Italian Catholic priest, Venerated Catholic
Mario Ciceri (8 September 1900 – 4 April 1945) was an
farmers and had an inclination to enter the priesthood since his childhood; he studied in
Bergamo and in Milan before he was
ordained as a priest at the
Duomo in 1924 and was assigned his first pastoral role at a local
parish church.
[3] Ciceri became renowned for his diligent attention to the poor and to the sick and also focused on children and teenagers. He revitalized
Catholic Action in his area and was responsible for having recruited teens into the movement.
[2]His canonization cause was initiated in 2002 in Milan and he later became titled as
Life
Mario Ciceri was born at
farmers Luigi Ciceri and Colomba Vimrcati; his uncle Francesco married Giuseppina Galbiati but upon her death the Ciceri household opened itself to him and his thirteen children (Galbiati had died in childbirth with her thirteenth and final child). The Ciceri household experienced economic hardship but he received his initial education from his mother who was a devout Catholic.
[1][3]From the age of eight, Ciceri expressed a strong desire to enter the
scholarships and entrances to facilities that enabled for him to continue school and complete his theological and pastoral formation.
[1][4]In May 1908, he received his confirmation and made his First Communion later in May 1910. Upon the conclusion of his third grade, he continued his studies at the Gervasoni college in Valnegra in Bergamo. On 6 October 1912, he was vested in the clerical cassock and entered the diocesan seminary at San Pietro in Seveso.[3][2] He became noted during his time there for his exceptional conduct as a serious, committed, available, and active student that left an impression on his companions and superiors. With the beginning of his second grade in high school, in October 1918, he relocated to support himself in his education to the Collegio Rotondi in Gorla Minore and then continued with his theological education at the institute for seminarians in Porta Venezia in Milan and not far from the Duomo.[1]
In 1923, he received the
On 9 February 1945, while
lacerated his
liver.
[2] Found a few hours later in a critical condition, he was immediately hospitalized at the
Vimercate hospital where he offered his suffering to
God. Parishioners, particularly the younger ones, lined up to
donate blood to preserve his life, but Ciceri would say: "If the Lord wants my poor life, I will gladly offer it to Him, for the war to end, for the soldiers to return, especially ours; I offer it to You for my parishioners to whom I loved so much, for poor sinners". He died on 4 April 1945 and his
funeral on 7 April at the Brentana parish saw large crowds gather from the neighboring villages.
[3] His remains are housed at the Sant'Antonino Martire parish church near the altar of the Madonna.
[2][4]Beatification
The beatification process commenced on 14 December 2002 once the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued the official "
nihil obstat" (no objections) edict that enabled for the Milan archdiocese to launch the diocesan process to assess his life and reputation for holiness. The Milanese archdiocese launched that process on 20 September 2003 and it concludes its business on 14 June 2004. The process moved to the C.C.S. in
Rome and the latter validated the diocesan process on 30 September 2005 after it determined that the evidence collected met their rules and regulations. The postulation (officials that manage the cause) drafted and submitted the "
Positio" dossier to the C.C.S. in 2008 to be assessed.
[3]Nine theologians approved the dossier on 24 November 2015 and the cardinal and bishop members in the C.C.S. also approved the cause on 15 November 2016.
Venerable after the Pope determined that the late priest had lived a model life of
heroic virtue.
[2] The miracle needed for Ciceri to be beatified - a medical healing that neither science nor medicine can explain - was investigated in a diocesan process before the C.C.S. validated that process in a decree issued on 5 December 2008. Pope Francis approved that miracle on 23 November 2020 and it enabled for Ciceri's beatification to be celebrated though the
COVID-19 pandemic postponed plans until the pandemic eased enough for the rite to be celebrated. The beatification took place at the Milan Duomo on 30 April 2022.
The current postulator for the cause is Francesca Consolini.[3]
References
External links
Catholicism portal
Italy portal
