Girolamo Bortignon

Who was Girolamo Bortignon?

Girolamo Bartolomeo Bortignon, OFM Cap was an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, serving as Bishop of Padua from 1949 to 1982.

Born in Romano d'Ezzelino, he was ordained as a Capuchin priest on March 3, 1928, at the age of 22.

On April 4, 1944, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Belluno e Feltre and Titular Bishop of Lydda by Pope Pius XII. Bortignon received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Adeodato Giovanni Piazza, OCD, on the following May 14. He later replaced the late Giosuè Cattarossi as Bishop of Belluno e Feltre on September 9, 1945. In 1947, he named Fr. Albino Luciani, the future Pope John Paul I, as his pro-vicar general.

After almost five years of governing the diocese, Bortignon was translated to Bishop of Padua on April 1, 1949. When Pope John XXIII asked Bortignon for a name for Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, the latter offered his old vicar general in Belluno, Albino Luciani, saying, "I know him...He will do me fine." In 1960, he told his Vatican connections that the activities surrounding Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo should merit an investigation. Bortignon attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965.