Following the canonization of Saint Bartolo Longo, which took place on Sunday 19 October 2025, in the month of the Rosary, in St. Peter’s Square, where Pope Leo XIV proclaimed him a saint, defining him in his homily together with the other six saints proclaimed “gentle lights” and “benefactors of humanity”, a conference entitled “Bartolo Longo, Redemptorist Oblate: Influences of Alphonsian spirituality in the life of the Founder of Pompeii” was held in Canosa on Wednesday 18 November , in the Auditorium of the Parish of Jesus Joseph and Mary .
The event represented an important opportunity to explore the figure of Saint Bartolo Longo, an example of modern lay and Catholic sanctity who marked the history of the Church and Southern Italy. His canonization, which took place in this Jubilee Year, is a significant ecclesial event, involving the churches of the Campania region in particular and, more generally, all of Southern Italy, which still benefits from his extraordinary achievements today.
The meeting, promoted by the Friends of PAM Losito Association of Canosa and co-organized by the Diocesan Service for the Causes of Saints and the Confraternity of Mercy – Canosa branch, was introduced by Donato Mele, president of the Association, who conveyed greetings from the Commission for the Pro-Beatification of Venerable Losito. The event was moderated by Father Antonio Turturro, director of the Diocesan Office for Social Communications.
The figure of Bartolo Longo was presented by the Redemptorist Father Vincenzo Maria La Mendola, of the Redemptorist Historical Institute of Rome, who began by bringing greetings and an appreciated official message from the provincial superior of the Redemptorists of Southern Europe, Father Gennaro Sorrentino C.Ss.R.
Father La Mendola gave a comprehensive and fascinating profile of Blessed Longo, focusing in particular on his connection to the Redemptorist Congregation and on Alphonsian spirituality. The speaker highlighted the human and spiritual journey of the Founder of Pompeii, recalling his membership in the Dominican Order, as a professed Third Order member, and emphasizing his “filiation” to the Redemptorist Congregation as an “oblate.”
The life of attorney Longo is intertwined with that of many saints of his time, ultimately forming a perfect plan of God’s will. Father Emanuele M. Ribera, Father Antonio M. Losito, and Father Giuseppe M. Leone were for Longo the main “threads” around which other saintly figures were woven. These saints, through a marvellous divine plan, came to know one another, edifying one another on the path to holiness.
In the history of spirituality, we often witness a true “communion of holiness,” in which men and women are called to build the Kingdom of God in the world. Think, for example, of Piedmont, with Don Bosco, Cafasso, Murialdo, Cottolongo, and Allamano; or of Campania, with the physician Giuseppe Moscati, the Franciscan Ludovico da Casoria, Caterina Volpicelli, and the physician Eustachio Montemurro. Exceptional instruments of this spiritual bond were three Redemptorists who accompanied Longo as guides at crucial moments in his life:
- The Venerable Emanuele Ribera, the anchorite of Naples, who guided him immediately after his conversion, from 1865 to 1872 approximately, together with the Dominican Father Alberto Radente, his first confessor.
- The mystic Father Giuseppe Maria Leone, tried by suffering, who was the moderator and spiritual guide of Longo and Countess Marianna Farnararo De Fusco for eighteen years, from 1885 to 1902, becoming a precious point of reference for their spiritual growth.
- and, after him, Father Antonio Maria Losito, friend and advisor of Saint Pius X, master of interior living and Longo’s last spiritual director from 1902 to 1917.
Three names and three faces that, while often lingering in the background of the figure of the Founder of Pompeii, testify to the power of the copious apud eum redemptio, the greatness of divine mercy, and the transformative power of conversion. Thanks to their guidance—over a total of over fifty years—Bartolo Longo was able to discern God’s will and translate his faith into concrete works of evangelization and charity. The spirituality of Saint Alphonsus thus shaped his interior life, preparing him for the mission that would lead him to found the Sanctuary of Pompeii and serve the poor and marginalized of the Valley.
At the end of the presentation, some participants shared their reflections and asked the speaker questions. The vice-postulator, Father Mario Porro, concluded the proceedings by offering a striking image of sanctity: approaching a saint is like climbing a mountain, discovering how arduous the road to the summit is and how hard a life marked by the elements is. Saint Bartolo Longo’s journey was also an uphill one, full of obstacles but dotted with “springs of pure water” in which to find refreshment. The saintly friendships that accompanied him represented shelter, comfort, and support for him in the most difficult moments.
As he himself writes in the book Our Intimate Friends:
Oh! How admirable are the counsels of Providence, which through the years slowly and gently weaves the threads of history! And how, through the waves of human events, the insight of the Saints always reveals itself, profound in its serenity.
Holy friendships evoke the desire to build a Church open to the action of the Spirit and a society that respects human dignity. Saints create lasting friendships, rich in humanity and spiritual experience; they live their relationship with God with seriousness and heroism, dedicating their energies to the proclamation of the Gospel in the Church and in the world.
The insight offered by Father La Mendola, author of monographs, articles, and reviews and a scholar of Redemptorist history, thus opens a new window into the life of our Venerables, revealing the importance of Christian friendship and reminding us that the path to holiness is never travelled alone, but in the company of our friends and those who already contemplate the face of God.
Don Mario Porro
Photos courtesy of the Facebook page “La Terra Del Sole.”
