Guido Giuseppe Maria Conforti was born near Parma on March 30th, 1865 to Rinaldo Conforti and Antonia Adorni. Guido was the eighth of ten children. His education was placed in the hands of the Christian Brothers. His primary schooling began in Parma with Guido staying with the Mainis family

Under the influence of Brother Crispino, young Guido showed interest in learning and books, rather than play, It was at this time that he began a relationship that lasted throughout his life: it was with the crucified Christ. On his way to and from school he visited regularly the little Church of Peace, where a huge crucifix fascinated him.

“He looked at me and told me so many things and For me it is a miraculous crucifix, I owe my vocation to it.”

 
In the autumn of 1876, at the age of 11, Guido told  his parents he wished to become a priest. Guido’s father was not pleased seeing Guido as the guarantee for his farmlands development and management. He also knew the verbal abuse that priests  had to endure. Guido called his mother and the Mainis family to his side causing his father to relent.

In 1879 Guido read the biography of St. Francis Xavier. The effect was such that he resolved to become a missionary like Xavier himself. In 1880 Guido applied to become a Jesuit on the condition that he would be sent to the missions. He was turned down: “Company of Jesus do not accept conditions!” A bureaucratic mistake led to a similar fate at the Salesians.
By the winter of 1882 Guido's health and progress towards the priesthood was threatened by illness. After months of uncertainty, Guido was raised to the priesthood at the hands of Bishop Andrea Miotti (September 22nd, 1888). His first assignment was to be vice-rector of the seminary where he had studied. During this time he explained to Miotti his dream of becoming a missionary and that because of his poor health no missionary order would accept him. Guido’s felt compelled by God to resolve his problem by founding his own missionary society. Miotti, asked that Guido give himself to the greater Glory of God and for the good of the diocese of Parma.

After Miotti died Guido wrote a letter to Cardinal Ledochowscki, Prefect for the Propagation of the Faith, setting out his plans. To his surprise, he received full endorsement. 

In 1896 the Bishop of Parma (Francesco Magani) appointed Guido Vicar General and in 1902 Guido was appointed as the Bishop of Ravenna by Pope Leo XIII. It was an appointment that upset Guido’s plans and seemed to tear him from his dreamof being a missionary. Guido did not see himself as a bishop, he felt his health, his training and his inexperience would over-whelm him in this new position.

Bishop Conforti arrived with a plan of action. He saw ignorance of their faith as the major problem in the diocese. His was a plan of education and catechesis, parish visits and encouragement for the local clergy and seminarians. After two years of constant work, it finally took its toll: on October 6th, 1904 Pius X accepted his resignation on health grounds. He retired to Parma and his institute and with this his health improved.

“Now I seem to be born again to a new life. All my thoughts and my affections are focused on our missionary society, within which I hope to end my days.”

In 1907, Guido became the bishop of Parma. Bishop Conforti adopted In Omnibus Christi (Christ in all things) as his motto, and the Xaverians would later adopt it also. As with Ravenna, he took education as a focus for pastoral action. He would write many letters revolving around education: of children, of the clergy, of adults and with a special emphasis of youth.

Bishop Conforti was to become embroiled in the local politics of the day. A strong Socialist Party was one side and the other was the State and the landowners. The workers suffered low wages, long hours and atrocious and dangerous working conditions. He was known to support the workers because he saw that as his Christian duty in fighting for justice and social peace. At the same time he urged the wealthy to be more just in distributing their wealth. Conforti was never a spectator in these events that affected his brothers and sisters; he fought for an end to hatred, division and violence.
During the First World War Guido put all at his disposal to helping prisoners of war, children and families, he visited the wounded, he comforted the bereaved, took care of those displaced by the war. He made sure that his seminarians, both diocesan and Xaverian, helped in the hospitals.

In 1916 Guido Conforti got involved in the Missionary Union of Clergy together with Fr Paolo Manna of the Pontifical Institute of Milan Missionary Society. The idea was to mobilize priests around the world to reawaken their awareness of having been ordained for the whole world and encourage them to heighten their people's commitment to spreading the Gospel. It was to be another legacy to the mission of the Church. Bishop Conforti constantly asked the Pope for an encyclical that dealt with the mission of the Church and just after the First World War Benedict XV produced Maximum Illud" that called for an indigenous clergy and re-awakened missionary awareness and collaboration.

At the end of the war Italy was again in crisis. The Socialists were continuing their class struggle and were being opposed by the Fascists. Tensions reached a peak on August 2nd 1922 when Fascists surrounded strikers in Parma. It is believed that the intervention of Conforti is the only thing that led to the Fascists leaving without any bloodshed. Conforti was guided, not by human politics, but the politics of the Gospel, to create lasting peace and harmony, allowing him to never become a political pawn.

October 23rd 1927 Conforti arrived in Hong Kong, he returned from China to Parma December 28th, 1928. His visit was in his words:

“not out of curiosity to see new lands and customs, but to be with you, to give you my blessings, to congratulate you for your splendid work and the abundant fruits you have gathered . . . I want to see for myself your needs and see how the Institute can do more in the future to help you. He had the opportunity to visit various missions and meet his missionaries and discuss their work and their needs. It was with sadness and a heavy heart that he had to return to Italy.”

In spite of orders to rest, he began a final pastoral visit to the parishes of his city, speaking time and again of his visit to China. They drained his energy a sign that the end was coming. On October 25th, 1931 he ordained eight sub-deacons and then was forced to bed feeling exhausted. He was suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage. Guido Conforti died on November 5th, 1931. He was buried on November 8th with a procession stretching five miles followed him to his resting place. Monsignor Cazzinion saw it in the following way:

“Is this the funeral of a man fallen under the scythe of death or the triumph of a saint exalted to the glory of heaven.”

Monsignor Cazzinion

February 11th, 1982, His Holiness John Paul II proclaimed him venerable and on March 17th, 1996 Pope John Paul II declared Guido Maria Conforti blessed and was canonized on October 23rd 2011