Giuseppe Gualandi

The work of Giuseppe Gualandi is inseparable from the foundation and development of the Little Mission for the Deaf-Mutes (Piccola Missione per i Sordomuti). As early as 1849, Father Giuseppe began welcoming deaf children into his own family home to provide them with religious and human instruction. Faced with an influx of requests, he rented apartments, and then, on September 10, 1850, with the precious help of his brother Father Cesare Gualandi (1829-1886), also a priest, he opened a first college in Bologna (located initially on Via dei Buttieri, then transferred in 1855 to Via Nosadella). The two brothers rigorously studied specialized pedagogy and visited various institutes in Italy to design adapted learning methods. The work was gradually structured and received official recognition: in 1858, the Papal States established the Gualandi Institute as an "Ente Morale" (legal entity). In 1869, the new Kingdom of Italy confirmed this status through a royal decree signed by King Victor Emmanuel II. On August 15, 1872, the religious congregation of the Little Mission for the Deaf-Mutes (PMS) was officially approved by Cardinal Carlo Luigi Morichini, Archbishop of Bologna. In 1874, the work opened to the education of young deaf girls thanks to the arrival of Orsola Mezzini (1853-1919). Under the spiritual direction of Father Cesare, she became the first religious sister and the superior of the female branch, the Sisters of the Little Mission for the Deaf. On May 1, 1903, Cardinal Domenico Svampa approved the profession of the three religious vows (poverty, chastity, obedience) within the institute. After the founder's death, the congregation received the decree of praise (Decretum laudis) from the Holy See on July 1, 1913, before obtaining its definitive approval by the Congregation for Religious on October 7, 1963.

After the death of Giuseppe Gualandi in 1907, his reputation for holiness and the impact of his work led to the opening of his cause for beatification and canonization at the diocesan level in Bologna. The process reached a major milestone on April 24, 2001, when Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable. In November 2007, his mortal remains were solemnly transferred to the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, a church of which he had been a canon during his lifetime. They now rest there in the third chapel on the left.

Giuseppe Gualandi is currently recognized as Venerable by the Catholic Church. For his beatification to be pronounced, the official recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints is required. The investigation of his cause is actively continuing.

The spirituality of Giuseppe Gualandi is based on a deep faith and active charity towards the most marginalized. He was able to transform his initial desire for a distant mission into an apostolate of proximity, affirming that the communication of the Gospel is not primarily a matter of technical tools, but a matter of the heart. For him, every deaf person possesses full human and spiritual dignity and must be able to fully access the sacraments and ecclesial life. His legacy remains alive through: The Priests of the Little Mission for the Deaf (the Gualandians) and the Sisters of the Little Mission for the Deaf, who continue their mission of evangelization, education, and integration of deaf people in Italy, but also internationally, notably in Brazil and the Philippines. The Gualandi Foundation for the Deaf (Fondazione Gualandi a favore dei Sordi), which succeeded the historical institute to adapt to contemporary needs. The memory of his work, celebrated solemnly in Bologna on June 9, 2026, on the occasion of the bicentenary of his birth, by a mass presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi in the Basilica of San Petronio.