Passing in Turin

Enzo Bianchi, the Italian monk, biblical scholar, and founder of the Bose monastic community, died on the morning of 1 September 2026 at the age of 83. He passed away at the Molinette hospital in Turin following complications from acute renal decompensation, which had placed him into a metabolic coma in his final days. Bianchi had undergone regular dialysis in his later years, describing the physical decline as senseless pain while continuing his routine. Born on 3 March 1943 in Castel Boglione, in the province of Asti, he will be laid to rest in his native village. After losing his mother during his early childhood, he was raised by his father, an atheist and communist who taught him to care for the poorest in society.

Foundation of Bose and theological contributions

Bianchi completed a diploma in accounting and subsequently began studying economics at the university level before leaving his academic track to embrace solitary prayer. In 1965, he founded the monastic community of Bose in the Biella area of Piedmont, creating an ecumenical fraternity that integrated Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox members. Alongside monastic life, Bianchi founded Edizioni Qiqajon, the publishing house through which he released numerous biblical commentaries and spiritual essays. Throughout his career, he served as a consultant to Pope Benedict XVI and was appointed in 2014 by Pope Francis as a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He actively engaged in debates on the traditional Latin Mass, consistently defending the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. His written works concluded with his volume "Raccontare l'amore", published by Rizzoli.

Vatican intervention and Casa della Madia

Bianchi stepped down as prior of Bose in 2017 after leading the community for over five decades. Following an apostolic visitation by the Vatican to address internal tensions and discord within the fraternity, Pope Francis issued a decree in 2020 ordering Bianchi to leave the Bose monastery to facilitate a transfer of governance. Bianchi complied with the decision of the Holy See and relocated to Albiano d'Ivrea, where he established a new community named Casa della Madia. During a 2019 conference at Repubblica delle Idee alongside Antonio Gnoli, Bianchi spoke about the demanding nature of religious pardon.

“Forgiveness is an aspect of mercy, and woe to those who declare forgiveness too easily.”

Public dialogue and final months

Throughout his final years, Bianchi maintained regular columns in Italian publications, notably the Turin daily newspaper La Stampa. At the 2024 Torino Spiritualita festival, he addressed European policy toward migrants, urging the continent to recover fraternity in the face of regression. In May 2026, he made a public presentation in Turin for a book by Father Antonio Spadaro, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Culture. He spoke in Mondovi on 31 May 2026 in a public event with singer-songwriter Vinicio Capossela, and visited Buddhist monks at the Lama Tzong Khapa Institute in Pomaia in mid-June. On 3 August 2026, he attended the funeral of Don Antonio Mazzi, before returning to his cascina to celebrate the Transfiguration on 6 August.

“Looking at my past, I realize that the journey of learning to die was the journey of learning to live.”