Adolfo Barberis

The life and work of Father Adolfo Barberis are inseparable from the foundation of the Institute of the Sisters of Christian Famulate (Suore del Famulato Cristiano). For seventeen years, Father Barberis served as secretary to Cardinal Richelmy, accompanying him to the conclaves of 1914 and 1922, and serving as his devoted nurse until his death in 1923. At the same time, he was involved in numerous diocesan initiatives: he co-founded the Opera Diocesana Pellegrinaggi (Diocesan Pilgrimage Work), served as a military chaplain in 1915, founded the Augustinianum university boarding school in 1919, and directed the diocesan weekly La Buona Settimana starting in 1920. In 1921, moved by the distress of young girls from the countryside who were immigrating en masse to Turin to work as domestic servants ("famule"), he founded the Christian Famulate. These young women, often exploited, underpaid, and exposed to serious moral dangers, found within the work a human, professional, and Christian formation intended to restore their dignity. The work began as an association of women dedicated to this education. After the death of Cardinal Richelmy in 1923, Father Barberis went through a long period of trials and marginalization. A victim of slander by a portion of the clergy who accused him of having accumulated too much influence, he faced the misunderstanding of the new archbishop, Cardinal Maurilio Fossati. During these years of painful purification, he dedicated himself to preaching spiritual retreats throughout Italy while structuring his foundation. The Institute of the Sisters of Christian Famulate finally received its canonical recognition of diocesan right on December 8, 1953, from the Bishop of Ivrea, Msgr. Paolo Rostagno, a friend of Father Barberis.

Weakened by serious health problems, Don Adolfo Barberis spent the last years of his life at the motherhouse of his congregation in Turin. He was fully rehabilitated by his friend, Cardinal Michele Pellegrino, Archbishop of Turin, who definitively dispelled the old accusations brought against him. Don Barberis passed away on September 24, 1967, at the age of 83. He was buried in the Church of Jesus, within the institute's motherhouse, a building he had designed himself and which had been consecrated by Cardinal Pellegrino just a few days before his death. The cause for beatification and canonization was officially introduced in the Diocese of Turin on February 8, 1995. The nihil obstat decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints was granted on March 13, 1995. The diocesan inquiry concluded on July 4, 1998.

On April 3, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of the virtues of Adolfo Barberis, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable. The cause is currently awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession to pave the way for his beatification.

The spirituality of Father Adolfo Barberis rests on an absolute and joyful obedience to the Church, a deep love for the Eucharist, and a marked devotion to Marian devotion and the Sacra Sindone (the Holy Shroud of Turin). He was, in fact, appointed ecclesiastical consultant to the International Center of Sindonology. He is famous for his spiritual maxim: "La santità non si fa col pennello ma con lo scalpello" ("Holiness, one must not be under any illusions, is not made with a paintbrush but with a chisel"). For him, the trials and sufferings of life were so many providential "chisel blows" allowing the soul to be shaped in the image of Christ. He also exhorted his spiritual daughters to "be holy, but holy with a smile." Today, the Sisters of the Christian Famulat continue his work of assistance, education, and promotion of the dignity of women and families, not only in Italy but also in Colombia.