Bishop Virginio Bressanelli dies

Bishop Virginio Bressanelli, emeritus bishop of Neuquén, died on Friday morning, October 23, at the age of 84. He had been hospitalized for more than a month following a stroke in late August.

The Dehonian congregation and the Diocese of Neuquén reported his death. Bressanelli served as the superior general of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as the Dehonians, from 1991 to 2003. His previous episcopal roles included serving as auxiliary bishop of Comodoro Rivadavia and as the first vice president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference from 2011 to 2014.

Funeral services include a wake at the Caramuto funeral home in Rosario, Santa Fe. A funeral mass is scheduled for Saturday at 10:20 a.m. at the San Francisco de Asís parish in Maciel, followed by burial in the local cemetery. The Diocese of Neuquén will also hold a mass for his repose at its cathedral.

Born in Berabevú, Santa Fe, Bressanelli made his perpetual profession in the Dehonian congregation on September 29, 1964. He studied philosophy in Monza, Italy, and earned a license in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1967. He was ordained a priest in Rome on December 17, 1966.