Gaspar Bertoni

Feastday: June 12
Birth: 1777
Death: 1853
Canonized: Pope John Paul II

Saint Gaspar Louis Bertoni (October 9, 1777 - June 12, 1853) is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. He was the founder of the Stigmatines.

Latin Catholic congregation

The Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata (or Stigmatines for short) are a Latin Catholic Clerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right for Men.

History

The Stigmatines were founded on 4 November 1816 by Gaspar Bertoni, in Verona, Italy. The first written constitutions for the congregation were based on the constitutions of Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus. Like the Jesuits, the congregation was intended as a missionary and educational ministry. The patrons of the Stigmatine Congregation are the Holy Spouses, Mary and Joseph.

The growth of the community was slow. In 1905, Stigmatines went to the United States, and in 1910, they started activities in Brazil. For nearly two centuries, the Stigmatines worked in China, Thailand, the Philippines and various countries in Africa and Latin America.

In 2002, the Stigmatines settled in India.

In June 2018, the city council of Waltham, Massachusetts, voted to take the 46 acres owned by the Stigmatines by eminent domain, for the purpose of building a new high school. The site includes the Espousal Retreat Center, a conference center, and a retirement home for priests. Mayor Jeannette McCarthy stated that the property is valued at $25.4 million; the city is offering $18 million. A statement on the Stigmatines' website states, "No one is doubting or discounting the need for a new high school in Waltham. We just don't believe the City should be able to end our existence here in Waltham because it covets our land for its own use." In December 2019, the parties resolved their dispute by the city council agreeing to pay a total of $29 million for the site.