Legal Process

The Diocesan Inquiry took place at the Vicariate of Rome (Italy) from 22 October 2010 to 5 July 2013, over the span of 146 sessions, with the collection of documentary evidence and the examination of 112 witnesses.

The legal validity of the Inquiry was recognised by the Decree of 22 November 2013.

This took place on 13 December 2016. The Consultors emphasised that the life of the Venerable Servant of God was marked by events through which he made a journey of faith accompanied by Christian hope. His mission was characterised by intense pastoral and social activity, which was only partially interrupted during his long imprisonment.

The theologians focused on the difficult and long period of imprisonment of the Venerable Servant of God. The purpose of imprisonment was to psychologically destroy the opponents of the communist regime. The conditions in which the prisoners were forced to live were inhumane; nevertheless, the Venerable Servant of God struggled not to fall into despair, clinging to the Word of God and the Eucharist.

During his imprisonment, he united himself spiritually with the Virgin Mary, tried to memorise passages from the Bible, and cultivated his devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux. He attempted to establish good relations with the guards, some of whom converted to Catholicism.

After his release, he visited several families of his former jailers, bringing words of understanding and comfort. He exercised charity to a heroic degree, even loving his enemies. He was a man of forgiveness and reconciliation, seeking to build bridges even with those who opposed him.

The Cross was a constant companion in his life and united him to Christ in bodily and spiritual passion. His last years were marked by the suffering of illness.

At the end of the debate, all the Consultors voted in favour of the heroic exercise of virtues by the Servant of God.

It met on 2 May 2017. The Most Reverend Ponente, after reviewing the progress of the Cause and outlining the biographical profile of the Venerable Servant of God, highlighted the depth of his spiritual life.

He was a man of great interior life, of intense prayer, and of assiduous closeness to the sacraments, who meditated on Sacred Scripture and reflected on the Magisterium of the Church. The faith of the Venerable Servant of God matured in the trial he endured in prison, which did not cause him to lose his sanity.

Upon his release from captivity, he exercised mercy by forgiving his enemies. He became a popular speaker even outside ecclesiastical circles, because his words were authenticated by a serene, sober, and humble life, open to dialogue with other cultures and religions.

During his thirteen years of imprisonment, faith nourished hope, and hope was transformed into love, to be offered to God and also to his persecutors. He lived out the virtue of hope throughout his suffering and continued to transmit peace and joy to those who came to visit him in his illness.

The Servant of God was an exceptional witness to Christ's love for the Church, of boundless charity, and an authentic and credible prophet of the Gospel.

At the end of the Report of the Most Reverend Ponente, which concluded constare de heroicitate virtutum, the Most Reverend and Most Eminent Fathers unanimously responded with an affirmative judgement.