Venerable Giuseppe Beschin

Ignazio Beschin (born Giuseppe Beschin; 26 August 1880 - 29 October 1952) was an Italian Catholic priest and professed member from the Order of Friars Minor. He studied in northern Italian cities for the priesthood while he did his Franciscan formation before serving as a professor in Rome in addition to holding several other important positions. Beschin was noted for his spiritual direction and for having been a good confessor while he spent most of his career spearheading efforts for the beatification cause of Bernardino da Portogruaro (having been the vice-postulator for his order). Beschin also had served in several leadership roles during his time as a priest that saw him move often from the north to Rome. The beatification cause for the late priest was introduced in late 1978 and he became titled as a Servant of God at the outset. The cause reached a decisive moment in 2017 when he became titled as Venerable after Pope Francis signed a decree acknowledging his heroic virtue. Giuseppe Beschin was born on 26 August 1880 in San Giovanni Ilarione in the Verona province as the ninth of eleven children to the pious peasants Arcangelo Beschin and Luigia Zanmichele. He told his sister Maria (whom he was close to) when he was eight of his desire to pursue the priesthood but his older sister did not think that he was prepared for that path. His sister not long after died from typhus due to a spread of the disease and he himself contracted but recovered from typhoid fever around that time not long after her death. Beschin confided to his parents of his desire to become a priest when he turned thirteen and it was a goal that his parents supported. He commenced his ecclesial studies in Chiampo at the Collegio Serafico after he turned fifteen under the rector Father Pasquale Angelico Melotto (who died in China in 1923 in the missions during a time of persecution).