Don Francesco Bonifacio was born in Piran (Istria) on September 7, 1912, the second of seven siblings. He grew up in a modest but profoundly Christian environment, where his priestly vocation matured. He studied first at the minor seminary in Koper and later at the major seminary in Gorizia, distinguished by his goodness and devotion. He was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste on December 27, 1936.
For the first two years of his ministry, he served in the coastal town of Novigrad. In 1939, he was assigned to Villa Gardossi, now known as Krasica. The war and post-war years were particularly challenging for Don Francesco. Villa Gardossi, with its scattered hamlets, became an ideal hideout for Yugoslav partisans. After the war, the environment for priests worsened drastically, with increasing restrictions on religious practices.In his “Notebook of Secret Memories,” he wrote: “It seems impossible to me that I am being robbed by those who call themselves our liberators.” In Communist Party meetings, he was labelled as an inconvenient priest who needed to be eliminated.
This tense situation deepened his reflections on death: “When will I die? Where will I die? I must prepare myself in time.” He questioned: “How will I present myself before eternity? To die is the most important thing in this world. Jesus also asks for blood and life. These are tough times: being holy is heroism, even to the point of martyrdom.” These words, written a few months before his death, seem almost prophetic. To the youth of Catholic Action, he confided: “I want to die as a martyr.”
The Lord granted his wish. On the evening of September 11, 1946, while returning from Grožnjan to Villa Gardossi after meeting his young brother priest Don Giuseppe Rocco, Don Francesco Bonifacio was arrested by members of Tito’s brutal secret police, the notorious OZNA. He disappeared without a trace, and his body was never recovered.
“Don Francesco is a holy priest who wanted to bear witness to his faith during sorrowful and terrifying times. We can trust those who know how to die as he did,” Archbishop Antonio Santin wrote to Don Francesco’s mother.
After a lengthy canonical process, the Church declared Don Francesco Bonifacio Blessed on October 4, 2008, at the Cathedral of San Giusto in Trieste, recognizing him as a martyr killed in odium fidei (out of hatred for the faith).
— Mario Ravalico, December 2024
