Giovanni Battista Scalabrini
Missionaries of Saint Charles |
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Giovanni Battista Scalabrini,
Scalabrini's rise to the rank of bishop came at a rapid pace due to a series of lectures he gave on the
His tenure as bishop resulted in the establishment of the "Saint Raphael Association" dedicated to the care of Italian migrants. This solidified through the actions of his twin religious congregations and his visits to both Brazil and the United States, where he went to meet Italian immigrants.[4] He also dealt with the Paolo Miraglia-Gulotti schism that took place in his diocese and had known the faux-bishop after ordaining him in 1879. Scalabrini also held three important episcopal gatherings in his diocese that revitalized parish and diocesan practices and made his diocese the ground for the first-ever National Catechetical Congress in 1899; he was in the process of planning another before his death that was later celebrated in 1910.[5]
Scalabrini's holiness was renowned across the Italian peninsula and there were countless who attested to his saintliness in an ensuing canonization process; his first title at the outset of the process was that of a
Life
Education and priesthood
Giovanni Battista Scalabrini was born in
In his adolescence he wrote a poem in praise of the life of Aloysius Gonzaga and in his childhood often recited the Angelus while each October reciting it in the Como Cathedral. He had a devotion to Saint Joseph and Francis de Sales as well as Charles Borromeo which extended for the remainder of his life.
He first attended the local state high school where he demonstrated a remarkable intelligence that made him a top student held in high esteem and then entered the Liceo Volta college in
After being ordained he expressed a strong desire to join the missions in the
Episcopate
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Scalabrini received word from
The bishop conducted five diocesan visitations and visited all the 365 parishes with half accessible via foot or mule due to being in mountainous places but this never hindered his desire to be with the people and review the conditions of each parish for himself.
He held three
He reorganized seminaries and reformed their curricula and this could be considered quite interesting since it precluded the
He also tended to the ill and to prisoners to comfort them. He also saved thousands of farmers and workers from the 1879–80 famine and twice sold his horses (used for pastoral visitations) as well as a pectoral cross and a golden chalice that Pope Pius IX had given him in order to purchase food. He oversaw the distribution of 244 460 bowls of soup with flour and firewood coupons in just two months though when pawning his valuables people believed he was at detriment; people said he would end up dead on nothing but straw but he countered and said it would be good to die where
He also founded the "Deaf and Dumb Institute" in November 1879 to aid the hearing and speech impaired people and ordered that catechism be instructed in all the parishes in the diocese while in 1880 starting the diocesan newspaper "The Truth".
Scalabrini was convinced that Church-State relations could be repaired and thus prompted reconciliation while in 1885 the pope had asked him to look into how relations could be mended.
He seemed to be able to foretell that Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto would become pope - this happened in 1903 - and he also seemed to predict that Francesco Sidoli would be raised into the episcopate which later happened in 1916.
Friendships
Scalabrini was close friends with Bishop Geremia Bonomelli and the two maintained correspondence until Scalabrini's death; they first got to know each other in 1868 and became close over time. The two were also close confidantes with whom there were no secrets and it is in Scalabrini's letters to Bonomelli that his thoughts and feelings are seen in a greater light.[4]
Consecrations
Scalabrini ordained to the priesthood the schismatic priest and faux-bishop
Scalabrini also consecrated as bishops Angelo Antonio Fiorini, O.F.M.Cap. on 26 November 1899 and Natale Bruni on 27 December 1900.
Religious orders and travels
On 28 November 1887 he founded the
Scalabrini later founded a female religious order - the Mission Sisters of Saint Charles - on 25 October 1895. In late 1894 the
On 18 July 1901 he travelled to Genoa where he was to set sail for the United States of America on a mission to meet and minister to Italian migrants who had settled there. The
Impending promotions
On 30 January 1901 he had received the congratulations of Pope Leo XIII for the 25th anniversary of his episcopal consecration but the celebrations were postponed to June 1901; in February 1901 he had declined an elevation to the
Rumors then persisted in late 1903 and into 1904 that Pope Pius X wanted to choose him as the pope's successor as the Patriarch of Venice which also meant an inevitable elevation into the cardinalate. Scalabrini declined this and pointed to his advanced age as a reason that he chose to decline. Pius X assured Scalabrini that - upon his return from Brazil - he would be made a cardinal but the pope relented upon Scalabrini's ardent request that he not be elevated.
Death and burial
Scalabrini had an operation after a period of ill health and had spent the night before in
Scalabrini died at dawn on 1 June 1905 at 5:30am on the
On 13 April 2013 his tomb was defiled after thieves stole a ring and a chalice as well as a pectoral cross; on 2 May the bishop of the diocese presided over a vigil of reparation and on 1 June celebrated a Mass for the restoration of the tomb.[3] The thieves were under house arrest in April 2014 and the relics were never recovered. Upon his death he had written 60 pastoral letters and around 2000 pages worth of homilies. Pope Pius XII later titled him as the "Apostle to the Migrants" while Pius X had seen in him "the learned, meek, and strong bishop while Benedict XV thought of him as a "bishop beyond compare" as did Pope Pius XI who praised the "episcopal and pastoral spirit of the saintly bishop".[5]
Views of his contemporaries
Scalabrini's contemporaries hailed him after his death as a model shepherded who acted in great holiness and had a genuine and deep love for the people he was chosen to lead. Ludovico Mondini served as his master of ceremonies for over a decade and spoke of his holiness in addition to the meek approach he had to each of his pastoral visitations. Mondini attested as much during the beatification as did the Francesco Torta who knew Scalabrini his whole life.[5] Massimo Rinaldi attested to his virtue in the cause as did Cardinal Nasalli Rocca and Luigi Orione.
A monument to him was placed at his old parish of San Bartolomeo in Como in 1913 and Pope Pius X sent a personal message for the occasion in which it praised the bishop and his saintliness. Pius X's successor - Benedict XV - had several dealings with Scalabrini while being in the
Cardinal Vincenzo Moretti said that Scalabrini was "the bishop indeed made according to the heart of God" while Cardinal Antonio Agliardi also praised the bishop for his pastoral soul and his dedication to catechesis. Bishop Guillaume-Lucien-Léon Lacroix of the
The future of the orders
The male order received papal approval from Pope Pius XII on 15 August 1948 and in 2005 had 234 houses with 764 religious with 597 of them being priests. That order operates in
Order protection
Scalabrini took the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus - and its founder Clelia Merloni - under his protective wing. The movement become a target and Merloni had been forced into exile. The nuns gained some protection from Scalabrini due to his careful watch over them but the bishop's death in 1905 prompted the order to move to Alessandria. Back in 1901 he had granted diocesan approval to Merloni's order.[3]
Sainthood
The beatification process was held in Piacenza and the informative phase spanned from 30 June 1936 until 29 February 1940; his sister Luisa attested to his virtue but not to a great degree due to her failing strength. Archbishop Pasquale Morganti testified in favor as did Cardinal Agostino Richelmy; Giovanni Calabria, Cardinal Ferrari and the Raffaele Rossi also testified in favor.[5] In total the informative tribunal conducted 185 sessions. On 3 April 1940, Scalabrini's cause was formally opened in Rome, and he was granted the title of Servant of God.[7]
There were also three rogatorial processes with two in Como with the first from 23 November to 10 December 1947 and the second opening on 4 May 1940; a third was held from 26 September 1939 at
The process for a miracle attributed to him spanned from 23 December 1994 to 5 June 1995 in the diocese of its origin and it received C.C.S. validation on 13 October 1995 before a panel of medical experts approved the healing to be a miracle on 5 December 1996. Theologians likewise approved it on 21 March 1997 as did the cardinal and bishop members of the C.C.S. on 3 June 1997. John Paul II approved this on 7 July 1997 and beatified Scalabrini on 9 November 1997 in
The current postulator for this cause is the priest Sisto Caccia.
In August 2022, it was announced that he would be canonized a saint of the Catholic Church on October 9, 2022.[8]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini". Saints SQPN. 26 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 October 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Biographies of New Blesseds - 1997". EWTN. Archived from the original on 4 January 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "The Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini". Scalabrinians: Asia-Pacific Province of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini". Missionaries of St. Charles. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Virtues of the Servant of God John Baptist Scalabrini" (PDF). Missionaries of San Carlo Scalabriani. 1985. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2022 – via scalabrini.org.
- ^ a b "Bishop St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini †". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. 9 October 2022. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ Index ac status causarum beatificationis servorum dei et canonizationis beatorum (in Latin). Typis polyglottis vaticanis. January 1953. p. 112.
- ^ CNA. "'Apostle of the Catechism' to be declared a saint". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
Further reading
- Francesconi, Mario (2007) [1985]. "Cause of canonisation of the Servant of God John Baptist Scalabrini Bishop of Piacenza and founder of The Missionary Brothers and Sisters of Saint Charles Borromeo". In Visentin, Joseph (ed.). Virtues of the Servant of God John Baptist Scalabrini (PDF) (pro manuscriptu). Translated into English by Martino Bortolazzo (revised ed.). Rome: Office of Postulator of the Scalabrinian Missionaries (published 2012). Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 February 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
External links
- Hagiography Circle
- Scalabriniani
- Saints SQPN
- Catholic Hierarchy
- Santi e Beati
- Suore Missionarie di San Carlo Borromeo Archived 26 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
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