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Biography

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Alberto Beretta was born in Milan, Italy, on 28 August 1916. He grew up in a large and fervently Catholic family of the Lombardy region. Several of his siblings embraced religious or consecrated life; the best known is his younger sister Gianna Beretta Molla (1922–1962), a physician, wife, and mother who was canonized in 2004. Formed by this household of faith, Alberto studied medicine and qualified as a physician, intending to place his professional skill at the service of the Gospel.

Drawn to the Franciscan charism, he entered the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. After religious profession and priestly ordination he asked to be sent to the missions and was assigned to Brazil. He spent decades in the northeastern interior, especially in and around Grajaú in the state of Maranhão. There he combined the ministry of a priest with that of a doctor, caring for the spiritual and bodily needs of the poor, often traveling to isolated communities and working with very limited resources.

His missionary years were marked by evangelical simplicity, hard work, and closeness to the people he served. In 1981 a cerebral hemorrhage left him hemiplegic and greatly reduced his capacity for active ministry. He accepted the trial as a share in the Passion of Christ and continued a life of prayer and silent offering, first in Brazil and later in Italy after his return. The last period of his life was spent in Capuchin houses, where he was remembered for patience and for the joy he retained despite disability.

Alberto Beretta died in Bergamo on 14 August 2001. The reputation of holiness that surrounded him led to the opening of a cause of beatification. After the diocesan inquiry and the Roman examination of his life and virtues, Pope Francis on 12 June 2014 authorized the decree on heroic virtues, thereby declaring him Venerable. He is remembered as a missionary doctor and Capuchin friar who united professional competence, Franciscan poverty, and the fruitful acceptance of suffering.

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