Mazzuchelli Cause Continues:
Tribunal Closes
SINSINAWA, Wis.—Bishop Robert C. Morlino and the Madison Diocesan Tribunal along with the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters invited the public to the closing session of the diocesan process regarding the beatification of the Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008, at 4:30 p.m. in Queen of the Rosary Chapel, Sinsinawa Mound. After this closing session, all documentation will be sent to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome for further study before any recommendation is made to the Pope.
This diocesan process began with a request from the Roman Postulator in July of 2006 to the Bishop of Madison, asking him to investigate a presumed miracle obtained from God through the intercession of Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP. The Bishop appointed a Tribunal to study the documentation and receive the testimony of witnesses; the first session of the diocesan process was opened in Madison in February of 2007, one of the many steps that could lead eventually to Fr. Mazzuchelli's being declared "Blessed" by the Pope.
Movement toward possible beatification of Fr. Mazzuchelli has involved a longer process, begun over 40 years ago by the first bishop of Madison, William P. O'Connor. In 1964, Bishop O'Connor established a Diocesan Historical Commission to determine if documents available were sufficient for the Church to proceed with initial steps required in the process of beatification. Thus, in 1964, the centennial year of Fr. Mazzuchelli's death, the first official ecclesiastical action had been taken. This step eventually led to Fr. Mazzuchelli's being declared "Venerable" by Pope John Paul II in 1993.
Bishop O'Connor once said of Fr. Mazzuchelli, "There are some who never die, men whose vital and vitalizing spirit survives their natural death and lives on. Father Samuel was not only a missionary par excellence, but he was also a scholar, a man of learning, who manifested the traits of a natural-born teacher."
Fr. Mazzuchelli (1806-1864) is known throughout the Mississippi River valley in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois and in the Great Lakes region for establishing more than 35 parish communities, designing and building more than 25 churches and civic buildings, and founding the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Fr. Mazzuchelli's life and example continue to have meaning for people today. His commitment to justice for the oppressed, to education, and to responsible civic participation are relevant values for our time.