Pietro Berno

Pietro Berno (* 1552 in Ascona , † July 25, 1583 in Cuncolim , Goa , India ) was a Swiss Jesuit and missionary .

After studying philosophy and theology at the Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe in Rome , he entered the Jesuit order in 1577. In 1578 he traveled to Portugal and in 1579 was sent to India at his own request , where he was ordained priest in Goa in 1580 .

During his three years working on the Salcete peninsula he participated in the destruction of Hindu temples , destroyed a religiously revered anthill and killed a holy cow . He kept saying that in Cuncolim and the surrounding hamlets the mission would not bear fruit until the area was bathed in blood shed for the faith. On an inspection trip with his friar Rodolfo Acquaviva , he was finally murdered near Cuncolim. After his death, said his supervisor, Berno have more " pagans " converted than all the church fathers together.

As a martyr was Pietro Berno of Pope Leo XIII. beatified on April 2, 1893 as the only Swiss Jesuit so far . He is buried in the cathedral of Velha Goa , and his head is kept in the parish church of Ascona.

literature

• Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  BERNO, Pietro. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 1, Bautz, Hamm 1975. 2nd, unchanged edition Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-013-1 , Sp. 542.
• Urban Fink: Pietro Berno. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . June 11, 2004 , accessed March 15, 2020 .