Valentino di Genova

Who they were

Valentino, the first known bishop of Genoa, carried out his pastoral office with rare prudence and great charity toward orphans and widows.

The episcopal see of Genoa is universally known as the 'Chair of Saint Siro,' after the city's third bishop, whose veneration eclipsed that of the other early pastors and spread across northern Italy. The first bishop of Genoa was instead a certain Saint Valentine, not to be confused with the same-named patron of lovers kept on 14 February, though very little is certainly known of him historically. His veneration was always confined to a narrow local circle and was never mentioned in the Roman Martyrology; the Archdiocese of Genoa placed his commemoration in its liturgical calendar on 6 November, together with Saints Felix and Romulus, the city's second and fourth bishops. The remains of the three bishop-saints were buried in the Genoese basilica of the Twelve Apostles, later dedicated to Saint Siro, though some notable relics are still kept in the city's cathedral.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.

Why that counted as sanctity

First known bishop of Genoa, remembered for charity to orphans and widows; commemorated on the Genoa calendar on 6 November alongside Saints Felix and Romulus.