Raffaello Delle Nocche

Upon arriving in Tricarico, Bishop Raffaello Delle Nocche discovered a diocese marked by profound material, social, and spiritual poverty. Faced with the lack of reception structures for children and catechists, he first attempted to bring in existing religious congregations, but none agreed to settle in this poor and isolated region. Encouraged by Pope Pius XI, he decided to found a new religious institute. On October 4, 1923, he founded the Congregation of the Disciples of Jesus in the Eucharist (Suore Discepole di Gesù Eucaristico) in Tricarico, with the collaboration of two young women, Linda Machina and Silvia Di Somma. The institute was canonically erected under diocesan law on August 14, 1927. The main mission of the congregation is centered on Eucharistic adoration, reparation, and concrete service to the most destitute, particularly through the education of youth and assistance to children. The sisters opened kindergartens (asili), primary schools, and secondary schools. In 1930, they founded the Teacher Training Institute (Istituto Magistrale) in Tricarico, housed in the former monastery of Santa Chiara, which became a major center of education for young women in Basilicata and neighboring regions. Under the impetus of Bishop Delle Nocche, the congregation experienced rapid development. The sisters extended their work beyond Basilicata. In 1954, the institute crossed the borders of Italy to establish itself in Brazil. Later, the mission expanded into Africa (notably in Rwanda in 1975) and Asia (in the Philippines in 1997, then in Indonesia and East Timor). Today, the Disciples of Jesus in the Eucharist continue their work of education and charity on four continents.

Bishop Raffaello Delle Nocche passed away on November 25, 1960, in Tricarico, after a long illness borne with patience and abandonment to the divine will. He is buried in the Cathedral of Tricarico. His reputation for holiness, already alive during his lifetime, prompted the diocese to open his cause for beatification. The diocesan informative process on his reputation for holiness and the heroism of his virtues was officially opened on June 29, 1968, and its first public session was held on November 25, 1968, in the Cathedral of Tricarico. The diocesan inquiry was officially closed on November 23, 1990 (the solemn closing ceremony taking place on December 23, 1990). The decree of validity for the diocesan inquiry was issued by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on January 8, 1993. The Positio, which gathers all documentary evidence and testimonies regarding his life and virtues, was published in 1996.

On May 10, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Raffaello Delle Nocche, thereby conferring upon him the title of Venerable. The cause is currently ongoing, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession, a necessary step for his beatification.

The spirituality of Bishop Raffaello Delle Nocche is deeply Eucharistic and Marian. He is often described by his contemporaries and historians not only as a "man of the Eucharist," but as a "man-Eucharist" (uomo-Eucaristia), that is to say, a person entirely given and consumed by the love of God and his neighbor. He spent long hours in silent adoration before the Tabernacle, drawing from it the strength for his pastoral ministry and his social action. He also nurtured a tender devotion to the Virgin Mary. A touching testimony reports that a few hours before dying, while illness was weakening his faculties, he confided with difficulty to those around him: "My son, I no longer remember the 'Magnificat'" ("Figlio mio, non ricordo più il 'Magnificat'"), a prayer he had nevertheless recited countless times throughout his life. His legacy remains alive through the Congregation of the Sisters Disciples of Jesus Eucharist, who continue to propagate his charism of adoration and service to the poor throughout the world. His mortal remains rest in the Cathedral of Tricarico, under a bronze funerary monument created by the artist Luigi Venturini. Furthermore, a section of the Diocesan Museum of Tricarico, located in the episcopal palace, is entirely dedicated to him, exhibiting documents, photographs, and liturgical objects that belonged to him.