Born in Motta di Livenza (Treviso) on August 16, 1882.
Died in Rome on November 27, 1944.
He assumed the Franciscan habit in 1897 and was ordained a priest in 1905. Immediately appointed master of discipline and teacher of philosophy, theology, liturgy and Gregorian chant, he was later elected provincial and visitor general. Elected general minister in 1933, he was reconfirmed after six years: an event that had occurred up to that moment only once in the entire history of the seraphic order. His rule was characterized by the frequent visits he made in Europe and beyond and by the increase given to the order in many ways.
On February 15, 1933, Father Bello was formally appointed by pontifical appointment to carry out an apostolic visitation to the congregation of the Servants of Charity, following some inconveniences that occurred in the shelter in Rome. His investigation, conducted quickly and in a discreet and fraternal way, brought to light the «beautiful, strong, happy» spirit found by the friar in the houses of the male congregation, so much so that he was then able to affirm: «I would like our friars to have all the same spirit of the Guanellians».
Sources:
On the death of Fr. Leonardo M. Bello, in «L'Osservatore Romano», 30 November 1944, p. 2.
"Acts of the Order of Friars Minor", 1945, To the Clear Waters of Florence, From the Typography of the College of St. Bonaventure, pp. 33.
«Bulletin of the Roman clergy», 1944, p. 11.
Guanellian sources:
ALEJANDRO DIEGUEZ, Projects and government interventions in the Servants of Charity (1915-1936), in Daughters of Santa Maria della Provvidenza and Servants of Charity: the first twenty years after the death of the Founder, Rome, Nuove Frontiere Editrice 2003, pp. 155.
FELICE BORDONI, Formation to the Guanellian life in the Servants of Charity: process, purpose, doctrine, religious observances, Ibidem, pp. 261-264.
Photographs:
«The Vatican Illustration», 1933, p. 456.