Elia Comini (7 May 1910 – 1 October 1944) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

religious priest of the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

. He served as a teacher after his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

in two different areas until he returned to his hometown towards the end of the devastating

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

to tend to wounded and displaced people. But the fierce fighting between the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

and

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

plus the partisan forces saw Comini and fellow priest (and future

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 ...

) Nicola Capelli captured and murdered after the Nazis made accusations of the pair being spies. Comini's cause for beatification was introduced in 1995 at which stage he became titled as a

Life

Elia Comini was born in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 7 May 1910 to Claudio Comini (a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

) and Emma Limoni (a dressmaker); one brother was Amleto. He was

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

in the local parish church on 8 May. In 1914 the Comini's moved to Casetta in the Salvaro parish in Bologna on the banks of the

River Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Const ...

along the Porrettana road. He attended the

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

school in Finale Emilia where he later asked to be admitted into their order. He did his

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

period in Castel de'Britti from 1925 to 1926 before making his first religious profession on 3 October 1926. His father died sometime during 1926 with the Salvaro archpriest Fidenzio Mellini (who himself knew Saint Giovanni Bosco) acted as a sort of surrogate father. Mellini had in fact predicted that Comini would become a

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and held him in high regard due to his goodness and intellect. Comini completed his studies at the Salesian-run high school in Valsalice in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

(1926–28) and then graduated in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

from the college in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

prior to receiving his

to the priesthood on 16 March 1935 in the Brescia Cathedral from Bishop Giacinto Tredici. He afterwards served as a teacher at the order's schools in both Chiari in Brescia (1936–41) and

Treviglio Treviglio (; ) is a town and (i.e. municipality) in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Northern Italy. It lies south of the province capital, in the lower territory called . It is also part of the geographic area named , included among the r ...

at the Salesian Aspirantate (1941–44). In summer 1944 during

he returned to Salvaro to aid his frail mother and to render his aid to the aging

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Mellini. But that area was the epicenter of war between the

and the

as well as those partisan forces. To that end he turned his attention to the poor and displaced peoples that the war affected. He made himself available for hearing confessions and for preaching while also using his musical abilities to enliven the people. He soon came into contact with fellow priest (and future

) Nicola Capelli (in religious "Martino") and the pair often visited refugees and rendered medical aid to those who were wounded. On 29 September 1944 both he and Capelli were arrested en route to Grizzana where 69 people were about to be massacred. He had just celebrated his last

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

that morning. The Nazi S.S. considered them to be spies and so mistreated the pair and used them to transport their

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

in terrible conditions. On 30 September he and Capelli spent their time comforting their fellow prisoners. The attempts made to rescue them were useless for Comini said "either all or none" even after his friend Commissioner Prefect Emilio Veggetti tried to secure his release. He and 44 others were shot dead around

dusk Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enoug ...

on 1 October 1944 in the reservoir of the warehouse of the Industrie Canapiere Italiano. His remains were then cast into the Rhine. Before being shot he and Capelli heard each other's confessions before he granted their fellow hostages absolution in a loud and defiant voice.

Beatification process

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi inaugurated the diocesan investigation in Bologna on 3 December 1995 and closed it later on 25 November 2001. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints validated the process on 1 October 2004. Theologians approved the cause with nine affirmative votes in favor at their meeting held on 4 April 2017. The postulator for this cause is the Salesian priest Pierluigi Cameroni. On 18 December 2024,

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

approved a decree recognizing Comini's

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

dom.

References

External links

Hagiography Circle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comini, Elia 1910 births 1944 deaths 20th-century Italian educators 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Deaths by firearm in Italy Executed Roman Catholic priests Italian civilians killed in World War II Italian people of World War II Martyred Roman Catholic priests Clergy from Bologna Salesians of Don Bosco University of Milan alumni Italian Servants of God