Giacomo Bianconi


Giacomo Bianconi

Painting by Benedetto di Bindo (c. 1415)
Priest
Born7 March 1220
Mevania, Spoleto, Umbria, Papal States
Died22 August 1301(1301-08-22) (aged 81)
Mevania, Spoleto, Umbria, Papal States
Venerated inRoman Catholic Church
Beatified18 May 1672, Saint Peter's Basilica, Papal States by Pope Clement X
Feast22 August
AttributesDominican habit
PatronageMevania

Giacomo Bianconi (7 March 1220 – 22 August 1301) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Preachers.[1] Bianconi - who hailed from Umbria - joined the order in his adolescence and dedicated his pastoral career to his flock and on one notable occasion aided refugees when Frederick II sacked the area in 1248. He also combatted heresies and managed to convert one of their chief propagators while also distinguishing himself through his life of extreme poorness that went past the Dominican standards.[2][3]

The difficult road to sainthood commenced under Pope Paul V in 1608 and was stalled several times until Pope Urban VIII decided to preside over the beatification in 1641 - the process had failed then and the pontiff's death exacerbated the prospect of the process never facing completion. It reopened one final time and allowed - on 18 May 1672 - for Pope Clement X to confirm Bianconi's beatification on the recognition of the late priest's local 'cultus' - or popular veneration.[4]

  1. ^ "Blessed Giacomo Bianconi of Mevania". Saints SQPN. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Blessed James Bianconi". Key to Umbria. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Blessed Giacomo Bianconi of Mevania". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  4. ^ "Blessed James of Mevania, C.O.P." The Order of Preachers, Independent. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2016.