Pietro Bonilli (15 March 1841 - 5 January 1935) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and the founder of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Spoleto. Bonilli served as a diocesan priest for his entire life in both

Trevi The area of freedom, security and justice (AFSJ) of the European Union (EU) is a policy domain concerning home affairs and migration, justice as well as fundamental rights, developed to address the challenges posed to internal security by col ...

and

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

while using a religious order he created to reach out to orphans and homeless people.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

beatified Bonilli on 24 April 1988.

Life

Pietro Bonilli was born in

(in the district of S. Lorenzo) on 15 March 1841 to the farmers Sebastiano Bonilli and Maria Allegri. His mother and the local parish oversaw his initial education because there was no school close enough for Bonilli to attend; he was a diligent student and successful in mathematical and philosophical studies. Bonilli was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 19 December 1863. He was appointed parish priest of Cannaiola on 31 December 1863 and remained in that post until 1897. Bonilli founded his own religious congregation on 13 May 1888 in order to better care for orphans and homeless people while also providing them with a Christian and civic education. He also focused on serving the needs of the deaf and the blind. Bonilli had four postulants enter and the latter hopefuls received their habit from the Archbishop of Spoleto Elvezio Pagliari. He also founded the Nazarene Institute for Orphan Girls in 1887. He became

canon penitentiary A canon penitentiary () is a member of the chapter at cathedral or collegiate churches, who acts as a general confessor of the diocese. He has ordinary jurisdiction in the internal forum, which power, however, he may not delegate to others, an ...

Spoleto Cathedral Spoleto Cathedral (; ''Duomo di Spoleto'') is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia created in 1821, previously that of the diocese of Spoleto, and the principal church of the Umbrian city of Spoleto, in Italy. It is dedicated to the A ...

in 1898. His spiritual guide was the priest Lodovico Pieri - the latter was also the guide of

Tommaso Riccardi Tommaso Riccardi, OSB (24 June 1844 – 25 March 1915) was an Italian Catholic priest and Benedictine monk of the Cassinese Congregation. His monastic name was Placido. He was beatified in 1954. Life Tommaso Riccardi was born in Trevi on 24 June ...

. The congregation went on to flourish and received a papal decree of commendation from

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

on 8 March 1911, then on 10 May 1932 received full papal approval from

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

. Bonilli's health started to deteriorate from 1918; he lost his sight in 1929, and died in 1935. His remains, originally in the church of San Filippo Neri, Spoleto, were transferred to his parish church of S. Michele in Cannaiola di Trevi on 24 April 1998. His order now operates in places such as

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. As of 2005, there were 58 houses and a total of 385 religious.

Beatification

The beatification process commenced in the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia on 4 March 1948, in an informative task assigned with collecting all available evidence on Bonilli's life in the form of either documents or witness testimonies that would attest to his saintliness and potential sanctification. Theologians approved all of his writings on 26 July 1953 as being in line with the tradition of the faith and not in contradiction to it. The title of

Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

was bestowed upon Bonilli after the cause opened on 1 July 1964 under

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. An apostolic process was initiated not long after and the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...

validated the previous processes in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on 16 January 1970. The

Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...

was submitted to the C.C.S. in 1984 which resulted in

proclaiming Bonilli to be

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

on 30 June 1986 upon the recognition of his life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...

. The miracle needed for beatification was investigated in a diocesan process in the place in which it occurred (

Cupramontana Cupramontana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ancona in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona. Cupramontana borders the following municipalities: Apiro, Maiolati Spontini, Mergo, Monte Roberto, Rosora, ...

in the Marche) and received the validation of the C.C.S. on 21 June 1985. The medical board assented to the healing as being a miracle on 5 November 1986 and theologians did the same on 13 March 1987; the C.C.S. followed suit on 2 June 1987. The pope granted final approval to it a month later and beatified Bonilli on 24 April 1988. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Observed i ...

assigned to the cause is Giovangiuseppe Califano.

References

External links

''History of Cannaiola'', unpublished memoir written by Pietro BonilliSisters of the Holy Family of Spoleto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonilli, Pietro 1841 births 1935 deaths 19th-century venerated Christians 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian beatified people Clergy from Perugia Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II