MONTE, BARTOLOMEO MARIA DAL, BL.

Diocesan priest, missionary, preacher; b. Nov. 3, 1726, Bologna, Italy; d. Dec. 24, 1778, at Bologna. The son of Orazio dal Monte and Anna Maria Bassani, Bartolomeo was confirmed (1733) by Cardinal Prospero Lambertini of Bologna, the future Pope Benedict XIV. Bartolomeo studied at the Jesuit Santa Lucia College for a career as a banker. leonard of port maurice, himself later canonized, encouraged Bartolomeo to ignore his father's opposition to a priestly vocation; Bartolomeo was ordained in 1749 and completed his seminary studies in theology (1750–51). He then undertook his life's work: preaching missions and retreats not only in Bologna, but also in sixty-two other dioceses. His powerful preaching led many to reconciliation and conversion of life. According to the citation issued March 16, 1777, Father dal Monte's charity, the purity of his doctrine at a time when Jansenism was spreading, and holiness of his life won for him honorary citizenship in the principality of San Marino. His body is enshrined in Our Lady of Peace Chapel in Bologna's Basilica of Saint Petronius. The decree approving a miracle wrought at his intercession was promulgated on July 11, 1995, leading to his beatification on Sept. 27, 1997 at Bologna by Pope John Paul II.

Bibliography: l. mirri, Un apostolo delle missioni popolari: Bartolomeo Maria Dal Monte (1726–1778) e la sua "Operetta" (Bologna 1995). L'Osservatore Romano, Eng. ed. 29 (1995): 5.

[k. i. rabenstein]