(ANS – Vatican City) – On January 21 2025, a communiqué was sent to the Postulator General for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, that the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, in its ordinary Congress of January 8, 2025, signed by the Prefect Cardinal Marcello Semeraro and the Secretary Monsignor Fabio Fabene, gave legal validity to the diocesan inquiry for the Cause of Beatification and Canonisation of the Servant of God Antonino Baglieri (Modica May 1, 1951 – March 2, 2007), Volunteer with Don Bosco (CDB). This follows the verification carried out on the formal aspects of the procedural documents and the consistency of the evidentiary apparatus: number and quality of witnesses, and documents collected.
The Postulator General stresses that “this is a great achievement, the result of the work done with passion and competence by the members of the diocesan Tribunal and by those who have contributed, in particular by the Historical Commission and the vice-postulator Fr. Gabriel Cruz SDB”. It is a stage greeted with joy by Archbishop Salvatore Rumeo, Bishop of Noto, together with the entire diocese, the family of the Servant of God, and the Salesian Family of Sicily. The Postulator General will now ask the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to appoint a Rapporteur to guide the preparation of the “Positio super virtutibus” of the Servant of God, which will be drawn up by Dr. Lodovica Maria Zanet, collaborator of the Postulation. The diocesan Inquiry was held at the Episcopal Curia in Noto (Syracuse) from March 2, 2014, to May 5, 2024.
Nino Baglieri was born in Modica on May 1, 1951. After attending elementary schools and taking up the trade of bricklayer, at seventeen, on May 6, 1968, he fell from a scaffolding 17 meters high. Urgently hospitalized, Nino realized bitterly that he had been completely paralyzed. Faced with a very dramatic situation, his mother Josephine, courageously and trusting in God, made herself available to take care of him personally throughout his life. This is how Nino’s path of suffering began as he went from one hospital to another but without any improvement. Returning in 1970 to his native town, after the first days of visits from friends, ten long dark years began for Nino, without leaving the house, lonely, suffering, and in much despair.
On March 24, 1978, Good Friday, at four in the afternoon, a group of people belonging to the Renewal in the Spirit prayed over him; Nino felt a transformation in himself. From that moment, he accepted the Cross and said his “yes” to the Lord. He began reading the Gospel and the Bible: rediscovering the wonders of faith. By helping some neighboring youngsters to do their homework, he learned to write with his mouth. Thus, he wrote his memoirs, letters to people of every category in various parts of the world, and personalized reminders that paid homage to those who visited him. Thanks to a bar, he could dial phone numbers and get in direct contact with many sick people and his calm and convincing words comforted them.
A continuous flow of relationships began that not only brought him out of isolation but led him to witness the Gospel of joy and hope. From May 6, 1982 onwards, Nino celebrated the Anniversary of the Cross, and, the same year, he joined the Salesian Family as a Salesian Cooperator. On August 31, 2004, he made his perpetual profession among the Volunteers with Don Bosco (CDB). On March 2, 2007, at 8 am, Nino Baglieri, after a long period of suffering and trial, turned his soul towards God. After death, he was dressed in a suit and sneakers so that, as he had said, “on my last trip to God, I will be able to run towards him”.