Bernardo Antonini

Taking advantage of Perestroika, Bernardo Antonini left for Moscow in 1989 as a fidei donum priest. He played a major role in the reconstruction of the local Catholic Church. He founded and directed the major seminary "Regina Apostolorum" in Moscow (later transferred to Saint Petersburg), created the Saint Thomas Aquinas Theological Institute for the laity, and launched the newspaper "Svet Evangelia". Appointed apostolic protonotary in 1998, he coordinated the Jubilee of the year 2000 in Russia. In 2001, he went to Kazakhstan as vice-rector of the Karaganda seminary, where he died of an aneurysm on March 27, 2002.

The reputation for holiness of Father Bernardo spread rapidly in Italy, Russia, and Kazakhstan. At the request of the local bishops, his cause for beatification was entrusted to the Diocese of Verona. The diocesan process was opened on February 11, 2009, by Bishop Giuseppe Zenti. After the hearing of nearly eighty witnesses and the examination of his writings by a commission of historians, the diocesan inquiry was solemnly closed on October 20, 2013.

The acts of the diocesan inquiry were transmitted to Rome in October 2013. After the validation of the inquiry in 2014 and the examination of the Positio by theologians and cardinals, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing his heroic virtues on December 21, 2020. Bernardo Antonini was then declared venerable. The recognition of a miracle is henceforth required for his beatification.

Nicknamed the "apostle of the street," Bernardo Antonini centered his spirituality on the Eucharist and the Word of God, which he exhorted others to read day and night. A member of the Pauline Family, he actively used media for evangelization. His major legacy is the rebirth of the Church in Russia, marked by the ordination in 1999 of the first priests trained locally since 1917. His remains have rested in Raldon since 2013, and a school center there has borne his name since 2015.