Giovanni de Surdis Cacciafronte
Giovanni de Surdis Cacciafronte (1125 - 16 March 1184) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and bishop from the Order of Saint Benedict. He served as the Bishop of Mantua from 1174 until his resignation in 1177 and held the position of Bishop of Vicenza from 1179 until his murder. The schism that Antipope Victor IV caused enabled him to proclaim his support for Pope Alexander III though leading to his removal from a position at the behest of Frederick Barbarossa.
The beatification cause commenced in 1222 under Pope Honorius III and culminated on 30 March 1824, when his beatification received formal ratification from Pope Leo XII upon the confirmation of the late bishop's enduring local 'cultus' - or popular devotion.
Patron saint of Diocese of Mantua; Diocese of Vicenza; Persecuted Christians
In the Martyrology
- March 16 Blessed Giovanni Cacciafronte, bishop of Vicenza and martyr