Venerable Romano Bottegal

Romano Bottegal (Lamon, 28 December 1921 – Beirut, 19 February 1978) was an Italian religious priest of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance). Bottegal joined the order in the 1940s and lived as a hermit in Lebanon. He studied in Belluno and Rome before he was ordained as a priest and following this lived in Rome among his peers; he moved to Lebanon to oversee a new project there but was forced to return to Rome after it failed. But he was later granted permission to return there in order to live as a hermit where he remained in seclusion until his death. The beatification process for Bottegal launched in 2000. On 9 December 2013 he became titled as venerable once Pope Francis confirmed that Bottegal had lived a life of heroic virtue. Romano Bottegal was born on 28 December 1921 in San Donato di Lamon in the Belluno province as the last of six children to the poor Romano Bottegal and Emilia Tiziani; his father later emigrated to Australia where two children joined him. He received baptism on 31 December as Romano Donato with the latter name being given in honor of his paternal grandfather. His brother Guido lost his sight at the age of 21 in an accident while working in the mines. He received his Confirmation on 25 June 1927 from the Bishop of Belluno Giosuè Cattarossi. He did his ecclesial studies first in Feltre (entering on 2 October 1933 with the aid of his parish priest) and then in Belluno from October 1939 where his vice-rector was the future pope Albino Luciani who took a liking to Bottegal. In July 1938 he made a vow to remain chaste for the remainder of his life. He expressed his desire on multiple occasions to enter the monastic life but his superiors advised him to wait until he was ordained before making decisions on pursuing the monastic life. He received the tonsure on 20 March 1942 and then the minor orders on 18 December 1943 before he was made a subdeacon alongside six others on 1 July 1945.