Church Roman Catholic Church Birth name Augusto Bertazzoni Term ended August 30, 1972 Rank Archbishop Appointed November 30, 1966 | Successor Thomas Francis Little Ordination February 23, 1899 Predecessor None; see created Name Augusto Bertazzoni | |
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Consecration 15 August 1930by Domenico Menna Other posts Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo (1930–1966) | ||
Augusto Bertazzoni (10 January 1876 - 30 August 1972) was an Italian Roman Catholic archbishop who served as the Bishop of Potenza from 1930 until his retirement in 1966.
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His cause of sainthood commenced in 1995 and he was accorded the title Servant of God.
Life
Augusto Bertazzoni was born in 1876 in Mantua. He was a follower as a child of Saint John Bosco in Turin and was also a close friend of both Saint Luigi Orione and Giovanni Calabria; he was also close to the Bishop of Mantua Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto - the future Pope Pius X.
After the completion of his theological studies he was ordained to the priesthood on 25 February 1899 and he later served as the archpriest of the parish of San Benedetto Po from 30 April 1904 until 30 June 1930. Pope Pius XI appointed him on 30 June 1930 as the new Bishop of Potenza and Bertazzoni received his episcopal consecration from Domenico Menna on 15 August 1930 on the Feast of the Assumption. He was enthroned in his new diocese on 29 October 1930. He led with great wisdom and with fortitude as his pastoral programme included the cultivation of diocesan vocations and commitment to the teaching of catechism. As World War II struck he remained in his diocese to treat all those whom the war hit the hardest and after the air raids of 8 September 1943 did not accept an offer to leave the diocese for another vacant diocese that the Vatican offered him. On 30 November 1950 he was accorded with the honorific title of "Archbishop" in recognition of his services in his diocese from Pope Pius XII.
Bertazzoni attended all five sessions of the Second Ecumenical Council as a Council Father as an archbishop. He retired from his diocese on 30 November 1966 and Pope Paul VI - to compensate for his resignation - appointed him as the first Titular Bishop of Temuniana.
He died after a brief illness on 30 August 1972 and was mourned in his old diocese as a shepherd of God with the reputation of being a saint.
Beatification process
The beatification process commenced in Potenza on 8 June 1995 with the commencement of a diocesan process that accorded him the posthumous title Servant of God. The process spanned from 30 October 1995 until 2000 and saw the accumulation of both documentation and witness testimonies. The validation of the process was granted in Rome in 2002.
The Positio - which documented Bertazzoni's life of heroic virtue - was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 2013 for further evaluation. If the cause receives the approval of the congregation and that of the pope he shall be titled as Venerable.
The postulator of the cause is the Salesian Pierluigi Cameroni.