Pope declares missionary to Garo Hills Venerable

Pope Leo XIV has recognised the heroic virtues of Bishop Oreste Marengo, the Italian-born Salesian missionary who served the Garo people of Meghalaya for over half a century, declaring him Venerable. The decree, issued on Saturday, 24 October, during an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, is a major step toward beatification and sainthood.

Bishop Marengo, who died in Tura in 1998 at age 91, was the first Bishop of Dibrugarh and later Bishop of Tezpur. He served as Apostolic Administrator of Tura from 1969 until 1979 and remained in the Garo Hills until his death. Five other Servants of God were declared Venerable in the same decree, including Bishop Friedrich Kaiser Depel of Peru and Margarita Bavosi of the Focolare Movement.

The next phase in the cause for Marengo’s beatification requires a confirmed miracle attributed to his intercession.