Sergio Bernardini and Domenica Bedonni, an Italian couple that lived in the mountains of Modena during the last century, are Venerable Servants of God. Pope Francis made this decision on May 5th, thus authorizing the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the relevant decree. Sergio and Domenica were simple and devout people, who educated their 10 children in faith and love for the poor; six of them entered religious life, including two Capuchin brothers. One son, Germano Bernardini, became Bishop of İzmir, while their Nigerian foster son became bishop in his homeland.
The Bernardinis, born in the late nineteenth century, had ten children together. Eight of them consecrated themselves to God; five daughters became Pauline sisters, one joined the Ursulines, and while their two sons entered the Capuchin friars, the youngest was appointed Archbishop of Izmir, Turkey.
When Sergio Bernardini (born in 1882) met Domenica Bedonni, he was a widower and tried by the death of his parents and three of his own children. Burdened by the debts from medical expenses and funerals but not desperate, he left for the United States to work in a mine. After a few years, he returned to Modena where he met Domenica Bedonni. They married and gave birth to ten children who became missionaries. True witnesses of Christian marriage, Sergio and Domenica lived simply and authentically, as credible witnesses for the Church. For these reasons, Pope Francis has decided that these two Servants of God are venerable.
Read the biography of the Servant of God Sergio Bernardini
