Enzo Bianchi, founder of the Monastic Community of Bose, died at the Molinette Hospital in Turin at the age of 83 after kidney failure led to a metabolic coma.
Bianchi was a monk but never became a priest. A prolific author, he wrote extensively on Scripture, spirituality and contemporary Christianity. He addressed Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox audiences and became a regular interlocutor of secular intellectuals and non-believers.
Bose: From Farmhouse to a Center of Ecumenism
Bianchi was born on March 3, 1943, in Castel Boglione, Piedmont. His mother died when he was eight, and he grew up with his atheist and communist father. After studying accounting and beginning economics studies, he chose a different path.
In 1965, he settled in a farmhouse at Bose, near Magnano in the province of Biella, arriving on December 8, the final day of the Second Vatican Council.
Three years later, others joined him. The community included men and women, Catholics and Protestants. Initially viewed with reservations by Church authorities, it received support from Cardinal Michele Pellegrino.
Bose developed into a meeting place for bishops, theologians and intellectuals, with a particular focus on ecumenism.
Bianchi met figures including Roger Schutz and Patriarch Athenagoras, visited Mount Athos and collaborated for decades with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. In 2003, Pope John Paul II included him in the delegation that brought the icon of Our Lady of Kazan to Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II in Moscow.
Conflict and Departure from Bose
In 2016, Bianchi announced his resignation as prior of Bose and formally stepped down in 2017, while remaining in the community.
Following internal tensions and complaints about his exercise of authority, the governance of the community and its fraternal climate, an apostolic visitation was ordered in 2019.
In May 2020, Pope Francis required Bianchi and several other members to leave Bose because of serious tensions affecting community life.
Bianchi considered the measure unjust and described his departure as an "exile." His supporters said that he had not received satisfactory explanations for the Vatican decisions. Bianchi later met with Francis again.
After a period in Turin, Bianchi moved to Albiano d'Ivrea, near Bose, where he established the Casa della Madia, later the Fraternity of the Madia. Several brothers and sisters joined him.
He remained active into his eighties, receiving visitors, writing, preaching and organizing meetings. Despite undergoing dialysis and suffering declining health, he continued making plans. Shortly before his death, he had meetings scheduled for the autumn and intended to personally lead a cooking course.
Controversy Over Homosexuality
Bianchi was a charismatic and polarizing figure who was frequently involved in disputes within Italian Catholicism. His positions on homosexuality were among those that provoked opposition.
In 2015, he argued that since Christ did not explicitly address homosexuality in the Gospels, the Church should acknowledge the question as unresolved rather than issue condemnations. Where the Church could not pronounce with certainty, he said, he would prefer it to remain silent.
Bianchi supported civil homosexual unions and said that homosexual concubines could "love (!) and support one another".
Bianchi and the Traditional Latin Mass
Although closely associated with the post-conciliar Church, Bianchi also maintained a relationship with the traditional Latin Mass.
After Benedict XVI expanded its use in 2007, Bianchi argued that different liturgical forms could coexist within the Church.
Following the restrictions introduced by Francis in 2021, he continued to advocate respect for the older liturgy, saying that the ancient rite should not be "despised or devalued" and calling for greater liturgical peace.
In July 2026, only weeks before his death, Bianchi attended a traditional Latin Mass at the Church of the Misericordia in Turin.
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