Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini

Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini (, 3 April 1876 – 17 October 1958) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal and the founder of the Disciples of the Lord who served as the head of the Apostolic Chancery from 1954 until his death.

He was elevated to the cardinalate on 12 January 1953. He is best known for his work in China. Costantini dedicated himself to improving the work of missionaries and believed that evangelization in China belonged to the Chinese people. His time there heralded countless successes and he was careful never to involve himself in the complex politics between the Church and the State.

His cause for sainthood commenced on 24 June 2016 under Pope Francis and he has been titled as a Servant of God.

Early years Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini was born on 3 April 1876 in Castions di Zoppola as the second of ten children to Costante Costantini (a building contractor) and Maddalena Altan. His brother Giovanni (1880–1956) became the Bishop of La Spezia.

Costantini arrived in Hong Kong on 8 November 1922.

In China, Costantini stated that four principles governed his work: (1) the mission for principally for evangelization, (2) he would respect the sovereignty of China and all other governments, (3) the Holy See did not want to interfere on political issues except those which impacted its spiritual mission, (4) that the Pope loved China, that the Holy See was not an imperial power, and that it sought to foster China's well-being, and (5) most important the Catholic Church's enterprise in China was missionary work.

In his work with missions in China, Costantini contended, "It is wrong to make use of Western art in China" and that the Church should encourage "genuine expression of the genius of the indigenous people". and he became the apostolic administrator for Harbin in 1931 though returned to his homeland at that time and then to the United States to recover from several health issues. On 28 October 1926 he was present in the Sistine Chapel when Pius XI consecrated the first six Chinese bishops after he and the bishops-elect left from Shanghai on the previous 10 September. Costantini was made a member of some of the curial departments including Oriental Churches and the Congregation for Rites. Several months later he was named as the Apostolic Chancellor and opted for the cardinalitial title of San Lorenzo in Damaso on 9 June 1958. His death followed that of Pope Pius XII and preceded the start of the conclave to choose his successor. Before his death, he told Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, soon to be elected pope, that he supported the candidacy of Gregorio Pietro Agagianian. He was buried next to his brother Bishop Giovanni Constantini in Zoppola. In 1959 his brother's remains were relocated to La Spezia.

Beatification process The beatification process received support on 30 September 2016 from the Trivenetian Episcopal Conference who endorsed the cause which had opened some months prior. It opened under Pope Francis on 24 June 2016 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints titled him as a Servant of God and transferred the forum of investigation from Rome to Concordia. The diocesan process was inaugurated on 17 October 2017 and is ongoing.

The current postulator for this cause is Father Ader Nasr and the vice-postulator is Father Simon ee-Kim chong.

It is predicted that the cause's progress will be slow due to the divergent China-Vatican relations.