Blessed Andrea Giacinto Longhin

Giacinto Bonaventura Longhin (22 November 1863 – 26 June 1936) - in religious Andrea di Campodarsego - was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin who served as the Bishop of Treviso from 1904 until his death. Longhin held various roles of leadership within his order following his ordination such as acting as a teacher in Udine and acting as the Provincial Minister for his order. He became close friends with Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. The latter became Pope Pius X (canonized on 29 May 1954) in 1903 who made his old friend Longhin the new head for the vacant Treviso episcopal see. The bishop became noted for his devotion to pastoral reform initiatives that sought to strengthen the spiritual formation for seminarians and ongoing formation for the diocesan priests. He likewise undertook three separate pastoral visits because he wanted to meet all his parishioners in each parish encompassing the diocese. He was active in organizing and collaborating in relief initiatives during World War I and was even awarded the Cross of Merit for his activism. His death prompted widespread calls for the beatification cause to be initialized. This cause materialized in 1964 and resulted in the declaration that the late bishop was Venerable in 1998 after Pope John Paul II confirmed his heroic virtue. John Paul II later beatified Longhin in 2002 in Saint Peter's Square after the 1964 cure of a man with peritonitis was approved as a miraculous intervention from Longhin. Giacinto Bonaventura Longhin was born on 22 November 1863 in Padua as the sole child to the poor farmers Matteo Longhin and Giudetta Marin. His baptism was celebrated on 23 November and he was baptized as "Giacinto Bonaventura". In his childhood he felt drawn to the priesthood and he entered the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin despite the protests of his father.