Msgr. Virginio Domingo Bressanelli, bishop emeritus of Neuquén (Argentina) and superior general of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonians) from 1991 to 2003, passed away on the morning of Friday, October 23, at the age of 84. According to AICA, he had been hospitalized for more than a month after suffering a stroke at the end of August.
The news was announced by the Dehonian congregation and by the Diocese of Neuquén, which, in its statement, thanked God “for his life, his pastoral dedication, and his witness of faith, which deeply marked our Church in Neuquén.” His remains are being laid out at the Caramuto funeral home, at 2936 Córdoba Street in Rosario (Santa Fe), and the funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 10:20 a.m. at the parish of San Francisco de Asís in Maciel, after which he will be buried in the local cemetery. The Diocese of Neuquén will also offer a Mass for his eternal rest in the cathedral.
Bressanelli was born on May 1, 1942, in Berabevú, in the south of Santa Fe province. He made his perpetual profession in the Dehonian congregation on September 29, 1964, and studied Philosophy in Monza (Italy) and Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a licentiate in Dogmatic Theology in 1967. He was ordained a priest in Rome on December 17, 1966, according to EWTN News.
Before his episcopal appointment, he served as vicar at the parish of the Holy Christ in Villa Riachuelo, as well as formator and superior of the Dehonian Theologate and provincial superior. From 1991 to 2003, he led the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as superior general, a position that required him to reside in Rome for many years.
John Paul II appointed him bishop of Comodoro Rivadavia on February 19, 2005. Five years later, on February 10, 2010, Benedict XVI named him coadjutor bishop of Neuquén, and in November 2011 he became the fourth bishop of that diocese, following the resignation of Bishop Marcelo Melani. His episcopal motto was “Here I am, O God, to do your will.”
In the Argentine Episcopal Conference, he served as first vice-president from 2011 to 2014 and chaired the Commission for Consecrated Life. He submitted his resignation due to age in 2017 and, as bishop emeritus, continued to accompany the Diocese of Neuquén.
The Argentine Episcopal Conference expressed its condolences in a letter addressed to the Diocese of Neuquén and the Dehonian family. In it, the bishops remembered him as “a shepherd who generously gave his life to the service of the Gospel and the Church,” and highlighted his commitment to the universal Church, as well as his wisdom and his ability to accompany his brother bishops, especially those facing difficulties.