Andrea Giacinto Longhin

Andrea Giacinto Longhin was born Francesco Longhin on 23 November 1863 in Fiumicello di Campodarsego, a rural hamlet in the province of Padua in the recently unified Kingdom of Italy. He came from a modest artisan household; his father Matteo worked as a cobbler. Raised in a devout Catholic environment typical of the Venetian countryside in the later nineteenth century, he entered the Capuchin Franciscan novitiate at Bassano del Grappa in 1879 and received the religious name Giacinto. After studies in the order’s houses of formation he made his profession and was ordained a priest in 1886. In the following years he taught in Capuchin studentates, served as a preacher, and held offices of government within the Venetian province of the order, eventually becoming provincial minister.

Pope Pius X, who as patriarch of Venice had known the Capuchins of the region, appointed Longhin bishop of Treviso in April 1904. He was consecrated shortly afterward and took charge of a large diocese of more than two hundred parishes, many of them rural and poor. As bishop he made systematic pastoral visitation the heart of his government, traveling widely to preach, confirm, and inspect parish life. He devoted sustained attention to the diocesan seminary, to catechetical instruction, and to Catholic associations and Catholic Action at a time of political tension between the Holy See and the Italian state and of growing secular and socialist currents among workers and peasants. His style combined Franciscan simplicity with a firm, organized episcopal authority.

The First World War placed Treviso near the Italian front, especially after the Caporetto disaster of 1917. Longhin refused to abandon the city despite bombardments and the flight of many civilians. He organized relief for refugees and the wounded, visited military hospitals and encampments, and provided sacramental and material care to soldiers and displaced families. After the armistice he directed the reconstruction of damaged churches and the restoration of parish life. In the interwar years he continued visitations and the promotion of Catholic organizations until declining health limited his activity.

He died in Treviso on 26 June 1936 and was buried in the cathedral. His reputation for pastoral courage, especially during the war, and for a life of poverty consistent with his Capuchin profession led to the introduction of his cause. Pope John Paul II beatified him in Saint Peter’s Square on 20 October 2002, presenting him as a model of a bishop who united evangelical simplicity with zealous care of the diocese. His liturgical memorial is kept on 26 June. He has not been canonized.