Francesco Bonifacio

Francesco Giovanni Bonifacio (7 September 1912 – 11 September 1946) was an Italian Catholic priest, killed by the Yugoslav communists in Grisignana (then Italy now Croatia); he was beatified in Trieste on 4 October 2008.

Early life Francesco (Checco) Bonifacio was born on 7 September 1912 in Pirano, Istria which was then part of Austria Hungary, later Italy, and is now part of Slovenia. He was the second of seven children born to Giovanni and Luigia Busdon Bonifacio. His father was a stoker on steamers sailing out of Trieste, which kept him away much of the time. His mother took a job as a cleaning lady to supplement their income. The family were devout Catholics. Francesco attended the local elementary school of Pirano and received religious education at the local parish of San Francesco where he served as an altar boy.

Seminarian In 1924, Bonifacio entered the seminary in Capodistria-Koper,

He quickly organized the Azione Cattolica movement and a choir in the parish. He taught religion at the local school and began a small library. Don Francesco shared what little food he had with the poorest of his parishioners. Not of robust health, he suffered from asthma, a persistent cough and chronic bronchial and lung problems. Nonetheless, his afternoons were devoted to parish visits. In all types of weather, he travelled the length and breadth of the valley, on foot or by bicycle, dispensing comfort and encouragement. Don Francesco was well-liked by the people.

After the war In May 1945 German and Italian forces were driven out of Istria by the Partisan Army. The region was almost entirely annexed to Tito's new Communist Yugoslavia. The new regime saw the Catholic Church as a potential enemy. New holidays were introduced to replace religious feast days. The new government discouraged people from attending Church, and positioned agents outside churches to note the names of those who did. Don Francesco was seen as a leader in the community and a threat to the new regime. He was informed by some loyal parishioners that some members of his congregation had embraced the new standards, and he was warned not to trust them. At this time Yugoslav communism was modelled on the Soviet style, and along with the usual violence, they were also trained in the use of misinformation, propaganda and false accusations. He travelled to Trieste to consult with his bishop who advised him to be cautious and to limit his activities to within the church, avoiding any public stance. He was seen alive for the last time around 4 p.m. by Don Giuseppe Rocco, his confessor and the Chaplain of Peroi. A later reconstruction indicated that he was stopped on his way back from Grožnjan by some "Popular Guards", beaten to death, and his body thrown into a foiba. Other unconfirmed versions stated that he was also reputedly physically abused, stoned, and eventually stabbed twice. When his brother went to ask for information from the local "Popular Militia" (Communist Police) he was arrested on accusation of spreading false and anticommunist propaganda. Shortly afterwards the family moved to Italy.

The fate of Father (Don) Francesco Bonifacio was not the only violence committed against the Catholic Church of the former Italian territories ceded to Yugoslavia in 1945. In June 1946, Trieste bishop Mons. Santin was stopped and beaten by communist activists while going to Koper/Capodistria, then part of his diocese, attending the Ceremony of Confirmation; his delegate Mons Giacomo Ukmar was also beaten on 23 August 1947, the same day as another priest Don Miro Bulesic was murdered; his throat was slit.

The beatification ceremony was held in the Trieste Cathedral of Saint Giusto on 4 October 2008 by the Bishop of Trieste, Eugenio Ravignani; Archbishop Angelo Amato represented the Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI. Historical assesments

The 7 February 2006 issue of Avvenire carried an article which stated that Don Luigi Rocco, who received a visit from Don Bonifacio in 1946 in Groznjan, said that the priest was thrown into the pit Martinesi in Groznjan. While Bonifacio's body may have been thrown into the foiba called Martines, this is uncertain because his remains were never found. It is also possible that his body was burned.

The peace treaty of Paris signed in 1947, when Istria was almost entirely ceded to Yugoslavia, is still an issue that marks the relations between Italy and the new states of the former Federation of Yugoslavia. The Foibe atrocities are a divisive subject in contemporary Italian politics. Right-wing media accuse the left of attempting to downplay the massacres while focusing attention on crimes committed by the Fascists. Bonifacio and his martyrdom at the hands of Communists, has become an important symbol of the story of the Foibe and the exodus of Italians from Istria.

Famous Istrian priest Mons. Bozo Milanovic, the author of many books on Istrian history and crimes committed against priests, wrote a book "Istra u dvadesetom stoljecu" ("Istria in the twentieth century", Pazin 1996). In this book, he described the work of the "college of priests St. Pavao for Istria", 1946. He wrote that they discussed a "secretly missing Italian minister in Bujstina (…)" while Ivan Grah, minister in the Istrian villages of Sisan and Liznjan, in his book "Istarska crkva u ratnom vrihoru" (1943–1945) (Istrian Church in war winds), published in Pazin in 1992, described the crimes against Istrian priests but never mentioned Don Bonifacio. However, in the feuilleton Istarski Svecenici - Ratne i Poratne Zrtve (Istrian priests–war and post-war victims), published in the monthly "Ladonja" in August 2005, Ivan Grah wrote about Francesco Bonifacio. From 1939 till his suffered death, he was the head of the parish of Krasica in Bujstina. After the end of the war, the Yugo-Communist authorities could not bear him because he interfered too much with their ideological work. On 10 September 1946, came the news that in Bujstina they–the communists- had a list of younger priests who had to be "liquidated" by the Popular Guard. Don Bonifacio was first on the list, but he decided to carry on with his duties as a priest. The following day, 11 September, in the evening, the Popular Guard was waiting for him as he returned home on foot from Groznjan and, after a crabbed discussion, he was coercively taken away. Since then, all traces of him have disappeared and the place of his death remains unknown (...)". The Communist writer, publicist and journalist Giacomo Scotti, an Italian Communist expatriate from Naples, in his book "Cry from the foiba" (Rijeka 2008) does not mention the murder of Don Bonifacio or his body being thrown into a foiba. Giacomo Scotti a great expert on this topic in Croatia and Italy wrote: "As soon as I started writing about the beatification of Don Bonifacio being held in Trieste and about the murder, I stated that this priest is not present on the list of foibe victims. The League of Anti-fascist Fighters told me that Don Bonifacio went missing in September 1946, and that there is no information on his murder or on his death in a pit.

Commemoration

In 2005, a public square in Trieste was named after Francesco Bonifacio. A park bearing his name also exists in the Metropolitan City of Naples.