Bishop Domenico Berni Dies After 47 Years in Peru
The Augustinian prelate emeritus of Chuquibambilla, a longtime friend of Pope Leo XIV, was 86; Masses are being offered in the Andes he served.
Augustinian Bishop Domenico Berni, prelate emeritus of Chuquibambilla in Peru, died Sunday, November 8, 2026, in Genoa, Italy. He was 86.
Born May 26, 1940, in Piane di Carniglia, in the municipality of Bedonia, he was ordained an Augustinian priest on June 29, 1966. He celebrated 60 years of priesthood on June 29, 2026. In 1971 he arrived in the Apurímac region of the southern Peruvian Andes, three years after Pope Paul VI entrusted the Prelature of Chuquibambilla to the Augustinian fathers of Italy. He spent 47 years as a missionary there.
Pope John Paul II named him prelate on March 29, 1989. He requested to be consecrated bishop at the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Golden Sky in Pavia, where the relics of St. Augustine are kept, because he felt close to the saint’s thought, ideals, and love of community. For 15 years he had been pastor in Antabamba, also serving Grau and Cotabambas, and formed close friendships with the rural campesinos. As bishop he directed Caritas projects, including a seed and vegetable distribution program that involved many women so that children would have a more balanced diet.
He once said: “One can live happily in simplicity, seeing people and children smile, even when they have nothing.”
Friendship With the Future Pope
Pope Francis accepted his resignation on April 24, 2018, when he was nearly 78. After reaching the age limit he returned to Italy. Fellow Augustinian Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, had been a longtime friend. The two met at least twice a year at gatherings of the order. As Prior General, Prevost visited the Andean communities; in 2018 he traveled more than 1,000 kilometers to bid Bishop Berni farewell in Apurímac. Later, as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, he visited him in Liguria. In November 2025 Bishop Berni was received by Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace.
He is the third Peruvian bishop to die in recent days, after Archbishop Richard Alarcón of Cusco on October 30 and Bishop Jorge Pedro Carrión Pavlich of Puno on November 1, as Pope Leo XIV prepared to arrive in Peru.
The current prelate, Bishop Wilder Alberto Vásquez Saldaña, invited the faithful to a Mass for the repose of his soul that Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Cathedral of the Lord of the Exaltation in Chuquibambilla.