Pope Francis will declare Artemides Zatti, the nurse known for his work in Argentinian Patagonia a saint

Pope Francis recognized the holiness of the Italian Artemides Zatti, a lay nurse known for his work for the sick of Argentinian Patagonia, by confirming a miracle through his intercession, the Holy See reported today.

The Argentine pontiff recognized a new miracle attributed to the intercession of Zatti, a Salesian layman born on October 12, 1880 in the Italian town of Boretto and died on March 15, 1951 in Viedma, in Argentinian Patagonia.

In 1897, the family of the new saint moved to Argentina in search of a better future, settling in Bahía Blanca, and Zatti grew up there, who after working as a waiter in a hotel and as a worker, reached the age of 20 in the Salesians.

His life changed in 1902 when he managed to cure himself of tuberculosis and, convinced that it was through the intercession of Our Lady, he decided to renounce the priesthood to dedicate himself to the care of the sick.

His service will run throughout his life in Viedma hospital, as deputy director, administrator and nurse, whom he visited with his bicycle, receiving the affection of his patients and their families until he died of a tumor in his liver in 1951.

He was beatified in 2002 for the miraculous healing of gangrene by seminarian Carlos Bosio, Salesian inspector in Rosario.

The decree for the recognition of the new Italian saint, but beloved in Argentina, has already been authorized by Pope Francis, following an audience with the prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro. The date of his canonization in Rome will be decided by the pope in a Consistory yet to be convened.

The alleged second miracle that the Vatican has accepted for its ascent to the altars is the “unexplained cure” in 2016 of a man in the Philippines who suffered an ischemic stroke and led to other complications, as reported by the Salesian Congregation.

The Salesians expressed their joy for the first saint of their congregation who was not a priest, but only consecrated, and to whom the Argentine pontiff himself is very devoted.

The road to the altars has several stages: the first is to be declared a venerable servant of God, the second blessed and the third saint.

Venerable Servant of God is the title given to a dead person who is recognized as “having lived the virtues in a heroic way”.

For a venerable to be beatified, a miracle must have occurred because of his intercession, while canonization, as in the case of Zatti, requires a second miracle performed “by intercession” after being proclaimed blessed.

The martyrdom of Giuseppe Bernardi and Mario Ghibaudo

Pope Francis also recognized the “martyrdom” of the Italian priests Giuseppe Bernardi and Mario Ghibaudo, who were killed by Nazi invaders in 1943, which will entail their future beatification, the Holy See reported today.

The Argentine pontiff has authorized the decrees attesting to the martyrdom of both priests, which will mean their beatification without the need to observe a miracle.

The Vatican thus considers that the two priests were killed out of hatred of the faith on 19 September 1943 in the Italian town of Boves (north), in the context of World War II. At that time, the Piedmontese municipality was the scene of heavy battles between the soldiers of Nazi Germany and the Italian partisans.

On September 19, 1943, after a confrontation in which two German soldiers fell captive, German Colonel Joachim Peiper threatened to reduce the village to rubble if he did not recover his imprisoned soldiers and the body of one more who had been killed.

The priest Don Giuseppe Bernardi mediated to achieve what the besieger demanded, but, later, he did not keep his word and ordered to attack the town, forcing the priest to attend the burning of the houses and summary executions. Benardi was also executed at the end of the offensive.

On the other hand, the parochial vicar Mario Ghibaudo also died in the Boves massacre, after having saved the girls from the local orphanage and others. He was shot dead when he went to give the extreme anointing to a man who had fallen by bullets from Nazi machine guns. CHIEF

With information from EFE

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