Antonio Bello (18 March 1935 – 20 April 1993) was an Italian Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Molfetta-Ruvo-Giovinazzo-Terlizzi from 1982 until his death from cancer in 1993. Bello studied in various colleges and seminaries in places such as Bologna and Rome before being named to several positions in his region where he served as a priest. He was later made a bishop and became known for his eloquent teaching and for his pastoral sensitivities while being noted for his emphasis on greater diocesan participation on the part of the faithful. Bello also was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order and was a vocal critic of international conflicts such as the Gulf War.
Bello's beatification cause opened over a decade after his death and he became titled as a Servant of God. Pope Francis named him as Venerable on 25 November 2021.
Life
Childhood and education
Antonio Bello was born in Alessano, Province of Lecce on 18 March 1935 at 12:10am on Via Scipione Sangiovanni as the first of three children to the Carabinieri marshal Tommaso Bello, who died on 29 January 1942, and the housewife Maria Imperato; he was baptized in the church of SS. Salvatore in Alessano on 15 April and received Confirmation in the same church on 8 June 1941. His parents married on 8 March 1934. His two brothers (in order) were Trifone and Marcello.
His mother was later hired after she became a widow in Lucugnano in manufacturing tobacco products. His uncle Antonuccio encouraged Bello to keep a journal to record his thoughts and was an influence on him as were his uncles Totò and Pippi. His aunts Flora and Maria in addition to Elvira and Assunta were also formative influences on him during his childhood. His father – who died in 1942 from a heart attack – had been a widower with two children Giacinto and Vittorio who both died during World War II. Giacinto died of a heart attack in Milan on 3 October 1944 and Vittorio died on 9 September 1943 on board the sinking battleship Roma.
He attended school first in his hometown from 1940 to 1945 and then entered the seminaries in Ugento (1940–1948) and Molfetta from 1950 to 1953 at the Pontifico Seminario Regionale Pio XI (he applied for admission to do his high school studies on 13 August 1950). He later attended the Opera Nazionale Assistenza Religiosa e Morale degli Operai for additional studies from September 1953 in Bologna. From 1953 until 1957, he attended a series of theological courses at the Pontifico Seminario Regionale Benedetto XV there in Bologna.
Priesthood
On 30 November 1955, he received the minor orders (from Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro) and he later was inducted into the subdiaconate on 22 December 1957 (this timeline cannot be correct). Bello was later elevated to the diaconate (also from Lercaro) on 7 July 1957. Bello received his ordination to the priesthood on 8 December 1957, from Bishop Giuseppe Ruotolo in the church of SS. Salvatore in Alessano. On 1 November 1958 he was appointed as the vice-rector for seminarians in Ugento and later on 26 June 1959, obtained a licentiate in sacred theological studies from the Facoltà teologica dell'Italia Settentrionale and another licentiate in Bologna on 4 November. He enrolled in a philosophical course and a literature course in the college in Lecce on 30 April 1962. Bello later attended the Pontifical Lateran in Rome from 20 October 1962 until 3 July 1965 (accepting Bishop Ruotolo's invitation to do so) when he obtained his degree. On 3 March 1965, he defended his doctoral thesis entitled "The Eucharistic Congresses and their theological and pastoral significance". On 7 March 1968 he became a Monsignor after being named as a Chaplain of His Holiness. From 1969, he served as an assistant to the Catholic Action organization. On 30 September 1976 he was promoted as rector in Ugento.
On 1 October 1977, he was named as the administrator for the Sacred Heart parish in Ugento before being appointed as a parish priest in Tricase on 1 January 1979 which was a position he held until his episcopal nomination. In this time he collaborated with the Caritas Internationalis organization.