After the Eucharistic celebration in honor of St. Therese of the Child Jesus - in which the enduring relevance of the figures of the patron saint of the Missions and the Salesian Servant of God was emphasized - Msgr. Mauro Parmeggiani, Bishop of Tivoli and Palestrina, presided over the last session of the Diocesan Inquiry into the cause of Msgr. Cognata. Fr. Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General of the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, presented the work carried out since Dec. 12, 2020, the day of the opening of the diocesan phase, by the Diocesan Tribunal, the Theological Censors, and the Historical Commission: the folders with more than 4,000 pages of testimonies and documents were presented.
Bishop Parmeggiani emphasized how "for our whole Church it is a joy to share that of a bishop who was fond of our territory and whom, from now own, we can pray that he intercede for our needs with God. We speak of a man, a consecrated man, a bishop, a founder touched by the Father's merciful love and who testified with his whole life his entrustment to the will of his Lord and heroic obedience to the Church."
He then shared some passages from the commemoration made, in 1972, by Bishop Antonio Mistrorigo of Treviso, a friend and staunch defender of Bishop Cognata: "His life remains a book of exceptional value and interest. If we know how to read it with the intellect of love, we cannot help but feel stimulated to become better. On every page, we find reflected an angle of his humanity and, above all, of his spirituality: an enlightened and open mind, extraordinary kindness, fine sensitivity to the needs of the times, man of God, teacher of the interior life, wise and lovable father, incomparable director of the spirit, a devotee of Mary Help of Christians, Imitator of Don Bosco; we find especially in him the martyr of silence. Here, in my opinion, lies the apex of Bishop Cognata's spiritual greatness. Silence above a bleeding cross; silence for more than twenty years; a smile even in the trial by fire; unwavering trust in that God who, after the storm, knows how to console us in all our tribulations."
Mother Graziella Benghini, Superior General of the SOSCs, brought her greetings by making remembrance of the many people who over time have worked to prove and demonstrate Bishop Cognata's innocence and to promote his cause for Beatification including: the Salesian Rectors Major, Fr. Luigi Castano, Anna Vultaggio, Mother Bice Carini, Fr. Achille Tricca, and Dr. Giuseppe Viola.
In addition to the presence of many SOSCs, including Mother Carmelina Mosca, Mother General for 24 years, the Salesian Family was well represented with the presence of Fr. Pascual Chávez, Rector Major Emeritus, Sr. Lesley Sandigo, FMA, General Councilor for the Salesian Family, Antonio Boccia, World Coordinator of Salesian Cooperators, Maria Carmen Castillon, Confederal President of FMA Past Pupils; numerous, too, the lay and consecrated people, including the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and the Oblate Sisters of the Virgin Mary of Fatima. In the afternoon, the documentary film dedicated to the life of Bishop Cognata was screened and the Rosary prayed at the beginning of October.
If with the closing of the Diocesan Inquiry the epicenter of the Cause moves from the Diocese of Tivoli to Rome, this does not mean, however, that Msgr. Cognata "leaves" Tivoli: "I hope that the sites that safeguard his memory become destinations where many people who do not yet know him can be brought closer to him; where they can take on that dynamism of prayer and offering that he still teaches each of us today; places of grace to know him and make him known, to love him and make him loved, to walk by his example and to feel him and know him close as a brother, father and sincere friend," said Msgr. Mauro Parmeggiani in his speech.
