Father Giambattista Zantedeschi
(9th Superior General of the Institute of Charity)
by
Domenico Mariani
Translated by J. Anthony Dewhirst
‘Lord, give us priests!
Lord, give us holy priests!
Lord, give us many holy priests!
Lord, bless our families, so that they may be centres of priestly and religious vocations!’
Has anyone not heard, orally or mentally these invocations which Father Zantedeschi used to
make in every Mass he said, and which expressed his deep longing as pastor and General of a
Religious Institute? Today he is imploring God and obtaining from him the fulfilment of his
desires.
Giambattista Zantedeschi was born on 30 October 1919 at Fumane (Verona) of Angelo
(1882 – 1964) and Elisa Quintarelli (1886 – 1949), the sixth child of a fine home blessed by
God: Domenico, Sante, Giovanni, Carmela, Ernesto, Giambattista, Santina, and Antonio.
(Giovanni, Santina and Antonio are still living). One can easily surmise that many
grandchildren and great grandchildren came from this family. To be precise there were 23
grandchildren and 40 great grandchildren of whom Father Zantedeschi was very fond and to
whom he enjoyed giving the Sacraments.
His father was a share - cropping farmer, his mother was home - maker. The family income
was not a large one, but it was sufficient to feed the many mouths and make for a peaceful
life.
He was baptised on 9 November 1919 and confirmed on 2 September 1926 in the parochial
village church. Giambattista completed the course at the elementary school at Fumane, and in
the autumn of 1931 was looking for the next step to take. At the suggestion of a priest friend,
his parents decided to send the twelve year old Giambattista to the Institute of the Sons of
Don Calabria. The latter had started a new religious Congregation of the Poor Servants of
Divine Providence at San Zeno al Monte, in Verona in 1908. The boy’s priestly vocation was
sound and, as it were, innate in him. Antonio relates that ‘from childhood he would gather
together his brothers and cousins to copy a procession and, placing himself behind a chest as
if it were a pulpit, he would preach fervently just like the parish priest did in church’.i
But Giambattista’s candidacy for the Sons of Don Calabria did not have a positive outcome.
On the day he went to Verona with his parents to present himself, the priest responsible for
accepting aspirants was absent; and they knew that the College of Aspirants was full.
There was hardly any possibility of Giambattista being accepted.
They returned home disappointed. They consulted the parish priest, Don Leone Pachera (+
1933), a great friend of the Rosminian Fathers, who thought of finding a place for
Giambattista at Rovereto in the Aspirantato of the Palazzo Rosmini; and this is what
eventuated. The family still preserve some verses composed by the young man on his
departure for Rovereto
“I depart for Rovereto,
To the college I must go;
I am happy to do this,
But I must leave you, my mother.
I must leave my mother,
So near yet so far.
Parto per Rovereto
in collegio io devo andar;
io me ne vo’ contento
ma te, mamma, devo lasciar.
Devo lasciar la mia mammina
tanto lontana, come vicina:
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But I still wish you well as always.
I will write you a note
To console your little heart.
And the response I ask of you,
Dear mother, is not to forget me.
From you Father I must depart
And leave the countryside,
Because you know what my future is,
Not to be close to you.
But bear in mind both these facts,
That your son is making a good start,
And if he is going far from you,
He will never forget his mother and father.
I must stay in those regions with my,
companions.
Far from you, whom I will never neglect
ma ti voglio bene ancora, come prima,
ti scriverò sempre un bigliettino
per consolare il tuo cuoricino.
E la risposta la vorrei pur da te,
cara mamma,non ti scordar di me.
Da te, babbo, io me ne parto
e abbandono la campagna,
perché tu sai il destin qual è:
di non star più vicino a te.
Ma pensate tutti e due insieme
che il vostro figlio si mette bene,
e, se lontan da voi me ne andrò
di babbo e mamma mai più mi scorderò.
Lassù in quei paesi coi miei compagni devo
star,
Lontan da voi, che devo abbanonar. ii
After three years of grammar school Giambattista was sent to Pusiano (Como) for the fourth
year of high school, but on 30 August 1936 he was already at Calvario di Domodossola, ready
to enter the Noviciate. The novice master, the Irishman, Fr Hugh Honan, received him into
the community on 7 September. The Socius was Father Andrea Alotto; and the ordinary
confessor of the novices would be Father Clemente Rebora..
On 5 September 1938 Giambattista took his first religious vows, and his final vows on 30 July
1942. He would take his coadjutor vows on 30 August 1953 and those of Presbyter on 1
January 1966.iii
Having completed his Novitiate he was sent for educational studies, going to the state
Institute of Rovereto, where, in July 1941, he obtained the customary Diploma di Abilitazione
magistrale. This immediately allowed him to work in a new undertaking of the Institute in
that year: the education of unruly boys at Santa Maria di Fabriago (Ravenna). Young Father
Mario Matteo Bevoli was appointed Rector and Mons. Antonio Galassini had the job of
administration. 196 delinquents were entrusted to them. There were six Rosminian brethren,
(also two external teachers and a cobbler), and eight Sisters of the Holy Family of Castelletto
del Garda.ivMaestro Zantedeschi would have the office of assistant head and teacher in the
school, and he held these offices until the end of 1945. It was difficult work from the point of
view of lack of food (wartime years), general shortage, lack of hygiene (parasites!), and the
violence of the times. In fact, in November 1944 the house was bombed by the allied troops,
and the following month it was occupied by the Germans. A group of boys – more than 120 –
were entrusted to Maestro Zantedeschi and transferred to the house at Bagnacavallo: but even
here there would be five deaths, confusion, repatriations, a new move to Urbino and finally, in
May, the return of the survivors to Fabriago where the adventure ended.v
After this arduous but formative experience, Giambattista Zantedeschi was sent to Rome for
his philosophical and theological studies. His Rector was his old novice master, Father Hugh
Honan, a highly intelligent and very gentle man. He went to the Lateran Athenaeum. The
Rosminian clerics were a large and united group, studies were serious and intense; fun and
youthful initiatives were not lacking (there were their famous plays); concerts where
Zantedeschi had always the part of first tenor; the in - house magazine entitled Ad Portam
Latinam’; the football matches; the games of boccia with famous men such as De Gasperi
etc). They were also times of important democratic choices, such as the referendum of 1946
or the famous election of 1948 (which saw the Comitati Civici enter the field and the clerics,
in the guise of candidates, sent to hold meetings in the south of Italy).vi
On 4 March 1950 Giambattista Zantedeschi was ordained priest with eight other brethren in
the Church of San Giovanni a Porta Latina by Archbishop Mons. Alfonso Carinci. His mother
unfortunately had died in the previous year. The following day he celebrated his first Mass in
the house Oratory. Father General Bozzetti, his superiors and brethren we were present, and
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surrounded by his father and seven brothers and sisters, he gave his first priestly blessing to
all those who had helped, looked after and loved him.
In September he was given his first task as Father Superior of the house of the aspirants, or
little seminary of Rovereto, at whose door he had knocked as a boy nineteen years previously.
But after only two years he was entrusted with the office of Censor of Discipline or ViceRector, in the Collegio Mellerio - Rosmini of Domodossola, the most impressive of the
Rosminian colleges. He remained there only one year (1952 – 53), but he was remembered by
past pupils as a ‘just and good man’.
In the Decrees of 1953 – 54 Padre Zantedeschi was appointed Rector and Master of Novices
at Calvario, the successor of Padre Pio Bolla, with the help of the Socius, don Narciso,
Bortolotti (then don Luca Laner and don Emilio Comper). Calvario, with a good number of
Novices and Scholastics (especially in the summer period) would become with him a cheerful
house like that of Vittorino da Feltrevii. Serious study; lively liturgies; work; mountain
excursions; plays; the setting up of the magazine Nuvole (which would later be called Notizie
calvariane and finally Speranze), are only some examples of that intense, youthful vitality
which was present at Calvary in those years.
All this ended on 6 August 1958 when Padre Zantedeschi was ordered to depart for
Venezuela, with Father Josito Gattoni and Father James Connolly, as missionaries to the
Italian and English speaking emigrants there. The first indications of a possible mission in
Latin America goes back to 1955, with the actual request of a Bishop to Father Bozzetti for
teachers in a college. But things became definite when Mons Raffaele Forni, Apostolic
Nuncio, passed on a formal request to Padre Gaddo for at least three men, (of which one
should be Dutch or English), for the settlement of 95000 Christians in Maracaibo (87000
Italians, and 8000 Irish - Americans). Negotiations took place, the undertaking was accepted
and the persons were selected and sent to Rome for a course at the Pontifical College for
Emigration. On 6 August, after they made their sad farewells, the Italian ship ‘Franca C.’ took
the three pioneers on board at Genova for their great adventure. The destination was Guaira,
the port of Caracas. A detailed Diario di viaggio (diary of the voyage) and of the first days
spent by our brethren at Maracaibo exists, written by Josito Gattoni,viii It reveals the
composure, the courage, the common sense, and the spirit of sacrifice of Father Zantedeschi
and his companions on this difficult start to their mission. To say that they started with
nothing is the honest truth. There was a little church, just built, and three small, hot rooms.
But they had no money, no friends, no real grasp of the language (except for Father Gattoni
who was born in Argentina) and local traditions. But they were not discouraged and rolled up
their sleeves. The year following their arrival they started an elementary school with about
one hundred pupils. This grew, in a few years, to 500, then to 600 and finally 1300 pupils of
the Colegio Italo – Venezolano A. Rosmini of Maracaibo, and a further 900 students at
Cabimas. Father Zantedeschi had immediately grasped a great truth; that to attract the mind
and attention of parents and families it was necessary to work on their children, to help to
make them men of tomorrow. And he was successful. He was a conscientious and farsighted
‘father’ regarding Rosminian work in Venezuela (colleges, parishes, male and female
novitiates, retreat houses etc.). This became well established and eventually numbered about
40 Fathers and Sisters. Deeply rooted, it spread to the laity as Christian collaborators — the
well known ‘Ascribed Members’.
Padre Zantedeschi first returned to Italy after seven years (1965); Pope John XXIII had died
the year before. His first meeting with his brothers Sante and Antonio with Angelina (his
sister in law) was only in 1975.
Father Zantedeschi was 61 years old (of which almost 23 were spent in Venezuela) when he
was elected Superior General of the Institute of Charity, in the General Congregation at
Calvario on 5 April 1981.
Immediately after his election, I accompanied him on his first journey, as General, to
Venezuela and the United States (30 April – 5 June 1981). I appreciated the tenacity with
which, during the journeys and waiting in the airports, he studied English. I will not describe
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the welcomes he received in the land of Simon Bolivar; to say ‘warm’ would be a
euphemism. Everywhere there were visits, farewell feasts, talks, gifts, tears. It seemed to me
to be a genuine parting of a father from his children, from his friends and from his loved ones.
Even in the United States, in Florida, in Illinois, where his visit was for many their first
acquaintance with him, Father Zantededeschi drew admiration for his simple and informal
manner, for his primitive English and for his fatherly attitude which sprang from his every
word.ix
After this Fr Zantedeschi made 23 overseas trips with his Secretary:
In April 1982, to Ireland and England,
In October 1982, to Tanzania,
In January – April 1983, to Venezuela, USA, Great Britain and Ireland,
In October 1983, to New Zealand,
In February 1987, to Tanzania,
In October – November 1987, to Ireland, Great Britain and USA,
In February – March 1988, to Africa (twice), England and Ireland,
In October – November 1989, to Great Britain and Ireland,
In January – February 1990, to Venezuela and USA,
In October 1990, Ireland and Great Britain,
In October 1991, to Great Britain and Ireland,
In January – February 1992, to Tanzania and Kenya,
In February 1992, to India,
19/8 – 31/10 1992, world tour: New Zealand, USA, Venezuela and Italy,
In February 1993, to India,
In April – May 1994, to Ireland and Great Britain,
In September – November 1995 to Venezuela and USA,
In February –March 1996, to Tanzania and Kenya,
In September 1996, to India,
In November – December 1996, to Ireland,
In February – September 1999, to Venezuela.
Naturally, in addition to these overseas visits there had to be innumerable visits to the houses
in Italy, both of the Sisters and the Fathers (at Christmas Father General is traditionally at
Borgomanero, at Easter at Calvario and from the end of August – September he is at Stresa).
There were three Secretaries and companions, Father Ronald Catcheside (April 1981 – June
1986), Father Donal Sullivan (June 1986 – February 1989), Father Thomas Kearns (February
1989 – January 1997).
His Councillors in the Minor Council were constant, and frequently summoned:
Father Anthony Michael Hayes, Vicar of Spiritual Charity (1981 – 1988),
Father Dino Sartori, Vicar of Intellectual Charity, resident in Turin (1981 – 1997),
Father Thomas Kearns, Vicar of Temporal Charity (1981 – 1988),
Father Dennis P. Hare, Administrator General, resident n Great Britain, (1981 –1988),
Father Francesco Berra, Procurator General to the Holy See (1981 – 1988).
In 1989 there were four important changes:
Father Michael Hegarty became Vicar of Spiritual Charity (1989 –1995),
Father Luigi Cerana became Vicar of Temporal Charity (1989 – 1991),
Father Thomas Kearns became Administrator General (1989 – 1997),
Father Anthony Michael Hayes became procurator to the Holy See (1989 – 1995).
There were other changes in 1991 when Padre Vincenzo Sala (1991 – 1997) took the place of
Fr Luigi Cerana, and finally in 1995 when Father Dennis P. Hare became Vicar of Spiritual
Charity and Father Giorgio Versini Procurator to the Holy See.
The important events in the life of the Institute during the period of Generalate of Father
Zantedeschi were many and involved significant irreversible changes.
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On 4 October 1986 the new Centre of Rosminian Studies opened at Durham,
dedicated to the Venerable Bede. This undertaking had been considered for years, and
willed by an Italian benefactor for the spread of the works of Rosmini throughout the
world for English speaking people. Fathers Denis Cleary and Terence Watson, had
already been teaching in Tanzania and New Zealand. After a period at Stresa and
Huddersfield, they were entrusted with this Centre. So far have they have translated
and promoted throughout the world (universities, seminaries, libraries, cultural
centres and individuals) about twenty volumes of Rosmini, of four thousand copies
each, attractively published. Recently they have established a website which provides
translations throughout the world and is much used.
From 10 October to 10 November 1988 a General Congregation was held in Rome
for the revision of our Rule, according to the requirements of the Holy See. It was a
demanding and delicate work, which involved the best manpower of the Institute.
Many people, and the Roman Congregation of Religious itself, were satisfied with the
outcome. The approval of the new Rule of Life on the part of the Holy See was given
in a Decree of 8 December 1989. The task of the translation into English was
entrusted to Father John Morris. The publication of the two editions and the
corresponding Directory was entrusted to Father Dino Sartori and his helpers at
Turin. Finally on 25 March 1990, Father General promulgated the text which came
into force on 1 July 1990, the 135th anniversary of the death of our Father Founder.
On 10 June 1989 Father Zantedeschi, decreed the erection of the first house of
formation in India. On the 24 June Father Giorgio Versini and the young scholastic
Thomas Mylaparampil took up residence at Vettuthura, in the little house obtained by
don Luigi Cerana, with the help of the neighbouring Canossian Sisters. This marked
the beginning of the Institute’s venture in India. How did such a step come to pass? In
the summer of 1981 Providence had arranged for a young Indian to land in Italy, who
declared that he had a religious vocation and wished to join us. The arrival of this
young man at Calvario gave rise to other requests of postulants from Kerala,
supported by their respective parish priests. Accepting these applications was not
straightforward. One thought was to go to the place itself to discern the situation, but
after some hard thinking, Father Zantedeschi took the decision to say yes. It was a
prophetic intuition. At the present time the Indian Fathers number fifteen, and
already, there are about 25 young men in training. With the Aspirants, Postulants and
Novices the Indian Region of the Institute consists of about seventy people.
1994 signalled the beginning of the Cause of Beatification of Antonio Rosmini. There
had been so much waiting, so many sufferings and prayers. Now, on 22 February
1994, Father General was notified by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints
that there was no obstacle (nihil obstat) to the beginning of the diocesan process
necessary for Beatification. On 28 February Father Zantedeschi officially informed
the Bishop of Novara, Mons. Renato Corti, and on 26 March he appointed Father
Vincenzo Sala, Postulator. On 1 July 1997 the Diocesan Tribunal of Novara was
established at Stresa: Father Zantedeschi, no longer General, took part in it whole heartedly.
On 30 October 1994 Father Zantedeschi reached the age of 75 and according to the
Rule of Life (n. 172), he hastened to place his resignation in the hands of the Major
Generalitial Council who had to decide whether to forward this to the Holy See or to
refuse it. In 31 October the Council, meeting at Calvario, listened to the words of
Father General who was fully disposed to accept either decision. After careful
deliberation it was decided by a majority not to accept his resignation. He was in
good health, he was highly thought of, and the bicentenary of the birth of Rosmini
was approaching: he remained at his post. Father Zantedeschi saw in the decision the
will of God and resumed his work.
1998 was the year in which, according to the directions in the Rule of Life (n. 187),
he had to summon again a General Congregation. Father General was involved in
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setting up a temporary Preparatory International Commission under the presidency of
Father Dennis Hare, his Vicar of Spiritual Charity. The latter summoned the four
Provincials to Derrys Wood from 21 to 25 April 1996, who together with him, chose
the five members of the commission: Father David Tobin (UK), Father Giancarlo
Taverna (Italy), Father Joe O’Reilly (Ireland), Father Bill Miller (USA), and Father
Firmati Tarimo (Africa): This Commission remained in action also with the new
Father General, James Flynn.
On 24 March 1996 Father Zantedeschi had the great pleasure of presiding at the
solemn opening Mass for the celebrations for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Antonio
Rosmini, with a joyful crowd coming from all over Italy. It was an eagerly awaited
and organised occasion which resulted in numerous initiatives: new biographies;
articles in periodicals; conferences; meetings; guided visits to places connected with
Rosmini; illustrated exhibitions; school functions by the children etc. The event at
Rovereto was both a family and civic one. This concluded with the lighting of a torch
which was carried by motor cyclists to Calvario, where Father General and the town
authorities officially received it.
It would however be restrictive to limit oneself to outlining the life of Father Zantedeschi
simply on the basis of these events. There was the work always incumbent on him, namely
the meetings of the Council every two or three months; there were the autumn meetings with
the Fathers Provincial; the six – monthly meetings of the Superior Generals (USG) at Villa
Cavalletti at Grottaferrata or at Ariccia dai Paolini; the participation in the General Chapters
of the Rosminian Sisters (over which Father General must preside); personal meetings with
individual Fathers, Sisters, Bishops and with the Pope himselfx. And there were his writings,
thousands of letters and decrees issued from Rome (in his fine large handwriting, so
characteristic of him), the sixteen Christmas Letters entitled ‘Come with Me to the Manger’
‘to his dear Fathers, Brothers, Adopted Sons and Daughters and Ascribed, and to his dear
Rosminian Sisters of Providence’. In these he gave vent to his feelings as father, brother and
superior, troubled at times, but always full of trust in God. Finally there were his conferences
and homilies given on various occasions, several copies of which are kept in the Archives.
And I must not omit another means of communication desired by Fr Zantedeschi, and realised
by his secretaries Fathers Sullivan and Kearns (the Turin Group helped with the graphics),
namely, the general news source for the Institute of Charity, entitled Rosminiani.xi It was an
annual ‘Newsletter’, very well presented, with photographs, which summarised the work of
the Curia and the Institute in a brief and up to date fashion, with the addition of some
instructive articles. Unfortunately it had a short life.
Finally a few words about the fact that he was bursting with the joy of life. He enjoyed
simple, well prepared food, xii and a good glass of wine. He enjoyed mountain songs (if he
was with friends, as at the Circolo Santa Croce del Monte Calvario), and maybe a game of
cards in the long summer evenings in the Villa Salati dei Padri at Craveggia. He was a
genuine person, fervent in prayer, but he enjoyed a feast when the occasion warranted it.
And now the last events of his life.
On 2 January 1997, in the early morning, he was found on the floor in a room at Calvario by
Father Comper who, the evening before, had left him after the television news, to go to his
room. He was taken to the San Biagio hospital at Domodossola, and it was immediately
apparent that he had suffered a widespread cerebral haemorrhage. The doctors shook their
heads and held out little hope for his recovery from the coma. He received the last sacraments
and many prayers were said for him. However, on the 7 January he woke up, and during this
brief lucid interlude he was able to read and sign a document of resignation from office,
prepared by the Vicar General Father Hare, and by Father Mariani.
At the end of the month, his general unexpected improvement from the stroke allowed him to
be moved by ambulance to Negrar, (Verona), to an institution for intensive physiotherapy
under the direction of Sons of Don Calabria. The lengthy specialist treatment, the affection of
nearby relatives, and the visits of his brethren and friends did the rest. On 16 June Father
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Zantedeschi returned to Stresa to the infirmary of the Rosminian Fathers. He was in a
wheelchair but his morale was high and he was in fighting form. He continually did his
exercises in order to be able to walk on his own, helped by his faithful Franco Fedele who had
always been by his side. He took part spiritually, and even physically, in the more solemn
events in the life of the Institute, and he still radiated warmth and affection to those who
visited him. On 25 February 1998 he wished to be present for a few minutes at the viewing of
the remains of Father Founder. On 21 March, the day of thanksgiving and the closing session
of the diocesan informative process on the virtues and reputation of the holiness of Antonio
Rosmini, he offered his life for the happy outcome of the Cause and for the Church.
However his heart was still passionately attached to Venezuela and he asked to return there.
He thought he could still be of use in the work there. In February 1999 a solution was found
of satisfying his request, and he left with Father Felice Muratore. The latter had prepared for
him an en suite room on the ground floor, with wheelchair access and all possible facilities.
He seemed to be happy to mix with the children and adults, to renew his acquaintance with
his old friends and ex alumni. But in the end he realised that he no longer fitted in there, and
on 22 September 1999 he returned, resigned, to Stresa.
On 4 March 2000 he joyfully celebrated at Stresa and then at Fumane, his golden jubilee of
priesthood and during the summer he spent a peaceful time with his brothers and nephews and
nieces. In the spring of 2001 he enjoyed the visit of 24 English speaking Fathers who had
gathered together in Italy for a ‘return to roots’, and, moreover, on 30 June he had the great
satisfaction of sharing in the news, anticipated by radio, of the ‘Nota’ of acquittal of the 40
Rosminian propositions which would be published by the Osservatore Romano on the
following day.
At the end of July his brother Antonio, together with Angelina, wanted him to be their guest
at Fontana Fredda di Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo (970 m), in the little house which he loved, and
where he could breathe the good native air. But on the night of 1 – 2 August he felt ill and
was moved urgently to the hospital of Negrar where his heart gave out, and he died about 5
o’clock in the morning. He would be buried in the priests’ tomb at Fumane near his old parish
priest, Don Pachera, and near all his dear ones, in the expectation of the final resurrection.
He was 81 years and 9 months old. He spent 61 years in religious life, almost 16 of which
were spent in the office of 9th Provost General of the Institute of Charity.
***
And now in order to give an outline of the personality and particular charism of Father
Zantedeschi, I hand over to four people who knew him well and frequently.
The first testimonial comes from Father James Flynn, his successor in the office of Provost
General of the Institute. He refers to a holy picture which Father Zantedeschi distributed
personally to all the chapter Fathers who had elected him in 1981 on the back of which he had
had written: I, Father General, whom you have chosen in the name of the Holy Spirit, send
you. Return peacefully to your houses where the Brethren are waiting for you, renewed, with
a letter from me. You are my first letter, the letter which will never finish up in the waste
paper basket, the letter, in living flesh, which the Brethren and Sisters will read everyday with
eagerness. May you be my first letter, a clean and clear sheet without ink stains. Make
yourselves read with sympathy, simplicity and enthusiasm. It depends on you. I will write
other letters but never one like this. Carry everywhere, love, only love, always love.xiii Fr
Flynn comments: ‘Immediately after his election I received the holy picture of Rosmini on
which the new Fr General had had printed, in a hurry, a message for the delegates who were
departing. I have kept this picture in my breviary, and over the years I have read and reflected
often on that message. Just as St Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he charged us to be his ‘letter’
to the brethren of our houses, and urged us to make ourselves read ‘with sympathy, simplicity
and enthusiasm’, and ‘to carry love with us everywhere’.
These expressions flowed spontaneously from his heart because they reflected his character.
Father Zantedeschi loved the Church, loved the Institute and its members, loved his family,
loved life. A man of great heart and natural warmth, his care and interest for his brethren in
crisis went far beyond what one could reasonably expect from any man. As Fr General he had
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to carry many crosses, but his innate dignity, his strong faith, his deep life of prayer helped
him to accept things without bitterness and lack of hope. He later carried his last cross, – that
of infirmity – with serenity and faith. Indeed the Lord ‘made him a bearer of peace and joy’,
at which he hints in his last letter to us on 15 October 1996.
While we express our thanks and appreciation for his total dedication and service during the
16 years of his Generalate, I pray to be able to have his strong faith in divine Providence and
that warm love which characterised the whole life of Father Giambattista Zantedeschi’.xiv
Fr Dino Sartori, his great elector and trusted Assistant for the whole of his Generalate, writes
in his turn: ‘Father Zante is the ‘saint’ of humility and charity. His life has been a continual
running up and down stairs to open and shut doors, with a perennial smile on his lips lighting
up his face. It was smile, often shown by his characteristic facial expression, which sprang
from love and tenderness for his Sons, tested as they are by Love and Charity.
But above all, Father General Zantedeschi will be remembered as a tireless promoter of the
knowledge of Rosmini, the sublime poet of the heart and mind of man, Rosmini, discoverer of
the animation of earthly and heavenly matter. In Father Zantedeschi knowledgeable and
cultured people have found a warm patron. One can understand, therefore, how Father
Zantedeschi felt at ease both with the well off and the poor. He was in the position to
understand the times and how they are evolving towards a break down of international
barriers.
Many other things could be said about Father Zantedeschi , his often silent work to the benefit
of modern values of individuals and communities, summed up in the Major Constitutions.xv
But I shall leave to history the task of revealing the vital forces which work untiringly in the
fabric of the Church.’xvi
Father Remo Bessero - Belti is the director of the Rosminian magazine, Charitas and it is in
this magazine about spirituality that he commemorates Father as follows: ‘I feel that the
exoneration of Rosmini’s teaching happily crowned the life of Father Zantedeschi. He had so
much hoped and waited for it. And the Lord gave him the joy of seeing this fulfilled while he
was still with us. In conveying trust Father Zantedeschi was past master. I remember him as
having a great human capacity for honesty, simplicity and optimism. He always put himself
out to welcome you, to inspire confidence and give encouragement. This was his particular
charism…Those were not easy years for the Institute over which he had supreme
responsibility. The drop in vocations gradually made the continuation of the various works of
Charity performed by the Institute more difficult…And this was not the only trial which
Providence ordained for him. Later there would be that of physical suffering which would
completely incapacitate him to the point of having to resign from the office of Superior
General…and we know that, in this state of irremediable sickness, he made a total offering of
his life to God for the cause of his beloved Father Founder.xvii
Finally, an ascribed member, the President of the Past Pupils of Collegio di Domodossola,
Professor Giuseppina Viarana, wrote the following on 4 August 2001: ‘The death of Father
Zantedeschi saddened us greatly... We remember him, friendly and cheerful, at our annual
meeting of the past pupils at the girls’ college. We had met him several times at Calvario, at
the boys’ college, also at Stresa after his illness. I also used to write to him for feast days. We
always appreciated his spontaneity, his simplicity, and his deep faith expressed with
conviction and genuine feeling. I always remember at the end of the Mass he celebrated the
threefold invocation for priestly vocations…He has always been impressive because he knew
how to communicate the truth of spiritual and human values’.xviii
We shall be able to write more extensively about Father Zantedeschi, in the fullness of time
when we have access to his copious correspondence and diaries. But what has been said in
this article is sufficient for a profile of the man and his activities, and to leave on record –
especially for the younger members of the Institute who have not really known him – the
basic characteristics of a true Father, whom Providence deigned to give us.
8
i
Testimony taken from his brother Antonio. Generalitial Archive, Rome.
Testimony of his sister Santina, a reminiscence, and recorded in the Generalitial Archive, Rome.
iii
These are the grades in the Institute of Charity, according to the Constitutions written by Antonio
Rosmini on the model of the Ignatian Constitutions. Father Giambattista Zantedeschi professed his
vows before the Archbishop of Maracaibo Mons. Domingo Roa, delegate of the Provost General Father
Giovanni Gaddo.
iv
Information taken from Un Rosminiano in prima linea (A Rosminian in the Front Line) of Remo
Bessero Belti, Special Edition of Charitas, Stresa, 1990.
v
See in ‘Un Rosminiano…’ pp. 66 – 67 the account of young Antonio Margarito written in May 1945
‘to our beloved superior and master Zantedeschi’.
vi
Giambattista Zantedeschi was presented as ‘professor’ and ‘father of a large family’, and enjoyed
widespread success in East Sicily where he had been sent.
vii
Vittorino da Feltre (1373 – 1446) was an educator and humanist who had established, at Mantua, a
well known school called the ‘Ca’ Gioiosa (the joyful house), because of its simple and tranquil
method of helping young people to learn without fatigue, almost like a game to them. So Monte
Calvario with Father Zante was also a ‘Ca’ gioioso. Everyone was happy (some would say too happy!!)
and they all learned to serve the Lord in simplicity and sincerity just like their Superior.
viii
The manuscript, discovered in Maracaibo by the Rosminian Orlando Vilorio Abreu, is now in the
Achive at Stresa, while a copy of about a dozen pages is in the Generalitial Archive in Rome, in the
box ‘Venezuela’.
ix
An incident from the journey: At Peoria it happened that he broke his front denture. A young dentist
opened his surgery for him on a holiday and repaired it: a temporary job, he said, which lasted him for
about ten years.
x
The last meeting is recorded by a beautiful photograph, at the end of the concelebration of 2 February
1994 in which the Pope paused to speak with Fr Zantedeschi and told him of his great admiration for
Rosmini. Later Fr Zantedeschi related the Pope’s words with eyes shining.
xi
Only five numbers were printed, in large format with a fine yellow cover, from 1987 to 1993.
Perhaps the high cost of printing was the cause of its demise.
xii
One immediately calls to mind ‘that empress of all dishes, Donna Polenta’, of youthful Rosminian
memory (see, letter to his father from Padova, 11. 4. 1817, EC I, p. 245).
xiii
‘Messaggio ai messaggeri’ from Sacro Monte Calvario, Tuesday of Holy Week, 14. 4. 1981, also
preserved in the Generalitial Archive, box, ‘Zantedeschi’.
xiv
Manuscript in the Generalitial Archive, Papers, ‘Flynn’.
xv
This is an allusion to the difficult updating of the Rule, in force in the time of Father Zantedeschi.
Obedient to the Church he accepted these ‘new values’ of religious life and made them his own,
maintaining that Rosminian spirit which is epitomised in the Major Constitutions.
xvi
Typed paper in the Gneralitial Archive, Papers ‘Sartori’.
xvii
The monthly magazine, Charitas, Year LXXV, n. 8 – 9, August – September, 2001, pp. 236 – 239.
xviii
Various Manuscripts, Generalitial Archive, Rome.
ii
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