Igino Giordani: a politician and saint?

A true representative of twentieth century culture, his testimony is extremely relevant

“May the whole Church find in him a model, a witness of the Gospel, a faithful layman and a model of communion.” This was how, in a letter to Chiara Lubich on December 8, 2000, then Bishop of Tivoli, Pietro Garlato, explained his decision to begin the beatification process for Igino Giordani. On September 27, 2009, the diocesan phase of the process was concluded and now it will go to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican.

Can a politician be a saint? This was what Igino Giordani asked himself when in 1946, after his long experience of working with Don Sturzo in the Partito Popolare, Alcide De Gasperi persuaded him to stand for election. A desire for sanctity had come to him at the age of 22, while he lay wounded in a military hospital, a casualty of the First World War.

As a politician he was “chaste,” enjoying no privileges, and in the difficult post war years he had played his role as a parliamentary and constitutional father as a “social service, charity in action.” A strenuous defender of peace, he considered war to be “an act against the people, an insult to freedom, to democracy.” Previously, through his determined opposition to fascism, he had lived in “civil and political exile.” In fact, he had been struck off the register of journalists and banned from teaching.

“Either Europe unites, or it will perish,” he wrote in the fifties, when he was a member of the first Council of Peoples of Europe. He had foreseen the birth of a United Europe ever since the twenties.

The director of several influential journals, he resigned from “Il Popolo” so as not to be a “director being directed (by others).” A few years later he directed “Il Quotidiano”, and by threatening to resign, he put an end to any attempts at external editorial control. As a journalist and writer, he left a cultural patrimony of about a hundred books and more than 4000 articles covering politics, culture and religion.

A leading intellectual of the Italian Catholic world, as well as an expert on the Fathers of the Church, he promoted a heroic Christianity and through his work for the laity and for ecumenism, in some ways he was a forerunner of the Second Vatican Council.

He had a decisive encounter in 1948 with Chiara Lubich, who five years earlier in 1943 had given life to the Focolare, a new movement in the Church. This meeting led to a “revolution in his soul.” He found what he had been searching for, and the gates that “separated the lay world from the mystical life” were thrown open. He had been journeying alone, now he travelled as part of a community. In return, he was able to give an important contribution to the development of the Focolare charism of unity in the ecumenical field, and in the renewal of the family, of politics, and various sectors of society. His contribution was such that Chiara considered him as one of the cofounders of the movement. His writings and his life are a prophetic witness to the “caritas in veritate” set out by Pope Benedict XVI in his latest encyclical.

Last 2009, after five years, the diocesan stage of his beatification process was completed. They compiled 2,500 pages of evidence. Theological censors have examined 98 books and 4,000 articles, while historical experts have looked at 120 folders of unpublished writing, comprising some 60,000 pages. There are more than 50 cases of graces received through Giordani’s intercession. One of these will be selected by the postulator, and presented to the Church for verification as a miracle.

The opening of the cause was held on June 6, 2004, in the Cathedral at Frascati, the diocese where Igino Giordani died. It was presided over by the bishop at that time, Mons Giuseppe Matarrese.

The concluding ceremony took place at the International Center of the Focolare Movement in Rocca di Papa, where his remains and those of Chiara Lubich are preserved. The new bishop, who has just been installed in the diocese of Frascati, Mons. Raffaello Martinelli, presided over the juridical act.

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Interview with Chiara Lubich on Igino Giordani

In this issue, we are presenting a very valuable and historical interview with Chiara Lubich about Giordani made by Jean-Claude Darrigaud on January 23, 1981, almost nine months after his death.

Can you tell us something about your encounter with Igino Giordani? Chiara: Giordani was waiting his whole life for a road to open up that would fulfill that desire which burned in his soul of total consecration to God, notwithstanding his state in life as a married person.

He had searched a lot, but he certainly could not imagine that the encounter with a Movement just born in Italy, after the war, would have meant something for him. In fact, he was quite stand-offish in that period towards persons who seemed to possess some ready-made solution for the rebirth of Rome and he had waited two years before agreeing to meet me.

In 1948, since the Movement had spread beyond the region of Trent all the way to Rome, we were looking for a house and someone had recommended that we ask Giordani, then a Deputy of Parliament. I went to him with a small group of people who belonged to various branches of the Franciscan Order. After a rather long wait, Giordani welcomed us, but, as I mentioned, more because of the fact that he saw possible voters in the new guests, than for any other reason. However, as soon as we entered, he was struck by our group itself that united persons from different branches of the Franciscan family so often separated between them, at times even – so history has it – hostile towards each other.

I don’t recall what he told me as soon as he saw us. Completely forgetting the original scope of our visit, I found myself briefly sharing the humble story of our Movement, which had a great impact on him, as he himself later narrated in his autobiography. He accompanied us as we were leaving, and at a certain point he drew close to me and asked me if I could write down what I had shared. It was a way for him to keep in touch.

Later on, I realized whom I had met that day. He wrote to me: “Thoughts like yours, so rich with doctrine, wisdom and fire, I did not believe could exist on earth.” God had prepared him his whole life to meet the charism of unity. What took place then were personal encounters, or with group meetings, which brought about an unimaginable maturation of the Movement.

Giordani was the first married focolarino. How did this idea came about, so original in the history of the Church?

In a very simple manner. I have to first say that this vocation blossomed as the accomplishment of what seems to us a design of God on the Movement. Back in 1939, four years before the birth of the Movement, we had an intuition: A fourth way would come to life which young people would be able to embark on: not simply matrimony, not a consecration to God in the convent, not a personal consecration to God remaining in one’s own home, but a new reality, a life in common made up of virgins and married people, after the example of the Holy Family of Nazareth. This new reality blossomed only through the vocation of Giordani, who brought along with him to Focolare numerous married people who were attracted by it.

We are now in 1954. That year about sixty young men and women had asked for, and obtained permission from the Assistant of the Movement to consecrate their lives to God in virginity. Giordani, who had been present in the women’s “focolare,” was praising with great humility the state of virginity which he saw as unattainable. He was told that in front of God what counted was love and that no one could prevent him, even though he was married, to love as much, and in the same way, as those who were consecrating themselves to God in those very days. Even though his state in life was different from those young people, nonetheless he could do everything out of love and thus be pure, obedient and poor.

When Igino Giordani died, a news reporter called him the “cofounder of the Focolare Movement.” Do you agree with this definition?

Chiara: I think we can say that Giordani was really a cofounder of the Focolare Movement.

We know that a cofounder is a rather special Christian in the Church. He is like the seed of one of its new plants, of a new work of God. And just as God the Creator places the DNA in the seed of plants, that is, the project, the law of their development, so in the soul of a founder God places the plan for the Work that has to come to life founder holds true, in an analogous way and with due proportion, for a cofounder for that aspect, or that part, of the Work that God has deposited in him like a seed.

When we met Giordani in 1948, our Movement, which presented itself as “a renewed Christian community,” had witnessed a special vocation emerged from its heart: that of the “focolarini”, with men’s and women’s “focolare” houses that constituted the core, the soul of the community. The encounter with Giordani brought about a new composition in the Movement: the “focolarine” formed the women’s branch; the “focolarini,” the men’s, and the people who benefited from the new spirit of the Focolare took on the form of a Movement: that is, a portion of humanity, of every gender, vocation and age, called by God to constitute the Movement together with the “focolarini”. Giordani was the prototype, as well as the cause, of this new aspect. Later it was also because of Giordani that the Focolare Movement felt the special call or vocation to work to bring Christ to the world, that is, to permeate the different realities of this earth with the spirit of God.

What is the mission of Igino Giordani?

If Giordani is a cofounder of the Movement, possessing a special charism for this task, he must then be present in all the Movement for as long as it exists. Above all, it would be impossible for the married “focolarini” and the lay movement to separate themselves from him, in the same as all those who will work more directly for the specific goal of unity among Churches.

But, aside from all of this, in all the “focolares” and in the entire Movement worldwide, Giordani is very much present among all those who have come to know him.

It seems that the best of him has remained: that ardent charity towards everyone that distinguished him, that appeal that came forth from his being itself, to always keep mutual love alive among all. He is always alive with his unique personality, and with his holiness.

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Biography of Igino Giordani

1894 --Igino Giordani was born in Tivoli, eldest of six children of Mariano and Orsola Antonelli in a working class family.

1900 --He attended primary school. When he was a little older he helped out at his father’s job when he had free time and on summer holidays.

1905 --After he finished primary school, he did a two-year apprenticeship with his father. He studied French through a home course. Later he learned Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, English, German, as well as Greek and Latin.

1907 --With the help of a benefactor for his school fees, he was able to enter the Diocesan Seminary in Tivoli and remained there until 1912.

1914 --He obtained his high school certificate and also won a scholarship given from the Ministry of Law and Justice. He joined the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy in the University of Rome.

1915 --Recruited for military service, he was sent to a cadet school at Spoleto, and then to the Military Academy of Modena. In December he was sent to the front at Isonzo as Sub-Lieutenant of the 111th nfantry.

1916 --Together with his battalion he reached Mount Zebio on the plateau of Asiago July 7th - Wounded in the leg and right hand during a war offensive, he was awarded a silver medal. For three years he was transferred from one hospital to another, from the Baggina (the Trivulzio Pius Institute) in Milan to the military Hospital at the Queen Margaret Palace in Rome, where he also prepared for university exams.

1918 --July 12th, upon completion of his thesis entitled “The Comical in Dante”, he received his university degree. He began to teach literature as a part-time lecturer at the R. Liceo Ginnasio Umberto I of Rome, where he worked there until 1921 His first articles were published in Tivoli and Rome ( 1918- 1920), as was his first booklet (on archaeology).

1920 --February 2, he married Mya Salvati in Tivoli; they subsequently moved to Rome. In autumn he met Sturzo and joined the People’s Party. In October of that year he wrote his first articles about politics for the People’s Party weekly “Il Popolo Nuovo”. He became its editor in 1924.

1921 --Having won a scholarship for teachers, he was able to resume teaching literature at the R. Ginnasio of Nuoro.

1922 --In January, he resigned from his tenured teaching post and returned to Rome to take up a position as clerk and journalist at the Italian People’s Party Press Office.

1923 --In April, once the magazine “Il Popolo” was founded by Giuseppe Donati, Giordani collaborated wholeheartedly by contributing articles and vigorously denouncing a certain kind of political action, so much so that the magazine was eventually suppressed. He taught at the “Cicerone” High School and for the following two years at the “De Merode” Technical Institute and the “Mamiani” High School.

1924 --In July, he became director of the Press Office of the PPI (Italian People’s Party) and its official newsletter “Il Popolo Nuovo.”

1925 --In January, he was editor of the “Bollettino dell’Ufficio Stampa del PPI” (the Italian People’s Party Press Bulletin) which was often confiscated. Its last edition was issued in October 1926 . In June, his book, “Rivolta Cattolica” (The Catholic Revolt), was published. Together with Giulio Cenci, he was the founder and editor of the monthly magazine “Parte Guelfa” (only four issues were eventually published).

1926 --In February, taken to court for publishing political views against the government, he was exonerated due to his service in the First World War. In August, he became director of the “Bollettino Bibliografico di Scienze Sociali e Politiche” (Bibliographical Bulletin of Social and Political Sciences). In September, his first son, Mario, was born. Then came Sergio in 1929, Brando in 1931 and Bonizza in 1937. Then in November 9, 1926, the Italian People’s Party was dissolved. He obtained a teaching post at the high school of the Cabrini sisters in Rome until 1930. He was later school principal there from 1959 to 1967

1927 --On August 20th, the Vatican Library sent him to the United States to attend courses for librarians and bibliographers. He studied in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and New York. In 1938, he returned to the United States to participate in a congress for Catholic librarians in Missouri; in 1966 he attended conferences organized by the Italian Institute of Culture. During his stay in the United States, Igino wrote various articles for the magazine “Commonwealth” and also sent articles to Italy for publication in “Carroccio” and “Avvenire d’Italia”. He also wrote books on Protestantism and North American literature

1928 --On June 8, he returned to Italy; in July he started to work at the Vatican Library, a position he would hold until 1944. He was given the task of updating the library’s cataloguing system. On October 2, he received a letter from Alcide de Gaspari, who had just been released from prison. Foco helped him find a job at the Vatican Library.

1929 --In April, his first two articles were published in “Fides”, a monthly Vatican publication for the preservation of the Catholic faith. In 1930 he was assistant editor of the magazine until he was officially offered the position of editor in 1932. He widened the magazine’s objectives and thus increased its popularity, especially among the clergy.

1930 --Piero Bargellini invited him to write some articles for the Florentine magazine, “Il Frontespizio”. He collaborated with him until 1939.

1933 --He published “Segno di Contraddizione” (Sign of Contraddiction) one of his books translated in many languages and with the most editions (the 5th edition was published in 1964).

1934 --He founded and directed the Technical School for Librarians at the Vatican Library

1935 --He published “Il Messaggio Sociale di Gesù” (The Social Message of Jesus), the first in a series of books that Lagrange defined as “fundamental to the social study of Christianity”. Other books in the series were published in 1938, 1939 and 1946. In 1958 these books came to form a collection entitled “Il Messaggio Sociale del Cristianesimo” (The Social Message of Christianity). Some parts have been translated in Chinese and Japanese. The 8th edition was published in 1963.

1940 --During the 2nd World War, he worked with De Gasperi, Bonomi and other anti-fascists to prepare for the birth of Italian democracy.

1941 --The 2nd edition of his book “Catholicism” was removed from circulation by the regime’s authorities. Subsequently, a new censured edition was permitted for publication.

1944 --April 24th, Mons. Montini (the future Paul VI) appointed him as Director of the School of Journalism and also as a lecturer at the “Scuola di Preparazione Sociale” (School for Social Preparation) at the Lateran University. In June11, after the liberation of Rome, the new daily newspaper of Catholic Action “Il Quotidiano” (The Daily) was published. Giordani was involved in its establishment and became its editor from 1944 to 1946.

1946 --June 2, he was elected as member of the House of Representatives for the region of Rome at the Constituents’ Assembly. August 1, he succeeded Guido Gonella as director of the newspaper “Il Popolo” (The People). In November, he was elected Councilor for the city of Rome.

1947 –February, he participated in a meeting in Switzerland with other representatives of 8 democratic countries. There he proposed that political parties with ideologies founded on Christian social doctrine should join together in a pact of cooperation.

1948 --He was present in Spain for the festivities of Jaimes Balmes, and travelled to France where he met Gilson and Aron. April 18, he was re-elected to the House of Representatives. April 21- 28, As a representative of the Italian Catholic Action, he participated, in London, in a meeting of “Christian Action”, a movement of Christians of all denominations and countries whose aim was to give a Christian soul to the Union of West European States. September 17, he met Silvia (Chiara) Lubich at Montecitorio, seat of the Italian Parliament. December, he was invited to Lisbon by the newspaper “Novidades” to hold a conference, in Portuguese, on “Catholic Journalism.” He visited Salazar, then President of Portugal.

1949 --January 29, in Rome, he founded the weekly magazine”La Via” (The Way). The publication continued until May 1953. March 16, he spoke at the House of Representatives on the Atlantic Treaty, to which Italy adhered, proposing it as an instrument of peace and not of war July 11- 29, at an international course on political studies sponsored by the Fribourg University of Switzerland, he lectured on the European crisis. October 3, together with Hon. Calosso, he introduced the first proposal for a law about conscientious objectors.

1950 --He was nominated a member of the European Peoples’ Council at Strasbourg. December 21, in the House of Representatives, Giordani intervened on the Glavi proposal concerning the Korean War. He invited the Italian government to become a mediator between the United States and the communist block in an effort to stop the war. In Parliament he proposed a new philosophy: “If you want peace, prepare for peace.”

1951 --October 10, in the House of Representatives, he was against the spending on armaments; instead he proposed a politics of reciprocal love: “even communists are brothers whom we must love”. October 26, together with a few other ministers of various political parties, he promoted “parliamentary support in favour of peace.” This earned him a great deal of criticism from his own party.

1952 --”La Divina Avventura” (The Divine Adventure), the first publication on the spirituality of the Focolare Movement.

1953 –June, he was not re-elected to the House of Representatives. As President of the ONARMO Institute for Social Assistance, he contributed to the “Notiziario ONARMO” (The ONARMO Newsletter) focusing especially on “Il cappellano del lavoro” (Chaplains in the workplace), from December 1953 until late 1960.

1954 --He worked as a library consultant in the Library of the House of Representatives where he introduced a new system of cataloguing. He remained there until 1961. He taught Christian Social Thought at the International University “Pro Deo.”

1959 --He became editor of the magazine “Città Nuova” (New City). Together with Chiara Lubich he founded the Centro S. Caterina (St. Catherine’s Center). The Canossian Sisters invited him to visit their missions in Asia.

1961 --He published “Le due città” (The Two Cities) expressing the maturity of his political and religious thinking. In July, he directed the weekly magazine “L’Unione” (The Union) which was an instrument of the Social Christian Center (1961- 1962). He was appointed director of “Centro Uno” (Center for Christian Unity), the Focolare Movement’s Secretariat for Ecumenism.

1962 --The magazine “Fides” which he directed ceased publication. He was a member of the Superior Council for Public Education until1966.

1964 --He published “Laicato e Sacerdozio” (Laity and Priesthood), a clear anticipation of the theology on the laity expressed by the Second Vatican Council.

1965 --He was nominated Director of the International Institute “Mystici Corporis” at Loppiano (Florence)

1974 --After the death of his wife Mya, he went to live in a Focolare house near the Mariapolis Center at Rocca di Papa. He participated in the life and activities of the Movement: he spoke at meetings of all the branches of the Movement and also at ecumenical gatherings; he nurtured special relationships with the youth; he wrote his last books including “L’Unico Amore” (One and Only Love), his memoirs and others still unedited; he continued to write for “Città Nuova” (New City), until December 1979.

1977 --He was present at the ceremony in London where Chiara Lubich was awarded the Templeton Prize.

1980 –In April, his book, “Il Diario di Fuoco” (Diary of Fire), was first published. April 18, his life on earth came to an end.

1981 --His autobiography “Memorie di Un Cristiano Ingenuo” (Memoirs of a Naive Christian) was published.

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