It’s a Life Luigi Giussani: Historical Notes 1922, October 15 Luigi Giussani is born in Desio, a small town near Milan. His mother, Angelina gelosa, gave him his earliest daily introduction to the faith. His father, Beniamino, a carver and restorer of wood, a Socialist anarchist, passed on to him a passion for music, and the continuous invitation to ask the reason for things. 1933, October 2 He enters the Milan diocesan seminary of St Peter the Martyr, in Seveso where he stays until the third year of high school. 1937 He is transferred to Venegono, where he was to spend eight years (four completing high school studies and four studying theology). Besides the cultural training it offered, and his relationships of true esteem and great humanity with some of his masters (like Gaetano Corti, Giovanni Colombo, Carlo Colombo, and Carlo Figini), Venegono represents for Fr Giussani a very important environment thanks to the experience of the companionship of some “colleagues,” like Enrico Manfredini–the future Archbishop of Bologna–in the common discovery of the value of vocation. These are years of intense study and great discoveries, such as reading Leopardi, whose poem Alla sua donna (To His Woman), Fr Giussani tells us, he sometimes used during his meditation after the Eucharist. In those years, the conviction grew in him that the zenith of all human genius (however expressed) is the prophecy, even if unconscious, of the coming of Christ. Thus, he happened to read Leopardi’s hymn Alla sua donna as a sort of introduction to the prologue to the Gospel of St John, and to recognize in Beethoven and Donizetti vivid expressions of man’s eternal religious sense. Observance of discipline and order in seminary life became united with the strength of a temperament that, in his dialogue with his superiors and the initiatives of his companions, stood out for its vivacity and keenness. For example, together with some fellow students, Giussani promoted an internal newsletter, called Studium Christi, with the intention of making of it a kind of organ for a study group dedicated to discovering the centrality of Christ for understanding all the subjects they studied. 1945, May 26 He is ordained priest by Cardinal Ildefonso Schuster. Fr Giussani devoted himself to teaching at the seminary in Venegono. In those years, he specialized in the study of Eastern theology (especially of the Slavophiles), American Protestant theology, and a deeper understanding of the rational reasons for adherence to faith and the Church. 1954 He leaves seminary teaching in order to teach high school. 1957, April 11 His father dies of tuberculosis of the kidney. 1954 to 1964 He teaches at the Berchet Classical High School in Milan. In those same years, he began a work of study, writing articles for journals aimed at drawing attention both inside and outside the Church to the problem of education. Among other activities, he wrote the entry on “Education” for the Enciclopedia Cattolica. These are the years of the birth and spread of GS (Gioventù Studentesca, Student Youth). 1964 to 1990 He teaches the course Introduction to Theology at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) in Milan. On more than one occasion he was sent by his superiors to the United States for periods of study. In particular, in 1966 he spent some months in the States to pursue his study of American Protestant theology, resulting in the publication of an academic study, one of the few publications on the subject, entitled, Grandi linee della teologia protestante americana. Profilo storico dalle origini agli anni ’50 (An Outline of American Protestant Theology. An Historic Profile from the Origins to the ’50s). 1969 The name “Communion and Liberation” is adopted. 1981 Along with the Polish priest, Fr Blachnicki, founder of the movement Light and Life, he organizes the first International Convention of the Movements, in Rome. 1982 The Pontifical Council for the Laity recognizes the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, with Fr Giussani as President of the Central Diakonia. 1983 Fr Giussani’s mother dies. He is created Monsignor by John Paul II with the title Prelate of Honor of His Holiness. 1987 He is nominated consultor of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. 1988, December 8 The experience of the lay association Memores Domini, which includes members of CL who have made the choice to consecrate their lives to God in virginity, is recognized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. 1993 The birth of the collection “I libri dello spirito cristiano” (“Books of the Christian Spirit”), directed by Fr Giussani, for Rizzoli Rcs, one of the most prominent Italian publishing houses. 1994 He is nominated consultor for the Congregation for the Clergy. 1995 He is awarded the Bassano del Grappa International Award for Catholic Culture. 1997 The birth of the series of musical recordings, “Spirto Gentil,” issued in collaboration with Deutsche Grammophon, with Fr Giussani as the Director. December 11 The English edition of The Religious Sense is presented at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Invited by the Holy See’s Permanent Observer at the United Nations, Archbishop Renato Martino, a Buddhist monk (Takagi), a Jewish musician (Horowitz) and a Catholic theologian (Schindler) address those present. Fr Giussani will speak of this event as an unforeseeable fact and as a “new beginning” in the life of the whole Movement. 1998, May 30 The Pope meets the ecclesial movements and the new communities in St Peter’s Square. Fr Giussani presents his witness along with other founders. 2001 On the occasion of the tenth celebration of “Corona Turrita,” the official recognition the town of Desio gives to its illustrious citizens, the prize is awarded to Fr Luigi Giussani. 2002, February 11 On the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Pontifical Recognition of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation, John Paul II writes a long personal letter to Fr Giussani. October 15 On the occasion of Fr Giussani’s eightieth birthday, the Pope sends him a letter. The same year, the President of the Province of Milan, Ombretta Colli, assigns to Fr Giussani the Isambardi Prize Gold Medal of Recognition. 2003 Fr Giussani receives the Premio Macchi, awarded by the Association of Catholic School Parents, for distinction in the field of education. 2004 On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the birth of Communion and Liberation, John Paul II writes a long personal letter to Fr Giussani, dated February 22, 2004. March 16 During the fifth celebration of the Feast of the Statue of the Lombardy Region, Fr Giussani is granted the Sigillo Longobardo Award, assigned to citizens for particular social merits. October 16 On the occasion of the pilgrimage to Loreto for the 50th Anniversary of Communion and Liberation, Giussani writes his last letter. 2005, February 22 He dies in his home in Milan.