Francesco Bertoglio

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Francesco Bertoglio (15 February 1900 – 6 July 1977) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Rector of the Pontifical Lombard Seminary in Rome for more than twenty-five years and later Auxiliary Bishop of Milan. During World War II he sheltered dozens of Jews and political refugees and helped them evade capture by the Nazis.

Biography[edit]

Francesco Bertoglio was born on 15 February 1900 in Magenta, Italy. He studied at the Pontifical Lombard Seminary in Rome, where he joined his fellow student Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, on 16 November 1920, arriving late for the start of the term because he was completing his World War I service in the Italian army.[1] He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Milan on 31 March 1923.[citation needed] He continued his studies at the Seminary until 1924, earning a degree in theology. He then returned to Milan where he served as vice-rector of the gymnasium (secondary school) and taught at the seminary.[1] He moved to Rome to lead his alma mater as Rector of the Pontifical Lombard Seminary, beginning on 16 July 1933; he held that post for more than 27 years.[1]

During the Nazi occupation of Rome, the Seminary sheltered more than a hundred Jews and several political refugees. On the night of 21–22 December 1943, the Nazi Koch Band invaded and searched the Seminary building. Bertoglio challenged them and was instrumental in holding them off long enough for most of the people they were after to escape.[2][3] For his work that night and other assistance in providing shelter and forged documents he was later recognized as Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem.[4][5]

On 1 September 1960, Pope John XXIII named him titular bishop of Paros.[6] He received his episcopal consecration on 28 October 1960 from Pope John. He continued his work at the Seminary for several months, ending his tenure as Rector on 5 January 1961.[1]

He then led the Archconfraternity of SS. Ambrogio and Carlo, an association that had long supported the Seminary. He developed a plan for a seminary similar to the Lombard Seminary but having as its mission the education and spiritual formation of non-Italian clerics nominated by their bishops in an international community. In 1963 he won approval from the Congregation for Seminaries, now the Congregation for Catholic Education, for the proposed institution, to be named the International Ecclesiastical College of Saint Charles Borromeo.[7]

He was also postulator for the cause of Andrea Carlo Ferrari, which was opened 10 February 1963.[8]

In 1964, he became auxiliary bishop of Milan.[1][a]

Bertoglio died on 6 July 1977 at the age of 77.[10]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ According to Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, Bertoglio was auxiliary in Milan from his appointment as bishop in 1960.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Il Pontificio Seminario Lombardo nel centenario della fondazione" (PDF) (in Italian). Rome. 1965. pp. 44, 49–54, 56, 117, 121. Retrieved 15 June 2020. A cura di Ottavio Cavalleri e Giuseppe Scabini
  2. ^ Gaspari, Antonio (24 June 2011). "65 gli ebrei salvati da mons. Francesco Bertoglio". Zenit (in Italian). Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Un Giusto nel segno di Pio XII. Ricostruita la vicenda di monsignor Francesco Bertoglio che durante la guerra aiutò oltre cento perseguitati". L'Osservatore Romano (in Italian). 24 March 2011.
  4. ^ "The Righteous Among The Nations – Bertoglio Francesco (1900 - 1977)". Yad Vashem. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  5. ^ Tagliaferri, Lionello (2011). Il Papa lo vuole che teniamo questa gente. Le direttive di Pio XII e gli ebrei romani salvati dal Pontificio Seminario Lombardo (in Italian). Piacenza: Berti.
  6. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LII. 1960. p. 905. Retrieved 15 June 2020. rectorem Pontificii Seminarii Longobardi SS. Ambrosii et Caroli in Urbe
  7. ^ "History of the International Ecclesiastical College St. Charles Borromeo". Collegio Ecclesiastico Internazionale San Carlo Borromeo. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  8. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LVI. 1964. pp. 707–11. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  9. ^ Scola, Angelo (22 June 2014). "Animati dallo sguardo di Cristo, abitati dalla gioia del Vangelo". Chiesa di Milano. Retrieved 15 June 2020. quando nel 1960 fu nominato Vescovo ausiliare del cardinale Giovanni Colombo
  10. ^ Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXIX. 1977. p. 496. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
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