Luigi Giussani

Luigi Giussani (* October 15, 1922 in Desio, near Milan, † 22 February 2005 in Milan ) was a Catholic priest and founder of the movement Communion and Liberation.

Life

Childhood

Giussani's mother Angela introduced him to the faith, while his father Beniamino, who came from a family of artists and wood carver and restorer, Giussani constantly stopped to wonder about the why, the reason of things.

The age of ten he attended the minor seminary of his native diocese.

Study

Later Giussani continued his studies at the Theological Faculty of Venegono. Venegono coined Giussani claims to be because of cultural education, human relationships with some teachers, and because he felt there, appointed with colleagues such as Enrico Manfredini, who later became Archbishop of Bologna, " with a view of the world and for the world."

This included the reading of the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi. With some of his poems accompanied Giussani claims to sometimes meditation on the Eucharist.

As a young man Giussani, together with some fellow students, a kind of in-house magazine founded with the title Studium Christi. It was to handout a study group with the concern " for the understanding of each area of ​​knowledge, to explore the centrality of Christ ."

Priesthood

In 1945 he was ordained a priest and finally devoted himself to teaching at the seminary Venegono. He specialized in the study of Eastern, particularly the Slavophile, American Protestant theology and deepened the question of the rational reasons for adherence to the faith and the Church.

Mid-1950s, he gave up teaching in the seminary to teach in high school.

At that time, the Student Youth " Gioventù Studentesca " emerged (GS - which later arose CL ) to whose line is Giussani in 1954 immediately involved.

From 1964 he took over until his retirement in 1990, the Chair of Introduction to Theology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. In several study visits to the United States he also deepened his knowledge of American Protestant theology.

Giussani was an experiential religion important for faith is not a ' timid ancestors ', but a fact.

On February 22, 2005 Don Luigi Giussani died in Milan at the age of 82 years. The Requiem held Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI.

Communion and Liberation

In 1968, under his leadership, his movement arose under the new name Communion and Liberation ( Communion and Liberation ), the ( lay ) Fraternity in 1982 by Pope John Paul II was bestowed the official canonical recognition and belong to about 100,000 believers around the world today. John Paul II gave Monsignor Giussani on November 9, 1983 the title Pontifical honorary prelate.

Quotes

• "I do not feel as founder of Communion and Liberation (German: Communion and Liberation ) "
• "I was just trying the Catholic faith, which has been communicated to me by my mother and by my teachers in seminary to live my life. "