Alfredo Morganti

After his ordination, Father Alfredo was sent to the Antonianum International College in Rome, where he obtained the title of Lector General. He then began a long career as a teacher and formator within the Order of Friars Minor. He taught philosophy and served as master of clerics in several convents and colleges in the Marches and Rome, notably in Jesi, Fano, Mombaroccio, Matelica, and at the "Stella Maris" Institute in Colle Ameno, of which he was also the director. From 1916 to 1919, he was the formation master for young boys at the Beato Sante Seraphic College in Mombaroccio. In addition to his teaching activities, Father Alfredo assumed important government responsibilities within his religious province. In 1918, he was elected Provincial Definitor for a three-year term, a position that would be entrusted to him five more times. In 1922, driven by great zeal for evangelization, he founded the Franciscan Missionary Union in the Marches. He was also appointed General Visitor for several provinces of the Order in Italy. From 1936 to 1942, he served as Provincial Minister of the Province of the Friars Minor of the Marches. In 1946, he was called to Rome to become master of discipline at the Apostolic College of San Francesco a Ripa, a position he held for about fourteen months. He was then appointed spiritual father at the Saint Anthony International College (Pontificio Ateneo Antonianum) in Rome, where he accompanied many young religious from 1946 to 1957. In 1957, he returned to his home province, in Matelica, to serve as confessor and spiritual director for Franciscan students.

The life of Father Alfredo Morganti is characterized by a deep union with God and by the heroic practice of Christian and Franciscan virtues. In 1968, his health declined severely when he was struck by partial amnestic aphasia, an illness that impaired his faculties and caused moments of confusion alternating with phases of lucidity. He accepted this trial with great serenity and profound humility. He was then transferred to the provincial infirmary of Sassoferrato, where he died in the odor of sanctity on October 2, 1969. His funeral was celebrated on October 5, 1969, in the church of San Francesco in Matelica, and he was initially buried in the municipal cemetery. On October 4, 1983, his remains were transferred to the church of San Francesco in Matelica. Later, on October 6, 2007, his mortal remains were transferred to the sanctuary of Santa Maria Apparve in Ostra, where they now rest.

The cause for the beatification and canonization of Father Alfredo Morganti was officially opened in 1978 under the impetus of Father Antonio Cairoli, OFM, then Postulator General of the Order. The diocesan inquiry into his life, virtues, and reputation for holiness was successfully conducted, and the documents were transmitted to Rome. The Positio super vita, virtutibus et fama sanctitatis, an 811-page volume prepared by Father Alberto Sabattini, was approved in 2008 by the relator Don Maurizio Tagliaferri and definitively printed in 2015. On March 2, 2021, the Particular Congress of Theological Consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints gave a favorable opinion on the heroic nature of his virtues. On April 26, 2022, the Ordinary Session of Cardinals and Bishops confirmed this judgment under the direction of the ponens, Archbishop Felice Accrocca. On May 21, 2022, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic virtues of the Servant of God, who thus received the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of the Venerable Alfredo Morganti is fully rooted in the Franciscan tradition. His contemporaries and biographers emphasize that his life was "extraordinary in ordinary things." He distinguished himself by his evangelical simplicity, his love of poverty, his humility, his constant joy, and his faithful fulfillment of daily duty. His ministry of spiritual accompaniment was marked by a maternal attitude, both loving and demanding, fostering in young religious a path of freedom, responsibility, prayer, and work. He also left numerous hagiographic, mystical, and historical writings, most of which remain unpublished. Today, his memory is particularly alive in the Marches, notably at the sanctuary of Santa Maria Apparve in Ostra, where the Father Alfredo Morganti Association works to make his figure known and to promote his cause for beatification.