Blessed Giacomo Abbondo

Giacomo Abbondo (27 August 1720 – 9 February 1788) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who hailed from Vercelli. Abbondo served as a pastor and provost in his home town of Tronzano where he administered to the people while proclaiming the message of the Gospel and bringing the sacraments to his parishioners. Pope Francis proclaimed him to be Venerable in 2014 and approved a miracle needed for his beatification in 2015. The beatification was celebrated in Vercelli on 11 June 2016; Cardinal Angelo Amato led the celebration on behalf of the pope. Giacomo Abbondo was born in Vercelli on 27 August 1720 as the second of six children to Carlo Benedetto Abbondo and Francesca Maria Naya (married 8 September 1717). His mother was widowed at the time she married Abbondo; her first marriage was to Giovanni Battista Massera. Abbondo's siblings were Maria Margherita, Pietro Francesco, Carlo Vittorio, Giovanni Eusebio, and another Maria Margherita. The decisive factor in his Christian upbringing was the presence and example of his paternal uncle, Father Giovanni Carlo Abbondo. Giacomo attended school in Tronzano and received Confirmation from Cardinal Carlo Vincenzo Maria Ferreri on 15 December 1740. It was at this time his religious calling blossomed, and his father had, on 11 August 1738, announced his son's desire to become a priest. The same day as his Confirmation, the cardinal gave him the first clerical tonsure and on 12 August admitted him to minor orders. On 27 May 1741, the cardinal also gave him the minor orders of exorcism and acolyte. Mgr. Giovanni Pietro Solaro elevated him to the subdiaconate on 21 December 1743 and elevated him to the diaconate on 29 February 1744. He felt called to religious life and so decided to join the priesthood; he commenced his theological studies in Vercelli where he was ordained on 21 March 1744.