Daniel Coppini

The priestly ministry of Father Daniel of Torricella was almost entirely dedicated to the care of the sick and the poor. He spent the better part of his life at the bedside of the suffering in the hospitals of Piacenza, Modena, and especially Reggio Emilia, within the Santa Maria Nuova hospital. Nicknamed "the man for everyone," he walked the hospital corridors day and night, always smiling, attentive to the spiritual and material needs of every patient, especially the most abandoned. In parallel with his hospital service, Father Daniel was a highly sought-after spiritual director and confessor. He was notably the confessor of the Bishop of Reggio Emilia, Msgr. Eduardo Brettoni. Starting in 1927, he became the spiritual director of Luisa Ferrari (in religion Mother Giovanna Francesca dello Spirito Santo). Under his guidance and with his active collaboration, she gathered her first companions on December 10, 1929, in the "Otto facce" oratory in Reggio Emilia. This was the starting point for the foundation of the Institute of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Incarnate Word (Suore Missionarie Francescane del Verbo Incarnato). Father Daniel actively helped the foundress draft the first outline of the institute's rule in December 1932.

Father Daniel of Torricella passed away in the odor of sanctity on December 10, 1945, in Reggio Emilia, the anniversary of the founding of the institute he had helped to establish. His death sparked deep popular emotion, and many faithful immediately testified to his reputation for holiness. Ten years after his death, on December 12, 1955, his remains were transferred to the Capuchin church in Reggio Emilia (located on Via Ferrari Bonini). His body rests in a travertine sarcophagus designed by the architect Osvaldo Piacentini, surmounted by a bronze bust created by the sculptor Tonino Grassi. It was also in 1955 that his beatification process was officially opened at the diocesan level.

The cause for the beatification of Father Daniel of Torricella is progressing with the examination of his writings and testimonies regarding his heroic life. On September 29, 1992, the particular congress of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a favorable opinion on his virtues. On April 2, 1993, Pope John Paul II authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thereby officially conferring upon him the title of Venerable. His cause is currently awaiting the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession to pave the way for his beatification.

The spirituality of Father Daniel of Torricella is deeply rooted in the Franciscan tradition of poverty, humility, and active charity. For him, charity does not consist only of alms, but of a total self-forgetfulness in the service of others. In his writings, he defines charity as the act of sacrificing one's own judgments, bearing with patience the demands and offenses of others, and adapting to the weaknesses of each person with gentleness and affability. His legacy endures today through the devotion of the faithful who continue to pray at his tomb in Reggio Emilia, as well as through the work of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Incarnate Word, present in several countries around the world (Italy, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Central African Republic).