Antonio Franco (26 September 1585 – 2 September 1626) was an Italian Catholic priest and prelate of

Santa Lucia del Mela Santa Lucia del Mela ( Sicilian: ''Santa Lucìa dû Mela'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina. It is one of the largest com ...

. Franco was beatified in 2013 when a miracle was discovered to have been performed through his intercession. Cardinal

Angelo Amato Angelo Amato, S.D.B. (born 8 June 1938) is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints between 2008 and 2018. He served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of t ...

beatified him on behalf of

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

Biography

Franco was born in 1585 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

to a noble family of French origins. He was born as the third of six children to Orlando Franco and Francesca Pisana di Antonio. Franco studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

and obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in civil and

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

on 23 September 1602 and he later pursued further studies at the behest of his father in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. But he would move to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

to serve at the royal court at the insistence of his parents. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1610 and he asked King Philip III to be a member of his court. On 14 January 1611 he was named a royal chaplain and Franco was later appointed as major chaplain of the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

in 1616. With that appointment came the Prelature of Santa Lucia del Mela. When Franco was in Rome,

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

confirmed the appointment. He was formally installed in 1617. Franco was regarded as a man of holiness who lived with deprivations to life. He didn't eat much and he slept on the floor. He wore two chains all the time. He died at the age of 41 due to his deprivations and his remains were deemed to be

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of their ...

. He is buried in the Basilica of Santa Lucia del Mela.

Beatification

Simulacro contenente il corpo incorrotto Mons

The cause of beatification for Franco commenced on 11 April 1984 under

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

with the declaration of ''

nihil obstat ''Nihil obstat'' (Latin for "nothing hinders" or "nothing stands in the way") is a declaration of no objection that warrants censoring of a book, e.g., Catholic published books, to an initiative, or an appointment. Publishing The phrase ''ni ...

'' - this stated there were no objections to the commencement of the cause. That meant he could be made a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

.CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS: NEW PROCEDURES IN THE RITE OF BEATIFICATION
/ref>

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

declared him to have lived a life of heroic virtue and proclaimed him to be

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

on 14 January 2011. He later approved a decree ratifying the existence of a miracle on 20 December 2012 leading to his beatification. He was beatified on 2 September 2013 by Cardinal

References

External links and additional sources

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPN
* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Antonio 1585 births 1626 deaths Beatifications by Pope Francis 17th-century venerated Christians Italian beatified people 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Sicily 16th-century Neapolitan people Venerated Catholics by Pope Benedict XVI 17th-century Neapolitan people