A Bishop Father

CARDINAL GIACOMO LERCARO (1891-1976), ARCHBISHOP OF BOLOGNA, addressed the faithful on the Feast of All Saints in 1953, appealing for aid destined for Italians in East Berlin, flood victims in Calabria, and the nearly one thousand unemployed workers of Ducati, a company in deep crisis. The prelate did not limit himself to asking others for help: back in 1951, he had already opened the doors of his own home to people displaced by the Polesine flood. A man of great faith and equal understanding of his historical moment, during the proceedings of the Second Vatican Council he proposed a renewal of the Eucharistic liturgy that included celebrations in the vernacular (Italian) and an openness toward other Christian denominations. Furthermore, he reminded the Council Fathers of a central theme: the Church of the poor. "It will be necessary for the other schemas to also demonstrate the connection between the presence of poverty in the Church, the limitation in the use of certain material means, and a visible poverty in the pastors themselves and in the goods of religious communities." Lercaro personally gave his greatest testimony of poverty until his death: inside the pocket of his cassock, an old, broken wallet was found, containing a holy card, a small medal of the Virgin Mary, and a few thousand lire. This forced the executors of his will to make miracles happen just to offer the beneficiaries a small keepsake... A great cardinal, with the heart of a father.


Annamaria Gobbato
NP February 2026