Giovanni Antonio Grassi
SJ | |
---|---|
27th Rector of the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide | |
In office 1840–1842 | |
Preceded by | Liberio Figari |
Succeeded by | Giovanni Batta Dessi |
9th President of Georgetown College | |
In office 1812–1817 | |
Preceded by | Francis Neale |
Succeeded by | Benedict Joseph Fenwick |
Personal details | |
Born | Schilpario, Lombardy, Republic of Venice | 10 September 1775
Died | 12 December 1849 Rome, Papal States | (aged 74)
Alma mater | Jesuit College in Polotsk |
Giovanni Antonio Grassi
Born in the
Grassi was sent to the United States in 1810, where he became the superior of the
Early life and education
Giovanni Antonio Grassi was born on 10 September 1775 in
Due to the nearly worldwide suppression of the Jesuit order, the novices at Colorno were allowed only to pronounce their
European voyage
Upon completing his education, Grassi began preparing for an assignment to minister to
The General outfitted them with new vestments and chalices for celebrating Mass, mathematical and scientific instruments, medicines, furs for the winter, and gifts for the people. The trio departed by sled for Sweden,[11] intending to go to London, where the Superior General had arranged for a ship to take them to Canton.[10] Shortly after departing, Grassi and two others fell ill and were attended by a doctor for ten days in a small town on the Russian–Swedish border. They eventually reached Stockholm, Sweden, on 22 March 1805,[12] where the Russian minister to Sweden informed them that the British would not permit them to sail from London.[13] Therefore, the party instead went to Copenhagen, but discovered that there were no ships that could take them to Canton, and spent a month in Copenhagen waiting for the next ship to take them to London.[14] The party reached London on 25 May, but found no ships that would take them to China. Lord George Macartney, the former British ambassador to China, failed to convince the directors of the East India Company to allow the Jesuits to travel on their vessels.[15]
The party set sail for Lisbon, Portugal, where they hoped to secure passage to Macau. Their journey was delayed by a stop in Cork, Ireland,[16] and they eventually arrived in Lisbon on 28 September 1805.[17] The apostolic nuncio to Portugal informed them that due to the Portuguese persecution of the Jesuits under the Marquis of Pombal, they would not be permitted to board a Portuguese vessel without written approval from the pope. Meanwhile, Grassi studied astronomy under Count Damoiseau de Montfort.[18] In March 1806, the three were informed that the Congregation de Propaganda Fide in Rome had become uneasy about their mission to China.[19] Realizing that they would be in Portugal for considerably longer, the party began studying at the University of Coimbra for two months.[20] Grassi also started tutoring the eldest son of Count Arcos in mathematics.[21]
Due to an escalation of the persecution of Christians in China,[22] the Superior General decided that he would no longer permit their mission. On 23 September 1807, he ordered them to go to Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, England, and await further instruction.[23] Their vessel had to circumvent the French fleet invading Portugal, causing it to run out of food and almost run out of water.[24] They finally reached Liverpool and then Stonyhurst College on 21 December 1807.[25] At the college, Grassi taught Italian and Latin, while studying calculus and astronomy.[25] He also studied mathematics and astronomy at the Royal Institution in London.[26]
American missionary
In 1810, Gruber's successor as Superior General,
Grassi applied for American citizenship immediately upon arriving, and would become a naturalized citizen on 27 December 1815.[30] When Grassi arrived at Georgetown, he found the college in a state of severe mismanagement. Its enrollment had dropped precipitously, tuition was prohibitively expensive, the size of the faculty was inadequate.[31] The college was also operating on a significant financial deficit.[32] In the preceding two decades, the school had had eight presidents, and there was a perennial debate about what the school's purpose should be. Bishop Carroll described Georgetown as having "sunk[en] to its lowest degree of discredit."[31] In his first year, Grassi taught Italian and Spanish.[33] On 12 August 1812, he attained the rank of gradus in the Society of Jesus,[2] indicating that he had passed the examen ad gradum at the end of his Jesuit formation and had professed all four vows of the Jesuit order.[34]
Presidency of Georgetown College
Grassi was appointed
When Grassi assumed office, Georgetown was struggling financially, with just 31 students enrolled, and Carroll was considering closing the school.
Grassi also oversaw Georgetown during the British burning of Washington in the War of 1812. He maintained good relations with the American political leaders and with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Andrey Yakovlevich Dashkov, who frequently visited the college.[43] Though he opposed what he viewed as unbridled freedom in the United States, he approved that it was conducive to the free exercise of religion, which was banned by some of Europe's civil governments.[30] He criticized slavery in the United States as being inconsistent with a national spirit of liberty, and considered it the country's greatest flaw, but wrote that the material conditions of some slaves were superior to those of Europe's peasantry, and regarded immediate, universal emancipation as too dangerous.[46] He also wrote of how Black people were children of God and spoke positively of their faith. While he opposed slavery in the abstract, Grassi's appointment as superior of the Maryland Jesuits thrust him into a world in which slavery was accepted and quotidian. As superior, he was responsible for managing the slaves owned by the Maryland Jesuits.[47]
After the pope restored the Society of Jesus in 1814,[48] Grassi negotiated a concordat with Carroll's successor, Archbishop Leonard Neale (a brother of Charles and Francis) regarding the division of parishes in the United States between the Jesuits and the secular clergy.[49] He took advantage of the enrollment of the sons of various members of Congress at Georgetown to obtain, through the assistance of William Gaston (a Georgetown alumnus and the only Catholic member of Congress), a congressional charter for Georgetown College on 1 March 1815,[30] which raised the institution to university status.[50]
In Archbishop Carroll's estimation, Grassi had "revived the College of Ge-Town, which [had] received great improvement in the number of students and course of studies."
Return to Europe
Representative to the Propaganda Fide
In July 1817,[56] Archbishop Neale sent Grassi to Rome to persuade the Congregation de Propaganda Fide to reverse a previous order to reinstate several priests in Charleston, South Carolina,[57] whom Neale had removed from ministry.[49] Grassi would remain in Europe for the rest of his life, despite the calls of Peter Kenney, the visitor to the United States on behalf of the Superior General, to return Grassi to Georgetown.[58]
His removal from the United States was lamented by many of the church leaders, including one Bishop Benedict Joseph Flaget, who had proposed Grassi to become the Bishop of Detroit.[56] Notwithstanding initial instructions to return to the United States,[59] Grassi remained in Italy, as his physicians told him that he would not survive a voyage across the Atlantic due to a hernia.[60] While in Rome, he successfully pleaded before the Propaganda Fide for the full canonical restoration of the Jesuit order in England.[61]
Provincial superior and royal confessor
Grassi became the
In March 1821, Charles Felix's cousin,
On 10 May 1831, Grassi was appointed the first provincial superior of the newly created Jesuit Province of Turin as well as the rector of the College of the Holy Martyrs. During this time, he was permitted to continue serving as confessor to Maria Cristina,[22] for a total of 25 years,[67] even though it required that he reduce his duties as provincial. Eventually, he moved to Naples without first notifying the Superior General, and he became the rector of the San Sebastian boarding school.[22] Grassi resumed his position at the College of the Holy Martyrs in 1832, but soon thereafter traveled with Maria Cristina to the Jesuit college in Chambéry.[22]
Wanting him to choose a permanent residence, the Superior General recalled Grassi in 1835. He returned to Naples as the confessor to Princess
Notes
- ^ At Catherine II's request, Pope Pius VII granted the Jesuits special permission to operate in Russia, despite their worldwide suppression.[5]
- Superior General resided in Saint Petersburg, and later in Polotsk.[4]
- ^ The Corporation of Roman Catholic Clergymen of Maryland was incorporated as a civil entity by the Maryland General Assembly in 1792 in response to the suppression of the Society of Jesus. Its purpose was to preserve the property of the former Jesuits with the hope that the Society would be one day restored and the property returned under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Jesuit superior in America.[39]
- ^ At the time, many nations used their capitals as the prime meridian for their own maps. Worldwide calculation of longitude in relation to Greenwich was a later development.[45]
- John Carroll.[52] Patrick Francis Healy has also been described as the university's "second founder".[53]
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Schlafly 2015, pp. 353–354
- ^ a b Puccinelli 1831, p. 56
- ^ Garraghan 1937, p. 273
- ^ a b c Schlafly 2015, p. 355
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 115
- ^ "Alba Russia – Polock". Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- ^ a b Garraghan 1937, p. 274
- ^ a b Schlafly 2015, p. 356
- ^ a b Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 117
- ^ a b Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 116
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 118
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 119
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, pp. 119–120
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 121
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 122
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 123
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 124
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 126
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 127
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 128
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, pp. 132–133
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Pizzorusso 2002
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 133
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 134
- ^ a b Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 135
- ^ a b Garraghan 1937, p. 278
- ^ Schlafly 2015, p. 357
- ^ Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi 1875, p. 136
- ^ Schlafly 2015, p. 358
- ^ a b c Schlafly 2015, p. 363
- ^ a b Russo 2017, p. 55
- ^ Schlafly 2015, p. 359
- ^ a b Schlafly 2015, p. 361
- ^ Gramatowski 2013, pp. 13–15
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 41
- ^ a b Ramspacher 1962, p. 300
- ^ Warner 1994, p. 19
- ^ Curran 1993, pp. 64–65
- ^ Curran 2012, pp. 14–16
- ^ Curran 1993, p. 65
- ^ a b Curran 1993, p. 66
- ^ "Georgetown in 1816: An online exhibit from the University Archives". Georgetown University Library. 15 January 2016. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ a b Schlafly 2015, p. 362
- ^ a b Garraghan 1937, p. 279
- ^ ROG Learning Team (23 August 2002). "The Prime Meridian at Greenwich". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- ^ Codignola 2019, p. 102
- ^ Grassi 2021, p. xxiv
- ^ Schlafly 2015, p. 364
- ^ a b Schlafly 2015, p. 365
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 45
- ^ Horgan 1964, p. 12; Books of Interest to Ours 1958, pp. 188–189; Warner 1994, p. 147.
- ^ "John Carroll (1735–1815): Founder of Georgetown College". Georgetown University Library. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
- ^ Curran 1993, p. 319
- ^ Garraghan 1937, p. 280
- ^ Shea 1891, p. 49
- ^ a b Garraghan 1937, p. 286
- ^ Garraghan 1937, p. 285
- ^ a b Schlafly 2015, p. 367
- ^ a b Schlafly 2015, p. 366
- ^ a b Garraghan 1937, p. 288
- ^ Garraghan 1937, p. 287
- ^ Gramatowski 2013, p. 23
- ^ a b Milani, Ernesto R. (28 December 2010). "Padre Giovanni Antonio Grassi" [Father Giovanni Antonio Grassi]. Lombardi Nel Mundo (in Italian). Archived from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Garraghan 1937, p. 289
- ^ Smith 1988, p. 38
- ^ a b Garraghan 1937, p. 290
- ^ Garraghan 1937, p. 291
- ^ "Rettori del Pontificio Collegio Urbano" [Rectors of the Pontificio Collegio Urbano]. Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2 March 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
Sources
- Codignola, Luca (2019). Blurred Nationalities across the North Atlantic. Toronto: ISBN 978-1-4875-0456-4. Archivedfrom the original on 13 April 2020 – via Google Books.
- Curran, Robert Emmett (1993). The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University: From Academy to University, 1789–1889. Vol. 1. Washington, D.C.: ISBN 978-0-87840-485-8. Archivedfrom the original on 14 March 2020 – via Google Books.
- Curran, Robert Emmett (2012). Shaping American Catholicism: Maryland and New York, 1805–1915. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press. ISBN 978-0-8132-1967-7. Archivedfrom the original on 9 September 2018 – via Google Books.
- "Books of Interest to Ours" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. LXXXVII (2): 176–192. April 1958. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2020 – via Jesuit Archives.
- Garraghan, Gilbert J. (October 1937). "John Anthony Grassi, S. J., 1775–1849". JSTOR 25013605.
- Gramatowski, Wiktor (2013). Jesuit Glossary: Guide to understanding the documents (PDF). Translated by Russell, Camilla. Rome: Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 July 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- Grassi, Giovanni Antonio (2021) [First published 1823]. Georgetown's Second Founder: Fr. Giovanni Grassi's News on the Present Condition of the Republic of the United States of North America. Translated by Severino, Roberto. Washington, D.C.: ISBN 9781647120436. Archivedfrom the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021 – via Google Books.
- Horgan, Paul (Fall 1964). "Georgetown's Second Founder: Giovanni Antonio Grassi, S.J." (PDF). Georgetown Magazine. Vol. 17, no. 2. pp. 8–12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- Pizzorusso, Giovanni (2002). "Grassi, Giovanni Antonio". Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (in Italian). Vol. 58. Treccani. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- Puccinelli, Edebat Crispinus (1831). Catalogvs Sociorvm et Officiorvm Provinciae Italiae Societatis Iesv [Catalogue of the Members and Offices of the Province of Italy of the Society of Jesus] (PDF) (in Latin). Rome. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021 – via Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu.
- Ramspacher, Joseph H. (July 1962). "Major Superiors in the Northern United States" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. XCI (3): 300–303. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020 – via Jesuit Archives.
- Russo, John Paul (2017). "Chapter 3: When They Were Few". In Connell, William J.; Pugliese, Stanislao G. (eds.). The Routledge History of Italian Americans. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 54–68. from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021 – via Google Books.
- Schlafly, Daniel (2015). "Chapter 20: The "Russian" Society and the American Jesuits: Giovanni Grassi's Crucial Role". In Maryks, Robert A.; Wright, Jonathan (eds.). Jesuit Survival and Restoration: A Global History, 1773–1900. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions. Vol. 178. Leiden: Brill. pp. 353–367. .
- Shea, John Gilmary (1891). "Chapter VIII: Father John Grassi, Eighth President, 1812–1817". Memorial of the First Century of Georgetown College, D.C.: Comprising a History of Georgetown University. Washington, D.C.: .
- Smith, Denis Mack (1988). The Making of Italy, 1796–1866. London: ISBN 978-0-333-43808-4. Archivedfrom the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021 – via Google Books.
- "Voyage of Very Rev. Fr. John Anthony Grassi, S. J. From Russia to America, Jan. 1805–Oct. 1810" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. IV (2): 115–136. May 1875. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Jesuit Archives.
- Warner, William W. (1994). At Peace with All Their Neighbors: Catholics and Catholicism in the National Capital 1787–1860. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. ISBN 0-87840-557-7. Archivedfrom the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021 – via Google Books.
Further reading
- Grassi, Giovanni Antonio (1823). Notizie Varie sullo Stato Presente della Republica degli Stati Uniti dell'America Settentrionale: Scritte al Principio del 1818 [Various News on the Present State of the United States of North America: Written in the Beginning of 1818] (in Italian) (3rd ed.). Turin: Tipografia Chirio e Mina. from the original on 15 April 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2020 – via Google Books.
- "Reviewed Work: Notizie varie sullo stato presente della Republica degli Stati Uniti dell' America settentrionale, scritte, al principio del 1818, dal Padre Giovanni Grassi, della compagnia di Gesù". JSTOR 25109181.
- "Reviewed Work: Notizie varie sullo stato presente della Republica degli Stati Uniti dell' America settentrionale, scritte, al principio del 1818, dal Padre Giovanni Grassi, della compagnia di Gesù".
- Grassi, John (July 1891). "The Catholic Religion in the United States in 1818". The American Catholic Historical Researches. 8 (3): 98–112. JSTOR 44368181.
- Monti, Alessandro (1917). La Compagnia di Gesù nel territorio della Provincia Torinese: Erezione della Provincia e suo sviluppo [The Society of Jesus in the Province of Turin: Establishment of the Province and Its Development] (in Italian). Vol. 4. Chieri: Stabilimento Tipografico M. Ghirardi. OCLC 10374559. Retrieved 19 February 2022 – via Google Books.