BONDOLFI, PIETRO

Founder of the bethlehem fathers; b. Rome, April 10, 1872; d. Immensee (Schwyz), Switzerland, June 27, 1943. Bondolfi, who had been orphaned in 1882, was ordained in 1896 after seminary studies in Chur, Switzerland. He gained a doctorate in Canon Law after studies at Innsbruck and Rome. At Louvain, he won a licentiate in economics (1898). He was appointed archivist of the Diocese of Chur, and in 1900 served in the parish of St. Moritz. In 1904 Bondolfi was named canonical visitor of the apostolic school of Bethlehem in Immensee, founded by Peter Barrall to educate priests for missions and poor dioceses. During a financial crisis in 1907 Bondolfi was appointed director of the school. In this position he placed the school on a sound financial basis, dedicated it to the Sacred Heart, and infused it with a new spirit. Pius X suggested that the school become a missionary institute, but the plan was not put into effect until 1921 when Bondolfi became the first superior general of the Bethlehem Fathers. He served in this office until his death. Throughout Switzerland he promoted interest in the missions, especially through the monthly periodical Bethlehem. In 1924 he sent his first missionaries to China. At his death the institute had four foundations in Switzerland. Bondolfi revealed his spirituality in the booklet Der Geist des Kindes von Bethlehem (1938).

Bibliography: Bethlehem (1946) 7–87, biog. of Bondolfi; an Eng. monthly issued by the Bethlehem Fathers. a. rust, Die Bethlehem-Missionare Immensee (Fribourg 1961).

[a. j. borer]