| Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, O.S.B. | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Archbishop of Milan | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| See | Milan |
| Appointed | June 26, 1929 |
| Reign ended | August 30, 1954 |
| Predecessor | Eugenio Tosi |
| Successor | Giovanni Montini (Paul VI) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | March 19, 1904 (Priest) |
| Consecration | July 21, 1929 (Bishop) by Pope Pius XI |
| Created Cardinal | July 15, 1929 |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest of San Martino ai Monti |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Alfredo Ludovico Schuster |
| Born | January 18, 1880 Rome, Italy |
| Died | August 30, 1954 (aged 74) Venegono Inferiore, Italy |
| Buried | Cathedral of Milan |
| Coat of arms | |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | August 30 |
| Beatified | May 12, 1996 by Pope John Paul II |
Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, O.S.B. (January 18, 1880 – August 30, 1954) was a Benedictine monk and Cardinal Archbishop of Milan during World War II. He was beatified on May 12, 1996 by Pope John Paul II.
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Alfredo Ludovico Schuster was born on January 18, 1880 in Rome, Italy, the son of Giovanni (Johann) Schuster, a Bavarian tailor and double widower, and Maria Ana Tutzer. Schuster's sister, Giulia, entered the Order of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul. Schuster also had three half-siblings from his father's second marriage. As a young child Schuster was briefly kidnapped. He served as an altar boy at the church of the Teutonic Cemetery, next to St. Peter's Basilica.[1]
Schuster completed his secondary-level studies (ginnasiali and liceali) at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in November 1891. On November 13, 1898 he joined the Order of St. Benedict at the novitiate of the monastery of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, where he took the name Ildefonso and professed on November 13, 1900. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy on June 14, 1903 and then a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Academy of S. Anselmo in Rome.[1]
Schuster was ordained on March 19, 1904 at the patriarchal Lateran Basilica in Rome by Cardinal Pietro Respighi, its archpriest and vicar general of Rome. He joined the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in 1904. He became master of novices in 1908, prior in 1916, and was elected abbot-ordinary of the abbey nullius on April 6, 1918. He also received the abbatial blessing from Cardinal Basilio Pompilj on April 14 there.[1]
He was the Procurator General of the Congregation of Monte Cassino from 1914 to 1929 and President of the Pontifical Oriental Institute from October 7, 1919 to July 4, 1922. He visited the seminaries of Lombardy Campania and Calabria from 1924 to 1928.[1]
Schuster was elected archbishop of Milan on June 26, 1929. On July 13, 1929 he took the oath of loyalty to the Italian state in front of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, the first Italian bishop to do so, as required by the Lateran Treaty.[1]
Schuster was created cardinal-priest by Pope Pius XI on July 15, 1929, receiving the titulus of Ss. Silvestro e Martino ai Monti on July 18, 1929. He was consecrated on July 21, 1929 in the Sistine Chapel by Pius XI personally, assisted by Carlo Cremonesi and Agostino Zampini.[1]
He served as a papal legate on several occasions. On August 15, 1932, he was appointed legate to the celebration of Our Lady of Caravaggio; on March 21, 1934, to the tenth centennial of Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland; on September 15, 1937, to the inauguration of the new facade of the cathedral of Desio; and on August 2, 1951, to the National Eucharistic Conference in Assisi.[1]
Schuster participated in the papal conclave of 1939, which elected Pope Pius XII on the eve of World War II.[1]
There were claims during the process for Schuster's beatification that he was sympathetic to Italian Fascism.[2] While there is evidence of some support for Italy's military ambitions, there is also evidence that he denounced the anti-Christian element of Fascist philosophy. He reportedly refused to participate in ceremonies involving Mussolini, and condemned racist legislation during the Fascist period.[2]
Schuster was an enthusiastic supporter of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, comparing it to the Crusades and viewing it as a potential source of converts.[3][4] On October 28, 1935, while celebrating Mass in the Cathedral of Milan, Schuster asked God to protect the Italian troops as "they open the door of Ethiopia to the Catholic faith and Roman civilisation", and blessed the banners of the departing troops.
In a speech at the School of Fascist Mystique in Rome in 1937, he spelled out a fanciful direct link between Imperial Rome, Christian Rome and Fascism: "God has chosen to reward the Duce by drawing his historical figure closer to the great spirits of Constantine and Augustus, through the work of Benito Mussolini reconnecting Rome and its King to a shining new imperial crown of Roman peace."[5]
On April 25, 1945, Schuster hosted in the archbishop's palace in Milan a meeting between Italian partisans and Mussolini in order to obtain a truce between the two parties, but Mussolini didn't accept the demand for unconditional surrender made by Marazza and Pertini, the partisan delegates. Mussolini arrived punctually at 5 p.m., but nobody from the other side was there. The delegates Cadorna, Lombardi and Marazza arrived an hour later. Mussolini had a chat with Schuster, and gave him a glass of rosolio to drink and a copy of a book he had written about the life of a saint. Schuster made an effort to preach humility to the Mussolini. Later Graziani and other Fascist leaders arrived, but all the versions given by the people who were present, which include Schuster's, differ greatly from one another.
Schuster died on August 30, 1954 in the Archiepiscopal Seminary Pio XI, at Venegono Inferiore near Milan. Cardinal Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (the future Pope John XXIII) celebrated his funeral. He was buried on September 2, 1954 in the metropolitan cathedral of Milan, next to his two immediate predecessors.[1]
The diocesan process of his cause for sainthood was opened on August 30, 1957 by Archbishop Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Pope Paul VI) and concluded on October 31, 1963. After his tomb was opened on January 28, 1985 his body was found to be intact. Schuster was declared "venerable" on March 26, 1994 by Pope John Paul II and beatified on May 12, 1996.[1][2]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Eugenio Tosi |
Archbishop of Milan 1929–1954 |
Succeeded by Giovanni Battista Montini |