Girolamo Bartolomeo Bortignon, OFM Cap (31 March 1905 – 12 March 1992) was an Italian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, serving as

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a Capuchin

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 3 March 1928, at the age of 22. On 4 April 1944 he was appointed

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Belluno e Feltre and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of '' Lydda'' by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

. Bortignon received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Adeodato Giovanni Piazza, OCD, on the following 14 May. He later replaced

Giosuè Cattarossi Bishop Giosuè Cattarossi was a late 19th century/early-mid 20th century Italian cleric. Born 23 April 1863 at Cortale, he was ordained a priest in April 1888, aged 24. On 11 April 1911 at the age of 48, he was appointed as Bishop of Albenga and o ...

Bishop of Belluno e Feltre The Diocese of Belluno-Feltre ( la, Dioecesis Bellunensis-Feltrensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in the Veneto, northern Italy, organized in its current form in 1986. From 1197 to 1762, and again from 1818 to 1986, the Diocese of ...

on 9 September 1945. In 1947, he named Fr. Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, as his pro-

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

. After almost five years of governing the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, Bortignon was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

Bishop of Padua The Roman Catholic Diocese of Padua ( it, Diocesi di Padova; la, Dioecesis Patavina) is an episcopal see of the Catholic Church in Veneto, northern Italy. It was erected in the 3rd century.Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

asked Bortignon for a name for

Bishop of Vittorio Veneto The Diocese of Vittorio Veneto ( la, Dioecesis Victoriensis Venetorum) is a Roman Catholic diocese in northern Italy, with capital in Vittorio Veneto. It was historically known as Diocese of Ceneda, the name being changed in 1939.

, the latter offered his old vicar general in Belluno, Albino Luciani, saying, "I know him ... He will do me fine." In 1960, he told his Vatican connections that the activities surrounding Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo should merit an investigation. Bortignon attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

from 1962 to 1965. He once served as the Vatican's preacher of

spiritual exercises The ''Spiritual Exercises'' ( la, Exercitia spiritualia), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Society ...

and as

vice-president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of the

Triveneto The Triveneto (), or Tre Venezie () ( vec, Tre Venesie, german: Venetien), is a historical region of Italy. The area included what has become the three Italian regions of ''Venezia Euganea'', ''Venezia Giulia'' and ''Venezia Tridentina''. This ter ...

regional Episcopal Conference.John Paul I, the Smiling Pope
Anecdotes and Testimonies of Pope Luciani - Part X
/ref> The Capuchin bishop resigned his post in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

on 7 January 1982, after thirty-two years of service. He later died at age 86.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bortignon, Girolamo 1905 births 1992 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Belluno Bishops of Padua Capuchin bishops Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from the Province of Vicenza