On October 9, the Catholic Church will recognize a revered priest and bishop from Italy who devoted his life to evangelism and Catechism instruction as a saint.
The pope designated October 9 as the date for the canonization of Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini and Blessed Artemide Zatti, according to Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, who made the announcement during the consistory on Saturday.
In a decree issued on May 21, 2022, Pope Francis had already given his blessing to the canonizations, with Scalabrini receiving an exemption from the necessity for a second miracle.
Scalabrini (1839–1905), a native of the Lombardy area of Italy, was ordained as a priest in 1863 and appointed bishop of Piacenza in 1876.
He established the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo while he was a bishop (also known as the Scalabrinians). Along with the order he formed, he also organized the “Saint Raphael Association,” which was committed to providing pastoral care to refugees fleeing Italy around the start of the 20th century.
Scalabrini was believed that institutions were necessary to support immigrants through every step of their journey, taking care to avoid suddenly severing cultural links with the country, and preserving the mother language as a source of solidarity among fellow citizens.
He also thought that migration would result in an imbalance between the nations of origin and destination, according to a report by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language partner agency.
In addition, Scalabrini is recognized for starting a diocesan newspaper, helping the needy and old, promoting Eucharistic adoration, and defending proper liturgical chant.
He paid a visit to his missionaries in the US in 1901, and President Theodore Roosevelt welcomed him at the White House.
Scalabrini was reportedly referred to as “the apostle of the Catechism” by Pope Pius IX.
In an October 2018 address to members of the Scalabrini-founded Congregation, Pope Francis urged the religious to accompany migrants in keeping with the founder’s charism by paying attention to the “dignity of the human person, particularly when it is most wounded and endangered.”