Cause for beatification of quadriplegic Antonino Baglieri, who brought many sick people to Christ, advances

ACI Prensa Staff, Feb 2, 2025 /
07:00 am

The Salesians received the news that the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints has validated the diocesan investigation for the beatification cause of the Servant of God Antonino Baglieri, a quadriplegic layman who, in the midst of suffering, decided to bring Jesus to other people who are ill.

The Vatican communication, signed by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the dicastery, was received by the Salesian Family’s postulator general for the causes of saints, Father Pierluigi Cameroni, as confirmed by ANS, the Salesian Congregation’s news service.

According to the publication, the validation was accomplished after verifying the formal aspects of the procedural acts and the solidity of the evidence, including the quantity and quality of the witnesses and the documents that were collected. The diocesan investigation was carried out in the curia of the Diocese of Noto, Italy, from March 2, 2014, to May 5, 2024.

Cameroni said the progress in the cause of beatification “is a great achievement, the fruit of the work carried out by the members of the diocesan tribunal and by those who have contributed, particularly by the historical commission and the vice postulator.”

Now, the next step will be for the postulator to ask the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to appoint a relator who will guide the preparation of the “positio super virtutibus” (“position on the virtues”).

Who was Antonino ‘Nino’ Baglieri?

Baglieri was born on May 1, 1951, in Modica, Italy. At the age of 17, while working as a bricklayer’s apprentice, he suffered a fall from a 56-foot scaffold, leaving him completely paralyzed.

According to the official Salesian website, his mother, Giuseppina, putting all her trust in God, decided to dedicate the rest of her life to caring for her disabled son. Thus began Baglieri’s difficult journey, moving from one hospital to another without finding any improvement. 

Upon returning to his village in 1970, after a few days of visits from friends, he went through a decade of isolation, pain, and despair without leaving his home.

On the evening of March 24, 1978, Good Friday, a group from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal prayed over Nino, and at that moment he felt a profound change within him. From then on, he accepted with faith the cross that he had been called to bear and began to form himself spiritually by reading the Bible, especially the Gospels.

During that time, while helping some children with their homework, he learned to write with his mouth. Thus he began his mission of evangelization, capturing his memoirs and sending letters to people around the world. 

He also wrote personalized holy cards for those who visited him and wrote down phone numbers to keep in touch with the sick, to whom he imparted serenity, comfort, and hope with his words, the Salesian Congregation said.

In May 1982, Baglieri began to commemorate the anniversary of the cross he had been called to carry following his accidental fall and that same year he joined the Salesian Family as a Salesian cooperator. On Aug. 31, 2004, he made his perpetual profession of the evangelical counsels with the Volunteers with Don Bosco.

On March 2, 2007, at 8 a.m., after years of illness, Baglieri died. Following his wish, he was dressed in sportswear and sneakers, thus expressing his desire to “run to meet God on his last journey.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.