Monsignor Lorenzo Gastaldi

Monsignor Lorenzo Gastaldi

(1815 – 1883)

by

Domenico Mariani

(Translated by J.Anthony Dewhirst)

The second Rosminian Bishop, a contemporary and fellow participant with Monsignor Cardozo Ayres in the first Vatican Council, was Monsignor Lorenzo Gastaldi, firstly bishop of Saluzzo (1867–1871), then archbishop of Turin (1871–1883).

He was born at Turin on 18 March 1815, a year after the return of king Victor Emmanuel I from his exile in Sardinia and a little before the conclusion of the Congress of Vienna (9 June 1815). His family were of Chierese extraction. His father Bartolomeo was a notable advocate, his mother Margherita Volpato was a housewife. It was a big family of thirteen children, (eight boys and five girls) of which Lorenzo was the eldest. Giuseppe Tuninetti, who is my guide, writes, ‘That it was a middle class, cultured, affluent family, with a markedly legal tradition’. (L.Gastaldi, Ed.Piemme, p.15).

Lorenzo began his classical studies as an external scholar ‘in the College of the Carmine (or of the Nobles), run by the Jesuits. The cultural, moral and religious formation ‘was characterised by the serious and rigid method of the Jesuit colleges’ (Tunetti, ibid. p. 17). He felt his vocation to the priesthood when he was 14. At first his father was annoyed but later listened to him and on 30 September 1839 he would receive the clerical habit in his parish of the Madonna del Carmine. But he did not enter the seminary. He enrolled at University as an external student (a common occurrence at that time), and many factors favoured the best possible outcome. In 1831 he obtained his diploma of Master of Philosophy and Liberal Arts, in 1836 he obtained his degree in Theology (cum laude) and was enrolled in the theological college of the University

During these years when Gastaldi went to University he absorbed, together with the local culture, ‘rosminianism’, a philosophical and theological current of thought which would play a major part in the Piedmontese culture of the 19th century. Gastaldi enthusiastically accepted this. ‘Rosminianism’ represented a third alternative to the revolutionary ideologies and the remaining Piedmontese Jansenists both in the political and in the philosophical and theological field, satisfying the aspirations of many people. The first Rosminian that he encountered at University in 1833 was Giuseppe Andrea Sciolla, professor of Moral Theology, converted to rosminianism by Gioberti himself. Also in 1836 the chair of Logic and Metaphysics passed to a Rosminian, Don Pier Antonio Corte; and Pier Alessandro Paravia, a friend and fellow student of Rosmini at Padua, held the chair of Italian oratory in the Faculty of Humanities at the end of 1832. Other intellectuals and proponents would live in Turin at that time. It is sufficient to mention Michele Tarditi, Paolo Barone, Gustavo di Cavour, and later Giuseppe Buroni.

On 23 September 1837, Gastaldi and 21 other clerics were ordained priest at the College of Chieri by Archbishop Luigi dei Marchesi Fransoni and Gastaldi was appointed to teach. During his teaching of moral theology the first sign of immediate Rosminian influence was the writing, in 1841, of the response to Eusebio Cristiano, who had violently attacked Rosmini. In this writing a distinction was made between sin and fault, so characteristic of the Rosminian idea of original sin. The violent polemic persisted throughout 1842–1843. The first letter of Gastaldi to Rosmini, asking for enlightenment is dated 20 December 1842. This is the beginning of a correspondence which would go on till 1851 and beyond.

Meanwhile Gastaldi was made a Canon of the Most Holy Trinity of the College of San Lorenzo. He always lived at home, even if his thoughts began to turn to religious life. A first indirect hint of this is in a letter to Rosmini of 27 November 1844. ‘I am unfortunately, even reluctantly, in the midst of the world’. On 10 July 1846 he notified Rosmini that he had obtained the Rules of the Institute, published by Marietti. On the 6 July he had clearly expressed his intention but also his difficulties, ‘…I am the eldest brother, and my father, when he was dying (1843), entrusted the care of my mother and all the family to me’. Rosmini replied on 7 July (the speed of the post at that time!) encouraging him to take his ‘magnanimous decision’ and at the same time recommending prudence regarding the form of religious life[i] (Gastaldi had written about his uncertainty in choosing between the Jesuits, Vincentians and Rosminians). He left him completely free to choose, but invited him to ‘spend some days at Stresa’.

When king Carlo Alberto, following the example of Pius IX, decided to dissolve the ancient regime and to promise reform and liberty of the press, Turin was awash with liberal and Catholic journals. Among these Il Conciliatore Torinese was begun on 15 July 1848, on Gastaldi’s own initiative. It was first a fortnightly issue, then a three weekly, which had as its aim ‘to reconcile religion and society’. Editors and contributors were priests, Giobertian, Rosminian and others. Their articles dealt with politics, culture, the clergy and social problems. In his pages Gastaldi also would comment on Rosmini’s The Five Wounds (the last article appeared on 13 August 1849, the very day on which Rosmini received news that it had been put on the Index, Gastaldi naturally being totally in the dark about this). Having heard the news about the condemnation of the book and of the subsequent submission of Rosmini, Gastaldi wrote an article of high praise for the Roveretan philosopher and on 24 September 1849 he also made his assent to the decree of condemnation public.

On 28 September 1849 Il Conciliatore closed down, a sign of a more conservative change in the Catholic world. It was a bitter disappointment to Gastaldi, and caused him to disassociate himself somewhat from the political scene. He threw himself with greater determination into scholarly work and published four volumes of Compendio di Teologica morale of Alasia which was to be his major work. On 23 September 1850 Gastaldi told Rosmini of his definite decision to become a religious, and on 24 January 1851, overcoming doubt and pressure to the contrary, he entered the novitiate of the Institute of Charity at Stresa. However he kept a very close connection with his family, and with men of learning and politics by letter. He followed the development of ecclesiastical events, but chiefly he was happy to be close to his teacher and father, whose esteem he enjoyed and with whom he exchanged ideas and plans.

At the end of May 1853, Gastaldi left as a missionary for England where the Rosminians had worked for years among the Catholic immigrants, in an Anglican environment, and in colleges. In 1833 the Oxford Movement had begun and this had carried great weight in the English Catholic revival. Proponents of this movement who became part of it were Newman, Lockhart, Phillips, Pusey, Gentili and others. Gastaldi arrived in England, subsequent to the second wave of conversions, that of 1851. Among these was the future Cardinal Manning. (It seems that at that time there had been an annual average of twelve thousand converts to Catholicism). The Rosminians — about ten of them — worked at Ratcliffe, Rugby, Loughborough, Newport and Cardiff. Their work was teaching, pastoral care and intinerant missions. Don Gastaldi was destined for the house at Rugby, where the novitiate had been transferred. He had to learn English well (and he totally dedicated himself to doing so). He taught moral theology to the brethren, he was a reviser for the press and would later be administrator.

On 8 September 1853 he took his first (scholastic) vows, and he wrote that, for him, it was day full of enthusiasm and joy. He preached for the first time in English — after so much one-to-one training in the pulpit (Demosthenes) — in February 1854 at St Mary’s, Loughborough. Gradually preaching would become his principal ministry in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland; a frantic activity (missions to people, preparations for the sacraments, retreats for priests and sisters, panegyrics) which became exhausting. This preaching was interrupted twice for brief periods, during which he returned to Italy, in May-September 1856 and in summer 1857 (Rosmini had died and now he experienced a crisis in his vocation). On his second return to England he visited Monsignor Luigi Fransoni, the archbishop in exile at Lyons, as a token of his support for him.

In August of 1858 Gastaldi was in Cardiff as superior of the house and parish of Saint David. He directed parochial schools, administered the sacraments, introduced confraternities, promoted devotion to the Rosary, and helped the poor. It was unceasing work for the Lord. But his church became more and more insufficient for his needs, so he decided to build another, which was dedicated to St Peter and was opened in September 1861. He gives some statistics on the state of the parish in his reports to General G. B. Pagani; 10,000 faithful (Irish for the most part), 1,600 annual communions, 3,000 regular practising Catholics at Sunday Mass. He finishes, ‘…a lot of work and many crosses. On certain days I struggle with people with whom I do not get on and hear bitter and loathsome words from those from whom it would never be expected’ (Letter of 12 October 1860). He needed money more than ever (and asked for it from his family and friends in Italy). He built a little church near the docks for Sunday Mass for the sailors, he was involved with Catholic prisoners, he built up good relations with the Anglicans and he was always interested in ecclesiastical problems and Italian politics.

In the English Province there are about 150 letters of Gastaldi to his Provincial, Father Angelo Ridolfi, relating to this time in Wales (September 1859–July 1862). It is a type of diary with which he informed his superior not only about his pastoral work, but also of the difficulties, and not light ones either, which he encountered among his brethren, with whom — he did not realise this — he acted in an authoritarian way and egoistically. This crisis would cause him to leave the Institute. It was partly due to reasons of ill health caused by hard work, difficulty in accepting religious poverty, unrealised aspirations, misunderstandings with some brethren of strong character like his own; to sum up, spiritual difficulties through which religious life from being ‘the way to heaven’ became ever more ‘the path to hell’ (Letter to Pagani 3 November 1855).

The General, Father Pagani, who knew him well, was very flexible with him and granted him ample freedom of action. Later on Father Bertetti also (who did not know him as well), consoled him, helped him and took a conciliatory attitude, suggesting a time of rest and reflection. But when Gastaldi, exasperated, gave up his office of superior and Father Bertetti appointed in his place Cavalli instead of Signini, (as Gastaldi had wished) the situation got worse and he wrote that ‘all the hopes he entertained…, all the efforts he had made…, everything had vanished into thin air’ (Letter, 10 May 1862). He felt he had been betrayed, and be bewailed the fact that he was not valued, that he was no longer trusted.

Gastaldi came to Italy, where Father General hoped to meet him to fix things by speaking with him. In fact Gastaldi was more tranquil and expressed the desire of returning to his field of work and to take up again the care of St Peter’s, proposing the union of the two Cardiff communities. But when he realised that Father Bertetti intended his removal from Cardiff so that he could return to being an itinerant missioner, even though he appreciated the ample freedom which was granted to him to dispose of himself and his affairs, ‘as if I were not bound by vows till further notice’ (6 December 1862), he insisted on being freed from his vows and to return to being a totally free person. Faced with such insistence, Father General had no further means left to keep him. On December 1862 he sent him the declaration that he was free of his vows, and — following his request — allowed him to take back his books (Migne!), £150–£160 of family money used in the construction of St Peter’s and above all restored his peace of mind. Gastaldi, however, always remained faithful to Rosmini (and would demonstrate this) and would take with him a cultural and spiritual Rosminian character which would be indelible.

Having returned to Turin he took up again his office of canon of San Lorenzo, giving his time to his family (his old mother, his sick and blind uncle, a priest, and his younger brothers) and to preaching. He wrote much (contributing to the Letture cattoliche, edited by Don Bosco), he gave private lessons on theology and foreign languages, and he helped the Salesians a great deal. At the end of 1864 he actually divided his inheritance from his father between his brothers. And to canon Lorenzo he left the paternal house at Turin, the property of Tavano near Chieri and the cottage at Cascina Pertusa in the suburbs of Nizza. Firstly the chapel, and then the sanctuary and church of Sacro Cuore, entrusted to the Capuchins, would stand here and nearby the Istituto Rosmini.

In the consistory of 22 February 1867 Lorenzo Gastaldi was nominated Bishop of Saluzzo. Because of the difficult relations with the Italian government, the diocese was vacant from 29 October 1863 (as also were Turin, Alba, Asti, Cuneo, Alessandria, Casale, Fossano, Vigevano and Susa). It appears that the recommendation of his name to Rome had also been the choice of Don Bosco, who esteemed him greatly and who constantly had the ear of the Pope. He was consecrated on 2 June in San Lorenzo. He solemnly entered the diocese on 9 June, the eve of Pentecost. Because of disagreements with the regional authorities he could not be enthroned and lived in the Seminary. I will not start to describe the pastoral work of Monsignor Gastaldi in his brief episcopate of Saluzzo (1867–1871). I will simply say that the chief events were his pastoral visit to the diocese (1868–1869) and his active participation in Vatican Council I (1869–70). His pastoral visit confirmed the chief characteristics of Gastaldi’s personality, his basic autocracy, his wish to control everything, and nothing escaped him, he was a tireless worker, and he devoted himself totally to the good of the faithful.

After Vatican Council I had been announced by Pius IX, 19 June 1867, Gastaldi prepared himself by unremitting study and prayer. His most notable document on the subject is his pastoral letter of Pentecost 1869 in which he asserted the divine authority of bishops and the primacy of the Pope. The solemn opening of the Council took place on 18 December. 744 fathers participated (70% of the catholic episcopate). Those who were absent were prevented from attending by age, sickness or governments. The bishop of Saluzzo was enormously impressed by the Council and immediately wrote to the members of his diocese. When, outside the aula, they began to discuss the problem of the infallibility of the Pope, Gastaldi at first did not take part in any of the discussions. Then, in January, he declared his position and supported the advisability and even the necessity of the definition of infallibility. However he did not wish that the authority of the Pope be isolated from that of the bishops and the church, but he wished the authority of the bishops to be preserved with that of the Pope. And when the schema De Romano Pontifice came up Gastaldi made several forceful interventions backing these up with historical and theological sources, and in Ciceronian Latin, which astounded the bishops and the Pope himself. The vote on the text took place on 13 July and it was approved with 451 placet out of 601 votes; and there were 533 placet in the final vote of 18 July.

After these difficult sessions, the majority of the fathers left Rome intending to return in November, among whom was Gastaldi. In his farewell audience the Pope expressed his esteem of him with grateful affection and gave him a gold medal for the service he had given to the Church. As we know the taking of Rome by the troops of Larmarmora on 20 September 1870, practically speaking signalled the end of Vatican Council I and was the laity’s response to the solemn conciliar definition. In the winter of 1870–1871 the health of our bishop collapsed and his pastoral activity came to a standstill until the beginning of September 1871. He had hardly re-entered Saluzzo from Chierese, where he had retired, when he received from the Cardinal Secretary of State the news of his transference to the metropolitan see of Turin. It was 27 October.

The episcopate of Gastaldi in Turin is described in the second volume of Giuseppe Tuninetti which we are following. This author mentions as basic aspects of his activity, rosminianism and the application of Vatican Council I (especially the defence of the prerogatives of bishops). Consequently we have an unusual personality on the episcopal scene in the 19th century, but a bishop of unremitting and original activity.

The entrance of Lorenzo Gastaldi into his new see was unusual. On 26 November 1871 (a cold and misty morning) the procession on foot wound its way, almost stealthily, from the Consolata to the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. The anticlerical newspapers highlighted the lack of solemnity and the fiasco. Even the dwelling of the bishop was not to be the archiepiscopal palace but, of necessity, the seminary a few steps from the duomo.