SAINT GIOVANNI BATTISTA SCALABRINI (1839-1905), bishop, father of migrants, and protector of deaf-mutes.
Born in Fino Mornasco (Como) in 1839 and ordained priest on May 30, 1863, he became rector of the seminary, teacher, and pastor in a working-class area of Como.
In 1876 he was appointed to the episcopal seat of Piacenza. His philosophy of life was "to give all to all."
During thirty years, he wrote 72 pastoral letters to the community and visited the 365 parishes of the diocese five times. That era saw massive emigration toward the Americas, and he could not remain indifferent. For pastoral care and concrete assistance to the difficult conditions of emigrants, in 1887 he founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Saint Charles, and in 1895 the Missionary Sisters of Saint Charles (Scalabrinians). The Secular Institute of Scalabrinian Secular Missionaries, established in Switzerland in 1961, also draws inspiration from him.
A strong supporter of Catholic Action, he created the periodical "Il Catechista cattolico," the first Italian journal for catechism dissemination still published today. In 1889 he organized the first national catechetical congress in Piacenza. Pope Pius IX called him Apostle of Catechism.
Bishop Scalabrini died in sanctity in Piacenza on June 1, 1905. He was proclaimed blessed by Pope Saint John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square on November 9, 1997, and entered the list of saints by Pope Francis on October 9, 2022. Recognition of Scalabrini's sanctity occurred without requiring a second miracle. His urn is in the cathedral of Piacenza.
Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, friend of Saint Luigi Guanella, as a priest in Como gladly spent time with the deaf-mute girls under Father Serafino Balestra at the Canossians.
As bishop in 1878, he founded the Institute for Deaf-Mute Girls in Piacenza, entrusting direction first to the worthy Daughters of Saint Vincent de Paul and then to the Daughters of Saint Anna. An exceptional teacher and educator was Blessed Anna Rosa Gattorno, mother of a deaf-mute daughter named Carlotta.
He also thought of the deaf-mutes among emigrants in America, recommending them to his Missionaries. Special words of recommendation were for deaf-mute girls, who, if abandoned, were exposed to many dangers. In this same year, the idea of bringing appropriate help to deaf-mutes in Brazil was maturing.
Meanwhile, he followed with attention what was being done in Italy for deaf-mutes. In September 1880, he addressed a pastoral letter to the clergy and people of the diocese of Piacenza regarding the instruction of deaf-mutes.
Monsignor Scalabrini is perhaps the only one who wrote a specific pastoral letter on behalf of deaf-mutes.
In Piacenza, he also supported the House of Providence for Deaf-Mutes, "Madonna della Bomba," founded in 1903 by Servant of God Francesco Torta.
P. Vincenzo Di Blasio