Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Cardinal Guglielmo Massaja is considered one of the greatest missionaries of the 19th century. He was the first to go and evangelize the tribal people of Galla (southern Ethiopia), to study the culture and successfully promote a series of social works that made him famous even in outside the country. In honor of the 200th anniversary of his birth, an ad hoc committee is organizing a series of conventions, exhibitions, and special publications, in collaboration with the Order of Friars Minor (Capuchins), of which the Cardinal was a member, and the Ministry for Cultural Goods and Services and many other cultural organizations, museums, and scientific foundations.
Father Wieslaw Block, OFM and member of the National Committee for the Bicentenary, told Agenzia Fides: “Cardinal Massaja shed a new light on the Catholic missions in Africa. He was an important cultural bridge, thanks to the study of geography and the language, and managed to dialogue with an unknown people, building the Church with simplicity and great sacrifices.” An important international symposium is being prepared for June, at the Saint Lawrence of Brindisi College of the Capuchin Friars. “It will be the occasion,” says Fr. Block, “to call to mind the charismatic figure of Guglielmo Massaja and analyze the African situation in all areas.”
Born on June 8, 1809 in Piova d'Asti (today Piova Massaja, in honor of its beloved citizen), Lorenzo Antonio received the Capuchin habit at the age of 17 and was ordained a priest in 1832 with a special dispensation, as he was 13 months under canonical age. From the moment of his ordination, he showed great support for the work of Propaganda Fide, which took care of the Catholic missions, to which he was linked through a private vow. On April 26, 1846, Pope Gregory XVI created the Apostolic Vicariate of the Galla and just days later, granting him the title of General Minister of the Capuchins, entrusted it to Massaja. Ordained a bishop in Rome, Massaja left Italy on the night of June 2, 1846 to face a journey that would last 6 years: 8 months spent in the Mediterranean, 12 in the Red Sea, 4 pilgrimages in the Holy Land, 4 exiles, in addition to imprisonment and being at the point of death, all before he reached the Gallan people.
From 1852 to 1879 (with only 1 interval of 2 years in Europe), Massaja founded various missions, began the first Ethiopian Catholic monastic life, wrote the first catechism in the Gallan language, consecrated 3 Bishops, established relations with the Ethiopian clergy and the Muslims present in the area, promoted scientific research, worked for smallpox prevention among the population, and he himself performed surgical operations thanks to the practice he had acquired as a young man. Exiled in 1879 by Theodore II, he returned to Italy and later moved to a convent in Frascati, where upon the invitation of Pope Leo XIII (who created him Cardinal), he wrote his autobiography in 12 volumes, considered one of the greatest works of international missionary literature. On August 6, 1889, he died in San Giorgio in Cremano (Naples, Italy). His cause for canonization is underway. It was opened in 1914 and completed the Diocesan Process in 1989. (AM) (Agenzia Fides 29/1/2009)
