Giuseppe Lazzati (22 June 1909 – 18 May 1986) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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rector of the Sacred Heart college in Milan and a former parliamentarian. He was also the founder of the Secular Institute of Christ the King. Lazzati served as a professor and for a time served as a politician at the close of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

despite initial hesitance in doing so. He later resigned to further dedicate himself to his lecturing while instituting the Secular Institute of Christ the King to bring together men who wished to consecrate themselves to

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

though not as religious. He was a collaborator of several well-known figures in Italian politics such as

Giorgio La Pira Giorgio La Pira, TOSD (Raimondo in religious life; 9 January 1904 – 5 November 1977) was an Italian Catholic politician who served as the Mayor of Florence. He also served as deputy of the Christian Democrats and participated in the assemb ...

and

Aldo Moro Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July 1 ...

while he maintained close relationships with

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

and

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. The cause for Lazzati's

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to Intercession of saints, intercede on behalf of individual ...

opened after his death and in 2013

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

named him as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

after recognizing that Lazzati had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

Life

Giuseppe Lazzati was born on 22 June 1909 in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

in the Porta Ticinese district as the fourth of eight to Carlo Lazzati and Angela Mezzanotte. His

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

was celebrated on 25 June at the church of San Gottardo al Corso in Milan. Lazzati began his schooling in 1915 but had to stop in 1918 since his parents decided to move to

Alassio Alassio ( lij, Arasce) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Savona situated in the western coast of Liguria, Northern Italy, approximately from the French border. Alassio is known for its natural and scenic views. The town centre is cro ...

in order for his father to recuperate from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

. He returned to Milan in 1920 for his high school studies and was considered to be a brilliant student in his

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

and Greek studies. In his late adolescence he experienced the dramatic upheavals in Italian life in the period that followed the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

with the violent rise to prominence of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

that

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

led. Since 1920 he attended meetings of the student association "Santo Stanislao" in Milan which had an influence on his religious formation. In 1927 he became a student in the department of Classical Literature of the Sacred Heart college in Milan which was under the direction of Father

Agostino Gemelli Agostino Gemelli (18 January 1878 – 15 July 1959) was an Italian Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist, who was also the founder and first Rector of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) of M ...

; in 1931 he received his degree with the grade

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

. Professor Paolo Ubaldi was his mentor during the course of his education. In 1931 he arrived at a decision to remain celibate and to opt for a consecrated life in the world. In 1934 he embarked upon a career as a lecturer and also in 1934 became the president for the diocese of Milan of the Youth Branch of

Catholic Action Catholic Action is the name of groups of lay Catholics who advocate for increased Catholic influence on society. They were especially active in the nineteenth century in historically Catholic countries under anti-clerical regimes such as Spain, It ...

and remained in the post until 1945. In 1939 he was appointed to the grade of "docente incaricato" in Ancient Christian Literature also in 1939 founded under the name ''Milites Christi'' an organization for consecrated men which in 1969 assumed the name Secular Institute of Christ the King. He did this with the support of Cardinal

Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster OSB (, ; 18 January 1880 – 30 August 1954), born Alfredo Ludovico Schuster, was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and professed member from the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his ...

. It received papal approval in 1963 from

. The outbreak of the

saw Lazzati commissioned as a lieutenant in the Fifth Alpine Regiment in the Trent Division and in the wake of the 8 September 1943

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Bri ...

- upon his refusal to swear allegiance to the Fascist puppet rump state known as the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...

- he was arrested in

Merano Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and '' comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeie ...

and interned in

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

concentration camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

. He was interned first at

Rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Ph ...

near

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a p ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

then at Dęblin in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and then at

Oberlangen Oberlangen is a municipality in district (''Landkreis'') Emsland, Lower Saxony (''Niedersachsen''), north-western Germany. This was the location of the Prisoner-of-war camp Stalag VI-C. There is a cemetery with mass graves of Soviet prisoners, a ...

as well as

Sandbostel Sandbostel is a municipality in Lower Saxony (''Niedersachsen'') in northwestern Germany, 43 km north-east of Bremen, 60 km west of Hamburg. It is part of the Samtgemeinde Selsingen. In 2013, it had 830 inhabitants. History Sandbostel ...

and Wietzendorf in the Nazi heartland. He tried to comfort his fellow prisoners so as to make the experience a bit more bearable. He returned to his home in August 1945 and became involved with

Giuseppe Dossetti Giuseppe Dossetti (13 February 1913 – 15 December 1996) was an Italian jurist, a politician, and from 1958 onward, a Catholic priest. Political career Dossetti was born in Genoa, the son of a piedmontese pharmacist and a mother from Regg ...

(who convinced him to enter politics) and

in efforts for rebuilding Italian civic life in connection with the convocation of the

Assemblea Costituente The Italian Constituent Assembly (Italian: ''Assemblea Costituente della Repubblica Italiana'') was a parliamentary chamber which existed in Italy from 25 June 1946 until 31 January 1948. It was tasked with writing a constitution for the Italia ...

and then entered politics. In 1946 he became part of the national administration of the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

and was elected to the Assemblea Costituente (1946–1948) on 2 June 1946 and then to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...

of the new Italian Parliament (1948–1953). It was during this time he also collaborated with important political figures such as

and

Amintore Fanfani Amintore Fanfani (; 6 February 1908 – 20 November 1999) was an Italian politician and statesman, who served as 32nd prime minister of Italy for five separate terms. He was one of the best-known Italian politicians after the Second World War and ...

. In 1947 he and Giuseppe Dossetti launched a political magazine entitled '' Cronache Sociali''. The end of his service in the parliament saw him he return to Milan where devoted his energies to the formation of men and women. But another motivator for his retirement from politics was the retirement of his good friend Dossetti. The appointment of the newest

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan ( it, Arcidiocesi di Milano; la, Archidioecesis Mediolanensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has lon ...

Giovanni Battista Montini - the future Pope Paul VI - led to his appointment to a number of roles including in 1961 the onerous position of editor of the paper ''L'Italia''; he remained in that position until 1964. Lazzati returned to lecturing from 1958 and during the storm of student upheavals was appointed to succeed Ezio Franceschini as the rector of the Sacred Heart college which turned into a position he held for five terms until 1983. In this period he entrusted the post of Director of the Departiment of Religious Studies to his former assistant

Raniero Cantalamessa Raniero Cantalamessa (born 22 July 1934) is an Italian Catholic cardinal and priest in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and a theologian. He has served as the Preacher to the Papal Household since 1980, under Pope John Paul II, Pope Bened ...

who was serving at the time as a professor of Christian Origins. In 1979 - upon reaching the age limit - Lazzati retired from the Chair of Ancient Christian Literature and his former student Luigi Franco Pizzolato succeeded him. Lazzati dedicated his retirement to find a path out of the profound crisis of Italian politics and he attempted to do this through the relaunching of a programme of political ideals through the foundation in 1985 of the association "Città dell'uomo" which served as a revival in large part of the post-war "Civitas Humana". Lazzati died in Milan in mid-1986 at

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers ...

at the Capitanio Clinic. In 1984 doctors had diagnosed him with an incurable intestinal tumor and had to operate on him to alleviate the pain. He was hospitalized during the morning of 27 March 1986 -

Holy Thursday Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday (also known as Great and Holy Thursday, Holy and Great Thursday, Covenant Thursday, Sheer Thursday, and Thursday of Mysteries, among other names) is the day during Holy Week that commemorates the Washing of the ...

- and he received a phone call from

. He was hospitalized once again two months later at the Capitanio Clinic and on 14 May his priest friend Giuseppe Grampa celebrated

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different ele ...

for him at his bedside and gave him the Anointing of the Sick. His institute still exists and operates across the globe in places such as

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The ...

. Since September 1988 his remains have been housed at the San Salvatore Hermitage.

Beatification process

In 1991 the Secular Institute of Christ the King began promoting the cause for Lazzati's

which received archdiocesan approval before it could be considered on a formal level. Cardinal

Carlo Maria Martini Carlo Maria Martini (15 February 1927 – 31 August 2012) was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering ...

provided personal support to this cause. The

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

approved this request and on 17 June 1994 launched the cause while titling Lazzati as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...

. Cardinal Martini oversaw the diocesan phase of investigation from 17 December 1994 until 14 December 1996. The cause was then transferred to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where the C.C.S. validated the diocesan phase on 3 October 1997 and received the official

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. De ...

from the cause's officials in 2001. Theologians met and approved the cause after scouring the contents of the Positio dossier on 7 October 2011 while the cardinal and bishop members for the C.C.S. likewise approved it on 4 June 2013. The cause culminated on 5 July 2013 when

approved the promulgation of a decree that recognized that Lazzati had lived a life of

which also conferred the title of

upon him. The current

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

overseeing this cause is Dr. Pier Giorgio Confalonieri.

Published works

* ''Teofilo d'Alessandria'', Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1935. * ''L'Aristotele perduto e gli scrittori cristiani'', Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1938. * ''Introduzione allo studio di Clemente Alessandrino'', Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1939. * ''Gli sviluppi della litteratura sui martiri nei primi quattro secoli'', Torino: Società editrice internazionale 1956. * ''Il fondamento di ogni ricostruzione'', Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1947. * ''I Laici nella Chiesa'', Milano: Gioventù italiana di azione cattolica, Presidenza diocesana milanese, 1954. * ''Il valore letterario della esegesi ambrosiana'', Milano, 1960. * ''Azione cattolica e azione politica'', Vicenza: La Locusta, 1962. * ''Maturità del laicato'', Brescia: La Scuola, 1962. * ''Lo Spirito Santo nella vita della Chiesa'', Milano: Edizione Corsia dei Servi, 1964. * ''La scuola cattolica'', Trento: Edizioni scuola cattolica diocesana, 1978. * ''Francesco d'Assisi nell'ottavo centenario della nascità'', Milano: Vita e Pensiero, 1982. * ''La città dell'uomo: costruire, da cristiani, la città dell'uomo a misura d'uomo'', Roma: AVE, 1984. * ''Laicità e impegno cristiano nelle realtà temporali'', Roma: AVE, 1985. * ''Per una nuova maturità del laicato: il fedele'', Roma: AVE, 1986. * ''Il laico'', Roma: AVE, 1986. * ''Chiesa, laici ed impegno storico: scritti (1947-65) riediti in memoria'', Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1987. * ''La carità'', Roma: AVE, 1987. * ''La verità'', Roma: AVE, 1987. * ''La prudenza'', Roma: AVE, 1987. * ''Pensare politicamente, Da cristiani nella società e nello Stato'', Roma: AVE, 1988. * ''La vita come vocazione'', Roma: AVE, 1990. * ''Il Regno di Dio'', Roma: AVE, 1990. * ''Il cristiano nella città dell'uomo'', Bezzecca: Citta dell'uomo Valle di Ledro, 1991. * ''La spiritualità laicale'', Roma: AVE, 1992. * ''Lo Spirito Santo'', Roma: AVE, 1992. * ''Spiritualità della professione'', Roma: AVE, 1993. * ''La verità vi farà liberi'', In Dialogo, 2006. * ''Chiesa, cittadinanza e laicità'', In Dialogo, 2004. * ''Laici cristiani nella città dell'uomo: scritti ecclesiali e politici, 1945-1986'', Cinisello Balsamo: San Paolo, 2009.

Notes and references

Secondary works

* R. Cantalamessa & L.F. Pizzolato (edd.), ''Paradoxos politeia: Studi patristici in onore di Giuseppe Lazzati'', Milano: Vita e pensiero, 1979. * A. Oberti (ed.), ''Giuseppe Lazzati: vivere da laico'', Edizioni AVE, Rome, 1991. * A. Oberti, ''Giovanni Battista Montini e Giuseppe Lazzati'', Roma: AVE, 1992. * ''Lazzati, il lager, il regno'', Roma: AVE, 1993. * ''Lazzati, i laici, la secolarità'', Roma: AVE, 1994. * ''Lazzati e le ACLI'', Roma: AVE, 1995. * ''Lazzati, Dossetti, il dossettismo'', Roma: AVE, 1997. * M. Rizzi, ''Lazzati e l'Ad Diognetum'', Roma: AVE, 1999. * ''Il “progetto culturale” di Giuseppe Lazzati'', Roma AVE 1999 * T. Turi, ''Laicità e laicato nel pensiero di Giuseppe Lazzati'', Città del Vaticano: Pontificia Università Lateranense, 1990. * A. Oberti, ''La Città dell'uomo nel mistero di Dio: Giuseppe Lazzati'', Città del Vaticano: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002. * M. Malpensa & A. Parola, ''Lazzati. Una sentinella nella notte (1909-1986)'', Bologna: Il Mulino, 2005.

External links