Giunio Tinarelli

Giunio's destiny changed on March 20, 1937. Following a severe case of the flu, he felt the first symptoms of a merciless disease: ankylosing and deforming polyarthritis (spondylarthritis). The disease progressed rapidly, and by 1940, he had completely lost the use of his arms, which condemned him to absolute immobility in his bed. This physical ordeal was accompanied by a profound moral and spiritual crisis. Seeing himself entirely dependent on others, he decided to break off his engagement and saw his future plans collapse. It was thanks to the spiritual support of Monsignor Giuseppe Lombardi, founder of the Oratory of Saint Gabriel (of which Giunio was a very active member), that he overcame his despair. In 1948, he undertook a pilgrimage to Lourdes. This journey marked a decisive turning point: there he met Monsignor Luigi Novarese, founder of the Center for Volunteers of Suffering (CVS) and the association of the Silent Workers of the Cross (Silenziosi Operai della Croce). From then on, Giunio transformed his bed of pain into a true instrument of apostolate. In 1948, he relaunched the UNITALSI sub-section in Terni and organized a pilgrimage to Loreto with 60 sick people. On November 1, 1951, he consecrated himself definitively to God within the Silent Workers of the Cross by pronouncing his evangelical vows privately, while remaining with his family. Monsignor Novarese appointed him head of the male branch of this association. Despite his total immobility, he communicated intensely with visitors, wrote numerous letters with the help of an adapted desk, and became a sought-after spiritual counselor, a true "worker of the Spirit."

Giunio Tinarelli passed away on Saturday, January 14, 1956, at 6:00 PM, at the age of 43, after eighteen years of total immobility lived in unwavering faith and a joyful offering of his sufferings. His reputation for holiness spread rapidly among the workers of Terni and the sick. On November 23, 1969, his remains were transferred from the municipal cemetery to the Cathedral of Terni, where they still rest. On April 25, 1985, the diocesan process for his beatification was officially opened. The cause was subsequently transmitted to Rome, to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

On December 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI received in a private audience the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Archbishop Angelo Amato, and authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Giunio Tinarelli. By this act, he was officially declared "venerable." For his beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession is required.

The spirituality of Giunio Tinarelli is based on the theology of salvific suffering, lived in close union with the Passion of Christ and in total abandonment to the Virgin Mary. Far from enduring his illness as a fatality, he embraced it as a missionary vocation. Pope John Paul II, during his pastoral visit to Terni on March 19, 1981, prayed at his tomb and cited him as an example to the sick and to religious women, describing him as a "witness of faith and love in suffering." Similarly, in a letter addressed to Msgr. Luigi Novarese in 1983, the Sovereign Pontiff highlighted how Giunio had been able to bear witness to authentic Christian joy in the midst of atrocious suffering. Today, his memory remains alive in Terni and within the Volunteers of Suffering Center. A diocesan library bearing his name was founded in Terni on November 20, 1987, to perpetuate his spiritual legacy.