Bishop Domenico Berni, Augustinian Bishop and Friend of Leo XIV, Passes Away

The Bishop Emeritus of Chuquibambilla has passed away at 86, just days before Pope Leo XIV’s arrival in Peru. For 47 years, he dedicated his life to the mission in the Andes and shared a deep friendship with Robert Prevost. This time, they won’t be able to embrace on Peruvian soil, but Christian hope invites us to believe they will meet again in heaven.

There are encounters awaited with excitement and farewells that arrive when no one expects them. As Peru prepares to welcome Pope Leo XIV, the Augustinian Family bids farewell to one of its most beloved pastors: Bishop Domenico Berni, OSA, Bishop Emeritus of Chuquibambilla, who passed away this Sunday, November 8, 2026, in Genoa, Italy, at the age of 86.

His death comes at a particularly significant moment. The Holy Father is about to return to the country where he lived a good part of his missionary vocation, a land that was also Berni’s home for almost half a century. Both shared much more than membership in the Order of Saint Augustine: they were united by a friendship born of mission, strengthened by the years, and preserved even after Robert Francis Prevost was elected Successor of Peter.

Berni will not be able to welcome the Pope in Peru. However, those who believe in the resurrection know that death does not have the final word. The two Augustinian brothers will no longer be able to meet during this apostolic visit, but the hope remains that one day they will embrace again in the Father’s house.

A Life Dedicated to the Peruvian Andes

Domenico Berni was born on May 26, 1940, in Piane di Carniglia, in the Italian municipality of Bedonia. He entered the Order of Saint Augustine and was ordained a priest on June 29, 1966.

In 1971, he left as a missionary for Peru, specifically to the Apurímac region. There he found rural communities, towns far from large urban centers, and a Church that needed pastors willing to share the lives of its people.

For fifteen years, he served as parish priest of Antabamba and also carried out his ministry in Grau and Cotabambas. That experience definitively shaped his vocation. He did not limit himself to proclaiming the Gospel from the church, but sought to accompany the concrete needs of families, especially the poorest.

In 1989, Saint John Paul II appointed him Prelate Bishop of Chuquibambilla. Berni chose to receive his episcopal consecration in Pavia, near the relics of Saint Augustine, a gesture that expressed his deep Augustinian identity.

As a pastor, he promoted evangelization, human development, and child nutrition projects. His ministry was marked by simplicity, approachability, and the conviction that to proclaim Christ also means to recognize Him in those most in need of help.

In 2018, he returned to Italy after 47 years of mission. He had left his homeland as a young religious and returned as a pastor whose story was deeply intertwined with the Peruvian Andes.

An Augustinian Friendship That Reached the Vatican

The relationship between Domenico Berni and Robert Prevost is one of the most endearing dimensions of this farewell.

Both shared the experience of the Augustinian mission in Peru. For decades, they cultivated a friendship that went far beyond ecclesiastical positions and responsibilities. First as religious, then as bishops, and finally when Prevost was elected Pope, they remained united by fraternity.

When Prevost was Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, he became closely familiar with the work of the religious in the Andes. Later, as Bishop of Chiclayo, he remained connected to his missionary brothers.

In 2018, when Berni was definitively leaving Peru, the future Leo XIV traveled a long distance to meet him and bid him farewell personally.

The friendship continued after his return to Italy. In November 2025, already as Pope Leo XIV, Prevost again received his Augustinian brother in Rome. The photograph of that encounter shows two older men, with different stories, but united by the same vocation.

Today that image takes on another meaning. Before being Pope and bishop, they were two brothers who had shared mission, prayer, and the desire to serve the Church.

The Embrace That Remains Pending

Bishop Berni’s death coincides with the days leading up to Leo XIV’s arrival in Peru, scheduled for November 11. It will be an especially emotional journey for the Pontiff, who returns to a land where he was a missionary and pastor, and where he learned firsthand the lives of so many communities.

In that return, one of his Augustinian brothers will be missing. Domenico Berni will not be among those who welcome the Holy Father, nor will he be able to shake his hand again as they did so many times over decades.

Saint Augustine deeply understood the value of friendship and also the pain of losing those he loved. In his Confessions, he left moving pages about the death of a friend, reminding us that human love finds its definitive horizon in God.

Augustinian spirituality teaches that fraternity does not end with physical separation. The communion born of Christ is called to reach its fullness in Him.

Perhaps that is why this farewell, though painful, has a certain serenity. Leo XIV returns to Peru, and Berni departs for the Father’s house. Their paths, so often crossed in mission, now separate for a time.

They will not be able to share the embrace they might have wished for during this visit. But Christian hope allows us to imagine another, much more definitive encounter, when both can recognize each other again before the Lord to whom they dedicated their lives.

The Augustinian Family joins in prayer with the Augustinian Province of Italy, the Church of Chuquibambilla, and all the Peruvian communities who knew and loved Bishop Domenico Berni.

His life remains a testament to a missionary Church that is not afraid to reach out to the most remote places to share faith, bread, and hope.

Rest in peace, Bishop Domenico Berni. Thank you for your 47 years dedicated to Peru. May the Lord receive you in His Kingdom and, when the time comes, may you embrace your brother Leo XIV again, this time forever.