Servant of God,
Bishop Guglielmo Giaquinta
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Guglielmo Giaquinta was born in Noto, Sicily on June 25, 1914. He was sent to the minor seminary, St. John Lateran, in Rome where he eventually understood the call to the priesthood and grew in devotion to Our Lady of Trust.
On November 1, 1968, Fr. Giaquinta was ordained a bishop and assigned to the diocese of Tivoli. He accepted this precious gift with the heart of a shepherd, grateful to serve the Church, and desired to maintain strong bonds of communion with the Pope. He also fostered brotherhood and unity through the spirituality of the Cenacle, particularly among the priests.
He was ordained as a priest on March 18, 1939. As a priest, Fr. Giaquinta was always available to hear confessions and was an attentive spiritual director for young people, as well as an animator of days of prayer, adoration, and retreats.
Bishop Giaquinta was a tireless apostle of the universal call to holiness. Through his own deep encounters with the Lord, he understood that the foundation of holiness is rooted in the interior life. In his writings, preaching, and meetings, he directed all to develop their relationship with God by contemplating His redemptive love and responding in turn, “to the maximum”.
His pastoral work led to the formation of small groups which grew into the Pro Sanctity Move-ment in 1947 and the Apostolic Oblates for the consecrated women in 1950. In 1962, he founded the Apostolic Sodales for diocesan priests and in 1972, the Social Animators for laymen.
For the last 10 years of his life, Bishop Giaquinta’s health failed, but he continued faithfully with his mission. On June 15, 1994, Bishop Giaquinta died in Rome and in 2004, the Church proclaimed him “Servant of God.” His cause for beatification and canonization are underway and in 2016, his body was given a “privileged burial” in his first parish in Rome.
