The Life of Saint Guido Maria Conforti

The Last Journey

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Bishop Guido M. Conforti with missionaries and Christians in Honan, China, 1928

One last significant event in Conforti's life was his journey to China, which he undertook "as a duty and a need of my heart." Notwithstanding his ability to deal with missionary problems as a founder of a missionary congregation, he recognized that this trip would help him change his mentality about the Chinese people. These are words of conversion for a Catholic Bishop!

China gave him a new sense of the vastness of its territory: “We don’t need 3,000 missionaries in China, but 50,000!… I’ll look forward to that day when the whole of China will be called a Christian nation!" Before leaving China, Bishop Conforti addressed his missionaries by saying, “I hope that my visit will bring great good, deepen our love, and give all of us greater encouragement to work willingly and constantly for the missions… I’m amazed at what you have accomplished for the good of these Chinese people. How I would like to be young again, and dedicate all my energies to them!”

Conforti’s missionary plan was rooted on the look of Christ, and its many fruits. One of these fruits is the “forming of one single family that embraces the whole world.”

Here I am Lord, Send Me! Day of the Beatification Ceremonies at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, March 17, 1996

Those who had the possibility to be part of the Beatification Ceremonies at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, had the chance to experience a vision of the whole world coming together as “One Single Family”. The prayers, the songs, the gifts and the dances from each continent represented that final vision of Conforti. Today, the Universal church gives thanks to God for the gift of a missionary bishop who lived the missionary spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

Those who approach the gentle and strong person of Saint Conforti find in him that total abandonment to the power of the Gospel witnessed in the saints. The lifestyle of this missionary bishop still encourages those who choose to continue the mission of Christ, to reach out to the poorest and most far away from His Good News.

And certainly, the young in our midst, are challenged by the spiritual vision of Saint Guido Maria Conforti, who has always answered with his unconditional “Here I am, send me!” The invitation to the young people of today is found in his “missionary Yes.”

“Dear young people, are you determined to follow God’s Will and Call? If you are, make sure you have, first of all, a Living Faith in your Divine Teacher. Let that faith permeate all your thoughts, your affections, and your actions. Place that faith before all your encounters, in all situations of your life… I don’t come to ask you for a donation in the collection basket. I come to you with a bigger proposal. If the Lord wills it, if you feel called, I come in the name of God to ask the self giving of your youth, the sharing of your talents, the partaking of your energies, the letting go of your most precious affections. I ask you this, in the name of Christ, who gave himself for us!”

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