Picture: Ubaldo Gandolfi · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Petronius of Bologna
Italian bishop and saint
SaintResearchedAncient RomePre-congregation
Feast: 4 October (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
500
Died
450
verified
Beatified
—
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began
Who they were
Petronius, of a noble family with high office at the imperial court, gave himself to asceticism from youth and probably visited the Holy Places in Jerusalem.
About 432 he became Bishop of Bologna and built a church of St Stephen modelled on the shrines of Golgotha and the Holy Sepulchre. He died before 450, renowned in Italy for his virtues.
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
A bishop renowned for virtue, patron of Bologna.
Sources
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Petronius
- Wikidata Q982077 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Petronius of Bologna (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.