Bernardo Mattio

In 1873, Father Bernardo Mattio won the canonical competition to become the parish priest and archpriest of the main parish of Saints Andrew and Pontius (Santi Andrea e Ponzio) in Dronero. He made his solemn entry there on August 3, 1873. This ministry in Dronero would be the work of his life: he would remain there for forty-one years, until his last breath. His pastoral action unfolded tirelessly on the spiritual, social, and ecclesial levels. Totally devoted to his parishioners, he founded numerous charitable and social works to respond to the material and moral poverty of his time: the circulating library, the Saint Joseph Workshop (Laboratorio San Giuseppe), the 'Giuseppina Savio' girls' school-workshop, the Saint Joseph Hospice, the Saint Anthony Bread Work, the Asylum for the poor elderly (Ricovero dei poveri vecchi), and the House of Divine Providence (Casa della divina Provvidenza, nicknamed 'Le Perle') opened in 1913. Concerned with fighting against the forced emigration of young people, he founded a carpet factory (tappetificio) in 1885, which he managed for about fifteen years, thus anticipating the Rerum Novarum encyclical of Leo XIII.

The ministry of Father Bernardo Mattio was marked by heroic charity, particularly visible during the serious health crises that struck Dronero. He spent himself without counting the cost for the sick and the dying during the cholera epidemic in 1884, and then the typhus epidemic in 1906, not hesitating to provide basic hygiene care himself to the most needy. In January 1914, he fell seriously ill. He passed away on April 11, 1914, on Holy Saturday (the eve of Easter), after having dedicated his entire life to his community. Due to his reputation for holiness, his body was transferred in 1928 from the municipal cemetery to the parish church of Saints Andrew and Pontius in Dronero, where he still rests.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Bernardo Mattio was first introduced in 1928, then actively resumed in 1999. The diocesan phase of the inquiry concluded successfully, and the file was transmitted to Rome. The legal validity of the diocesan inquiry was recognized by a decree on January 30, 2004. The postulator of his cause in Rome is the Jesuit priest Federico Lombardi, former spokesperson for the Holy See, whose family originates from Dronero. On February 10, 2015, the Congress of Theological Consultors gave a unanimous favorable opinion on the heroism of his virtues. On March 3, 2016, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroism of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable. For his beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession is required. To this day, no miracle has yet been the subject of an official decree.

The spirituality of Father Bernardo Mattio was based on an intimate union with God nourished by intense prayer, which was the source of his charitable action. His spiritual motto, recorded in his writings, was the firm resolve to "live above all to love God" (vivere innanzitutto per amare Dio) and to lead his parishioners toward holiness. The Church also remembers these words that summarize his heart as a pastor: "I would give my life to bring you all to heaven." He held a special devotion to the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. To mark the Holy Year of 1900, he had three large wooden crosses erected on three hills overlooking Dronero (to the south, southwest, and north), where he liked to go on solitary pilgrimages to pray at the foot of the Cross. Today, a spiritual hiking route called the "Father Mattio Trail" (Sentiero don Mattio) allows walkers and pilgrims to follow in his footsteps through the Maira Valley.