and 2018. On 22 July 2014,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

named him a consultor to the

Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, previously named the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), is a dicastery whose origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962 to 1965. Po ...

. On 26 December 2016, he announced his resignation as prior of the community, effective from 25 January 2017. He was succeeded on 26 January 2017 by Luciano Manicardi, who had been vice-prior. From 6 December 2019 to 6 January 2020, the Vatican conducted an

apostolic visitation In the Catholic Church, a canonical visitation is the act of an ecclesiastical superior who in the discharge of his office visits persons or places with a view to maintaining faith and discipline and of correcting abuses. A person delegated to car ...

of the Bose Monastic Community regarding issues of "the exercise of the authority, government management and fraternal climate". The visitors were Guillermo León Arboleda Tamayo, a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

abbot, Amedeo Cencini, a

Canossian The Canossians are a family of two Catholic religious institutes and three affiliated lay associations that trace their origin to Magdalen of Canossa, a religious sister canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1988. Canossian family Canossian Daughte ...

consultor to the

Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, formerly called Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL; la, Congregatio pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Soci ...

, and Anne-Emmanuelle Devêche, a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

abbess. Following their investigation, the Holy See issued a decree on 13 May 2020, signed by

Cardinal Secretary of State The Secretary of State of His Holiness (Latin: Secretarius Status Sanctitatis Suae, it, Segretario di Stato di Sua Santità), commonly known as the Cardinal Secretary of State, presides over the Holy See's Secretariat of State, which is the ...

Pietro Parolin Pietro Parolin OMRI (, ; born 17 January 1955) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church. A cardinal since February 2014, he has served as the Vatican's Secretary of State since October 2013 and a member of the Council of Cardinal Advisers s ...

and approved by Pope Francis, ordering Bianchi and three others to "separate from Bose and move to another place". The community released the contents of that decree on 26 May 2020 indicating that not all of those named had complied.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bianchi, Enzo Living people 1943 births People from the Province of Asti Founders of Catholic religious communities