BiographyGiussepeQuadrio


BiographyGiussepeQuadrio

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FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO
Theology Teacher and Master of Life
Translation by John Rasor of Remo Bracchi (ed.), Don Giuseppe Quadrio: Docente di Teologia e Maestro di Vita (Rome,
LAS 1989), pp. 9-22. These are the proceedings of a 1989 symposium on Fr. Quadrio at the Salesian Pontifical University
in Rome.
Presentation
Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio spent the last fourteen years of his brief and intensive life as a teacher of
dogmatic theology in the Theology Department of what was then the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum of
Turin (now Salesian Pontifical University in Rome). He was also chairman of the Department (from
1954 to 1959), up to the time his illness forced his retirement.
Teaching theology was the main job given him, and he consecrated his best energies to that, with
great seriousness and dedication, bringing to fruition what he had matured in the years of preparation
for this task.
But more than an assignment or a duty, he always saw a privileged and unique mission. He pushed
himself to make an authentic existential synthesis of study, teaching and life; of his study and his life;
of theological investigation and contemporary reality; of its problems and challenges.
For the students, this was – as numerous testimonies demonstrate – the most important and
eloquent lesson of Fr. Quadrio: doing theology with gaze turned with constant attention to those
hearing the doctrine, to the students in front of him as well as those far off, but no less important, men
of today with their conditionings and culture.
He succeeded above all in “doing theology” in the crucible of his own life. The proof came out
spontaneously, day after day, from the lectern, from personal dialog with the students and the many
persons he touched whether in his priestly ministry, or in particular the hospitals to which he was
repeatedly admitted during his last illness. Whoever approached found him constantly serene and
courageous, even in the focused consciousness of the irreversibility of his sickness and inexorable,
impending death.
The contributors to this present volume1 reflect some of the major phases of his figure, in particular
those that touch his mission of researcher and teacher. But they do not neglect other essential
dimensions of his person and life: indeed, they put into relief that basic coherence and that irresistible
efficacy which is a distinctive characteristic of all Christian holiness.
JUAN PICCA
Theology Department Chairman
1 Acts of the study seminar sponsored by the Theology Department at the UPS, 21-22 October 1989, on the occasion of the
25th anniversary of the death of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio.

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SUMMARY
The Theologian and the Teacher.........................................................................................................................................3
A Teacher's Relations with the Students.............................................................................................................................6
The Priest, the Shepherd......................................................................................................................................................7
Reading God in Fr. Quadrio's Letters................................................................................................................................10
Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Theology Teacher and Master of Life. Through the Initiatives Leading to Introduction of the
Cause.................................................................................................................................................................................12
Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio and the Dogma of Mary's Assumption:
Historical and Dogmatic Considerations..........................................................................................................................17
The Fathers of the Church
in the Writings of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio...........................................................................................................................20
The Responses of Fr. Quadrio
to Readers of Meridiano 12...............................................................................................................................................22
The “Fr. Quadrio Sources” in the Archives
of the Salesian Pontifical University:
Preliminary Organization and Inventory...........................................................................................................................26
APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................................................................63
THE FIGURE OF THE PRIEST
IN THE LETTERS OF
FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO SDB
Apropos of a Recent Book................................................................................................................................................64
Fr. Quadrio: a mature personality,
a life pervaded by sense....................................................................................................................................................66
Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio
master of theology and life................................................................................................................................................67

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THE THEOLOGIAN AND THE TEACHER
Achille M. Triacca
I will arrange my talk in three points: premises, Fr. Quadrio as a theologian and teacher, the
perennial teaching of Fr. Quadrio.
1. Premises: almost a wish to decorate a treasure
Dealing with a treasure, you proceed very carefully, and almost fearfully.
To talk about someone like Fr. Quadrio, whom I liken to a treasure, I need to begin with some
premises.
1.1. The title of this talk and its limits
The organizers of this workshop have asked me to deal with Fr. Quadrio as a theologian and a
teacher.
I tackled this theme trying to prescind from the fact of having known him: I met him for the first
time on June 6, 1957 at the Crocetta, and I was in that community with him for the three years from
1960 to 1963 during my theological studies. At the beginning of my 4th year, he who had been my
confessor, friend, and counselor passed away. However, I must say I never had him as a teacher.
During this workshop other talks and contributions study different publications of Fr. Quadrio, but I
will leave those aside: a) sermons, answers to questions in Meridiano 12, articles in Voci Fraterne and
in the Salesian Bulletin; b) his spiritual diary, unpublished talks, correspondence; c) all his unpublished
papers (sadly, so many destroyed! I remember emptying out his waste basket, with so many pages and
notes...).
So, I will just fundamentally limit myself to published or printed works (see below, 2.1, for details).
1.2. My limits and the the contents of this talk
Beyond the objective limits connected to my form of mind and my preparation, to be objective, I
should recall again that only obliquely can I deal with him as a teacher. So, I will see what comes out of
his writings on that point.
If he taught as in his sermons (of which I heard some) or in private talks, then I could say his
teaching was lively and vital.
On the other hand the content of my talk, which considers Fr. Quadrio as a theologian and a teacher,
limits the field of interest to that of teaching bound to theology. Let others investigate his teaching
philosophy while still a seminarian, or while helping seminarians or boys here and there with their
lessons.
And, in his turn, the theologian is considered in rapport with teaching. Obviously that last term is
understood in the wide sense, even if again restricted to printed or lithographed scholarly papers or
course supplements for theology.
Hence the limited field of this talk. Even limited as it is, it is still too vast for one talk.
Consequently, I need to say something about the method.

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1.3. The method to follow without falsifying the data
This talk aims to make only a snapshot of the data. To make it more three-dimensional, I will
follow with a starting evaluation.
This is all in a double intention to be objective, and to say something about the little to which I have
arrived in my investigation. The result is only preliminary, almost a wish to – as they say - “whet the
appetite”.
A true and proper research would need to widen the investigation to the library Fr. Quadrio used to
compile his class notes. Then one would need to compare those with the theology manuals of that time,
to see where he repeats, where he imitates, where he stands, where he innovates, where he is a
precursor.
Similarly, one would need to develop the key lines of his theological thought, if they exist. In part, I
would say right away they do, anticipating what I will say in the third part.
Anyway, there is no one who cannot see that a research could be projected that would reveal three
areas of Fr. Quadrio as theologian and teacher:
- his theological formation and later scholarly production;
- his method or methodology for transmitting its content;
- the spirituality of a theologian and teacher.
I will only make here brief reference to these.
2. Fr. Quadrio, the Teacher-Theologian: Almost a Wish to Mount Diamonds Among
Precious Pearls
To introduce this part, I refer to what we read in the letter to the Hebrews: “Remember your leaders,
who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
In this biblical citation is a program of motivations for the research to be done. But there is also
wrapped up here the power that has sustained me in the effort to make the synthesis.
Inasmuch as I report facts, they are seen synthetically. This serves to remember, consider, imitate.
2.1. The facts and their eloquence
Fr. Quadrio received his canonical mission to teach at the beginning of the academic year
1949-1950.
For that first year, the teaching staff roster printed in Kalendarium lectionum Pontificii Athenaei
Salesiani Societatis S. Francisci Salesii lists on page 10: “D. Joseph Quadrio Professor Theologiae
Dogmaticae,” and on p. 11, with professors D. D. Bertetto and D. N. Camillieri, he is listed as teacher
for the treatises De Verbo Incarnato et de Beata Maria Virgine – De Gratia – De virtutibus theologicis
for the 2nd and 3rd year,2 equivalent to 6 hours weekly for the whole academic year. The course thus
arranged – from what is noted here – was shared by Frs. Bertetto, Camillieri and Quadrio. But Fr.
Quadrio also had to defend his doctoral thesis in the first semester.
It is certain that, for this first year, the Superiors had asked him to do only the course De virtutibus
theologicis, listed among the disciplinae praecipuae.3 I've put data from the Kalendarium lectionum in
a footnote; these will show the particular theological subject areas to which Fr. Quadrio periodically
returned, deepening his treatment each time. That can be seen from the successive editions of his
course supplements or readers.4
2 Translator's note: Latin, “Calendar of lectures of the Pontifical Athenaeum of the Society of St. Francis de Sales”. This
is the course catalog. It lists him teaching the courses “On the Incarnate Word and the Blessed Virgin Mary”, “On Grace”,
and “On the Theological Virtues”. In those days, courses were taught in Latin and called tractatus, or “treatises”.
3 Translator's note: core courses.
4 1. Core courses: A. for the II, III, IV year (License degree. Tr.: roughly equivalent to a Master's.)

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Besides his teaching activity in the academic years 1949-1950 to 1962-1963 (effectively, up to
1959-1960), Fr. Quadrio was Secretary of the Department in 1950-1951 and 1951-1952, member of the
Department Council in 1952-1953, 1953-1954, and then 1959-1960, and Department Chairman from
1954 to 1959.
At the beginning of his Chairmanship (1954-1955), he introduced three sections of specialization in
the Department: Dogmatic Theology, Moral Theology, and Patristic Theology. In his last year,
1958-1959, he started the pastoral curriculum, following the norms of Sedes Sapientiae.5
To his academic activities of teaching and governing, we should add his scholarly production and
his popular writing, as can be seen from the list of his works furnished in Salesianum 25 (1963), pp.
633-637.
Beginning with the raw data, eloquent as they are taken alone, I love to envision a kind of ladder of
points that deserve to be more fully studied and developed.
2.2. Points to be developed in the thought of Fr. Quadrio
I will consider the thought of Fr. Quadrio globally. In the third part of the talk I will consider three
centers of interest of his scholarly production as it lies.
Here, I will just dwell on a few hypotheses for work which will serve to clarify his thought as a
theologian and a teacher.
2.2.1
Hypothesis for some “nodal” points of Fr. Quadrio as teacher and theologian, but always as
ministerially ordained priest
(1) Suffering caused by the detachment between the Church and the world of work and the poor
(these exploited by Communism-Marxism);
(2) Anxiety for the misunderstanding that worms its way between the formation staff and those
in formation;
(3) Effort to rethink new and adapted ways to do theology, to study it, to live it;
(4) Longing for an adapted presence in the world on the part of the Church;
(5) Thirst for the Word of God and for Tradition of the Church toward a sense of feeling with
the Church,6 progressive and ever more alive.
“On the theological virtues”: academic year 1949-1950, 1952-1953 (IV year), 1953-1954 (IV year),
1954-1955 (IV year), 1957-1958;
“On God, Creator and Redeemer (+ Last Things)”: 1951-1952, 1953-1954, 1956-1957, 1959-1960.
“On Penance, Extreme Unction, Marriage”: 1950-1951, 1953-1954 (II, III years), 1955-1956, 1958-1959.
B. For the V and VI year (= biennium for the doctorate)
“On the Dogmatic Definition of the Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary: Commentary on the Bull of
Definition”: 1950-1951.
“Selected Questions in Dogmatic Theology” 1956-1957, 1957-1958, 1958-1959.
2. Courses
“On the Supernatural Dignity of Christian Marriage”: 1959-1960 and 1961-1962 (course not held).
In the pastoral curriculum, “Dogmatic Questions on Marriage”: 1959-1960.
3. Exercises
“The Roman Pontiffs On the Social Mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary”: 1953-1954.
“Whether the Blessed Virgin Mary Died: Ancient Testimonies”: 1954-1955.
“Recent Questions on .....the Virtues”: 1955-1956.
“From Pius XII's Theological Doctrine”: 1955-1956.
“From the Pontifical Magisterium: Pius XII's Moral and Dogmatic Doctrine”: 1956-1957.
“From the Pontifical Magisterium: Pius XII's Moral Doctrine”: 1957-1958.
“From Magisterial Theology: Pius XII's Moral and Social Doctrine”: 1958-1959.
5 Translator's note: Pius XII, Apostolic Constitution on priestly formation (May 31, 1956).
6 Translator's note: sentire cum Ecclesia in the original, a Latin phrase often used at the time of the Council.

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2.2.2
Hypothesis for some “key” points of Fr. Quadrio as apostle of theological teaching
(1) Development and widening of the comprehension of the social or ecclesial dimension of
every theological treatise in which he had to directly concern himself by obedience (not by
inclination, I don't think; that remains to be demonstrated);
(2) Sound and creative updating of ways to do theology (not from an itch for reform, or to
appear up-to-date,7 or to be applauded by students);
(3) Evangelizing urge by intense work and intense prayer: sending forth the Holy Spirit before
giving a class, sanctified that class and his work of teaching.
2.2.3 Hypothesis for some “illuminating” points on Fr. Quadrio as a Salesian teacher and
theologian
(1) Delicacy with persons (a student of the sacred disciplines is a bearer of a sacred deposit of
faith).
(2) Sacrificing love for the Church and for the Congregation (he offered his sufferings); just
look at his work for the Superiors and his answers to the Departments, his preparation for
the Council, etc. (research that still needs to be urgently carried forward, so as to have in
hand the pulse of Fr. Quadrio's scholarly production, and thus of his theological thought);
(3) Mastery of exuberant emotion (good and kind, but emotional and strong, not mushy but
upright);
(4) Dedication to the work of teaching and scholarly publication: skimming through the
commemorative volume published for the 25th anniversary of the Pontifical Salesian
Athenaeum (Pontificium Athenaeum Salesianum MCMXL-MCMLXV, Romae MCMLXVI),
one discovers a characteristic of his: work, work, work.
Before going on to the third part of my talk, this question should be put:
2.3. Teacher-Theologian and/or Theologian-Teacher?
Here, the term theologian is understood etymologically: someone who discourses on the nature of
God, on what God knows of Himself and what He leaves comprehensible to human persons by
Revelation.
If Fr. Quadrio were only or predominantly a teacher-theologian, he would not be enriched with
virtues acquired by effort and by the ascesis demanded of him. He would just be like many other
theology teachers. Instead, he was a theologian who by obedience was also a teacher.
The theologian takes precedence in Fr. Quadrio, then the teacher. Indeed, the one is inter-penetrated
with the other, from which springs the spirituality of the theologian-teacher Fr. Quadrio.
3. The perennial teaching of Fr. Quadrio: almost a wish to continue study of his
personality and so imitate him
There can be no denying that the professional accuracy, the careful theological orthodoxy, clarity
and accessibility of his exposition come out in Fr. Quadrio's writings. These qualities, joined with the
centers of interest and the subjects he studied and taught, furnish interesting paths for study and
imitation.
In fact, after what's been said here, we can agree that the theologian-teacher (and vice-versa) Fr.
Quadrio can be imitated, not only psychologically and intellectually, but vitally. That is, the type of
imitation to which people of God are accustomed from the liturgy, which places before them the figure
of Christians who have known how to accept the gift of the Father which is His Son, as a model that
7 Translator's note: à la page in the original, a French idiom for “up to date”.

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inspires them to be perfected in symphony with the continual work of the Holy Spirit.
The study of the person and the personality of Fr. Quadrio could lead to knowing better the interior
dynamism of his life and activity as theologian-teacher, knowing to appreciate, appreciating to love,
loving to imitate.
Very well, given the parameters of this talk, I think we can circumscribe the perennial teaching of
Fr. Quadrio in three concentric circles:
- The most intense is that gravitating around Mary.
- The most interesting is that of dialogue with the world.
- The central one is that of the virtuous Christian.
I am of the opinion that it is on these where we should concentrate the reflection on Fr. Quadrio,
whose figure emerges more and more with a profile all his own. It is his spirituality, more than his
production, which should constitute the object of deeper study.
3.1. From Mary, Mother of the Church, to the interests of the Church, Mother of Peoples
Fr. Quadrio's doctoral research formed him to plumb the roots of the past. That has not separated
him from the present. Instead, the research made him a faithful son of his time, able to interpret the
signs of the times and recover from them lines of action and openness to the future.
His Mariological research and output made him sensitive to ecclesiological problems. To properly
reflect Fr. Quadrio, one must stand apart from the common mode of theological thinking of the decade
in which he taught. Doubtless he did not consider his teaching as an effort to justify magisterial
doctrine. His method of explaining the treatises and the progressive change in tone and diction of his
assigned seminar exercises serve to denote how, while being Catholic and as a son of Don Bosco lived
the “feeling with the Church”, respecting, studying, and deepening the magisterium of the Popes, he
knew how to soften the apologetic component regarding the truths present in the magisterium, to enable
the hermeneutic of the texts themselves. He was not a simple commentator on the data, so much as an
interpreter, open to catch prophetic nuances.
Thus if he cultivated the Marian theme, he pushed the boundary between dogmatic definition and
debatable opinions, intent on finding understanding – as we'd say today – of the economy of salvation.8
Fr. Quadrio felt himself fully free in Marian research and in the work of the seminars he gave
(1953-1954) to tackle very debatable questions, like Utrum Beata Maria Virgo mortua sit: testimonia
antiquiora and De mediatione sociali Beatae Mariae Virginis apud Romanos Pontifices.9 This last one,
together with other articles appearing in “Salesianum” and elsewhere,10 prepared the 5th volume of the
Salesian Marian Academy (S. E. I., Turin 1962) with the significant title Mary and the Church. The
social mediation of Mary Most Holy in the teaching of the Popes from Gregory XVI to Pius XII.
His studies on the same theme had already appeared for Gregory XVI, Leo XIII, Pius X and Pius
XI. Thus the volume covers the arc of time from 1831 to 1958 with the addition of an investigation of
8 This way, during the academic year 1950-1951, he simply dealt with the dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, but elsewhere (as in: “Salesianum” 12 [1950] 463-486; “La Scuola Cattolica” 79 [1951] 18-51) he
discussed the reasons put forward by theologians for the definition, both in the light of tradition and with his own personal
contribution.
9 Translator's note: the Latin titles of the two seminars are translated: “Whether the Blessed Virgin Mary died: more
ancient testimonies”, and “On the social mediation of the Blessed Virgin Mary according to the Roman Pontiffs”.
10 Following the chronological order of the Popes, the articles appearing in the volume are: L'insegnamento mariano del
Papa Gregorio XVI (1831-1846), in: “Salesianum” 20 (1958) 542-561; Le relazioni tra Maria e la Cheisa
nell'insegnamento di Leone XIII, in: Maria et Ecclesia (= Acta Congressus Mariologici-Mariani in civitate Lourdes celebrati
anno 1958) 3 (Romae 1959) 611-641; La mediazione sociale di Maria SS. Nel magistero di S. Pio X, in: AA.VV., Problemi
scelti di Teologia contemporanea (= Analecta Gregoriana, 68 Ser. Fac. Theol. Sectio A, 11) (Roma 1954) 361-381; also in
L'Immacolata Ausiliatrice (= Accademia Mariana Salesiana, 3) (Turin 1955) 181-202; La Mediazione sociale di Maria
Santissima nel Magistero di Pio XI, in: “Salesianum” 17 (1955) 473-493.

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Pius IX, Benedict XV and Pius XII. The study of Pius X coincides with the year of his canonization
and the Marian Year (1954) (the first Marian year was proclaimed in 1904 by that same Pius X). Fr.
Quadrio tackles a Mariological problem which, with Chapter VII of Lumen Gentium would be received
as part of the fabric of the living deposit of faith.
After his doctoral thesis, Fr. Quadrio's research on Mary could appear casual and derivative, but
effectively it was not. In fact, one can see a certain development in his teaching from 1955-56 (course
title: ex doctrina theologica Pii XII) to 1956-57 and 1957-58 (ex Magisterio pontificio) to 1958-59 (ex
theologia magisteriali)11. The course title changes have nuances of no small significance.
Thus Quadrio the theologian sunk research roots into a theme in tune with the hour of Mary –
according to the expression of Pius XII (see Pius XII, Augustissima coeli, in AAS 42 [1950] 174) – the
development of the teacher-theologian's circle from Marian interest widens toward the aspect of
mediation which is present in the life of Mary an in her work of association with the Unique Redeemer,
Jesus Christ, her divine Son.
When Fr. Quadrio writes in 1962 that “the parallelism Mary-Church helps gain a just and balanced
comprehension of the mystery of the Mother of God and of the singular position she occupies in the
design of salvation” (see p. V. of the Presentation of the work cited above), he anticipates the Council
discussions on the theme “Mary and the Church”. The soul of Fr. Quadrio breathes with this vision. His
research considers “mariological truths in the light of the relation between Mary and the Church. Thus
the divine maternity, the spiritual maternity, the cooperation of the Virgin in redemption and in the
distribution of graces, are not regarded only in themselves, but uniquely as they speak rapport with the
structure, foundation, growth and defense of the Church.” (see ibid., pp. VI-VII)
The Marian subsoil of the spirit of Fr. Quadrio is evident from his own considerations. Research
that weaves together the affirmations of the theologian, of the pastor (sermons, answers to questions,
etc.), of the confidante (diaries, correspondence, etc.) would help us understand how the soul of the
Salesian, priest, teacher and theologian pass always more and more deeply from Mary Mother of the
Church to the interest of the Church Mother of Peoples. Fr. Quadro asserts that it was not his intention
to do a special research on the significance and import of the Marian title Help of Christians. But that
title shows up so many times as to make understandable how much importance the unconquerable
patronage Mary exercised for the Church and its visible head (see ibid., p. VII).
From his meditation on Mary, Fr. Quadrio opened himself to others, to the interests of man. That is
the second circle of the reality to which Fr. Quadrio as teacher-theologian put his attention.
3.2. From opening to the problems of man to man open to the realities of God
The mandate he received from the acadedddymic superiors to teach the treatises De Deo creante et
elevante and De Novissimis12, together with the ones on the sacraments of Penance and Extreme
Unction (as it was called then) and on Matrimony (dogmatic part), determined in Fr. Quadrio a
particular sensibility for the problems of man attentive to the theological debates of the day, open to
accept whatever good was contained in the problems of contemporary life. To students, Fr. Quadrio
seemed the teacher most open to the problems of man. His philosophical preparation, indeed his having
taught some of the philosophical treatises, developed in him the attention to man. That emerges from an
attentive analysis of some of his writings.13 Those should be put in relation with the seminars he
11 Translator's note: These Latin titles can be translated: “From the theological doctrine of Pius XII”, “From the pontifical
Magisterium”, “From the magisterial theology”.
12 Translator's note: courses on God as Creator of the natural and supernatural, and on the Last Things (eschatology).
13 I refer especially to the following: O comunismo apresentado pelos seus mentores (Lisbon 1958) 98 pages (Portuguese
version edited by G. Abba' in Problemi d'oggi, see below); Teologia dogmatica e Catechisi, in: AA. VV., Bibbia Liturgia e
Dogma nella preparazione dottrinale del sacerdote catechista = Studi di Catechesi 2 (Turin 1959) 39-53; San Tommaso e le
origini del lavoro nella Bibbia, a communication to the 5th International Thomistic Congress (a contribution that appears in
the Acts [Rome 1961] 481-496; La grandezza del Matrimonio cristiano (Turin 1960) 46 pages (2nd edition 1964) 66 pages

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moderated: “Moral and dogmatic doctrine of Pius XII” (1956-1957); “Moral doctrine of Pius XII”
(1957-1958), “Moral and social doctrine of Pius XII” (1958-1959).
These titles show how Fr. Quadrio's interests move from “Theological doctrine of Pius XII”
(1955-1956) to dogmatic and moral, then to moral and social context in the following years.
I did not have occasion to analyze the 1958 Portuguese publication and to compare it with what is
contained from p. 3 to p. 62 in the last contribution Today's Problems cited in note 13 above, where Fr.
Quadrio deals with Dialectical Materialism and the Origins of the Universe (in these years, the
Philosophy Department of the Pontifical Salesian Athenaeum began work on the Encyclopedia of
Atheism).
Fr. Quadrio's book reviews are significant. In 1957 he reviewed Marcozzi's Origins of Man (see
Salesianum 1957, p. 339).
Attention toward man's problems did not impede Fr. Quadrio from remaining open to the realities
of God. His formation, his spirituality, his philosophical and theological preparation, his teaching and
writing preferences reveal a true theologian. Consider his book review of the work on grace and
original justice according to St. Thomas, by Fr. Van Roo SJ (Salesianum 1957, pp. 355-356), the entries
for “Monogenism”, “Polygenism (doctrine)”, “Man”, “Teilhard de Chardin”, “Faith”, “Plurality of
Inhabited Worlds”, “Pre-Adamites”, etc. in the UTET Ecclesiastical Dictionary.14 There is no
contradiction in him between between what faith tells us and the liberty of the scientific researcher.
Being a person open to the reality of God, he is truly a theologian. As a believer, he puts research in the
horizon of revelation. He brings the object of faith to research into the intelligibility of the truths
coming from the Word of God, from Tradition, from the Church which professes them.
Fr. Quadrio's effort is to make understandable that his research into the sources is oriented to the
comprehension of the history of salvation. It remains to investigate the whole sector of his intellectual
formation to collect the particulars and abundantly document the passage from a formation of the
philosophical-Thomistic-speculative type to a positive and vitally practical mind.
Fr. Quadrio was not only able to produce tools for a deeper consciousness of the data of revelation
and of tradition (= historicity of theology), but adorned with the theological art, succeeded in showing
in events the truth of the mystery of the Triune God which acts in time.
His notable capacity to express himself in attractive language should also be remembered, with
forms of communication adequate to his audience (= the pedagogical-expository art). This is why I
want to put “From opening to the problems of man to man open to the realities of God” as the title of
the second part of this section. But I add here that the terms are interchangeable. In fact, just because
Fr. Quadrio was a “man open to the realities of God,” he was also a person rich in opening to the
problems of man.
Again, one of his characteristics as teacher and theologian emerges: interest in the Church,
reference to the ecclesial, to being with the Church. It's not so much a disposition of openness to the
“community of the faithful” with him, but a connotation of his way of doing theology and being a
theologian.
He is in continual relation with the tradition of the Church, but he reaches out also continually to
the man of faith, with whom he participates with pastoral and spiritual zeal for his personal growth and
that of others. That is what he succeeds in accepting and deepening with his study.
One can comprehend, in this context, how much I would like to synthesize in the last section of this
talk.
[the 2nd edition is dated 21 September 1962 but published in 1964]; Problemi d'oggi. In margine al trattato “De Deo
Creante” (Turin 1960, 2nd edition 1963) 163 pages. Translator's note: Today's Problems: Marginal Notes on the Treatise
“God the Creator”.
14 Translator's note: UTET is an Italian book publisher, founded 1791 in Turin.

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3.3. From the virtues of a Christian to the reality of the virtuous Christian
Nobody doubts that Fr. Quadrio is a virtuous Christian. Indeed, if that were not eminently so, we
wouldn't be here talking about him.
Here the fact that he is a theologian full of obedience and fidelity to the Magisterium should be
accentuated. He is a theologian “responsible” for his ministry of teaching.
In this sense the virtues of Quadrio the Christian, insofar as he is a theologian, allowed him to go
deeply into the mysteries of faith. He has studied these mysteries of the faith not as ends in themselves
or by himself, but rather in historical and contingent coordinates, among seminarians in formation for
the ministerial priesthood, for the needs of the Church.
In the maturing process of his mandate as professor of dogmatic theology, Fr. Quadrio was
advantaged in teaching the treatise on the theological virtues, for which he has left us some outlines for
class notes entitled Class Notes for the Treatise on the Theological Virtues (Turin 1954, 190 pages)15,
which saw a revised and expanded second edition (no date), presumably written 1957-1958.16
The dogmatic treatise on the theological virtues is the one Fr. Quadrio taught five times: in
1949-1950 to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th year theology students, and three times to the 2nd year only:
1952-1953, 1953-1954, and 1954-1955.
Twice he also moderated seminars on the same theme: in 1955-1956 titled More Recent Questions
on the Virtues, and in 1961-1962 On the Theological Virtues in Sacred Scripture.17
It is then certain that the theology of Fr. Quadrio takes its rhythm from the conjugation of the sacred
page (sacred Doctrine as comment and interpretive effort of and in the Word of God) and the
understanding of truth as led by faith, to overflow into concrete life his own wisdom as a master expert.
Of the Christian virtues viewed theologically, Fr. Quadrio took advantage for his spirituality and
pastoral ministry, as well as for the spirituality and pastoral ministry of the students. It was not for
nothing that Fr. Melotti, again in 1966, will prepare for the theology students at the studentate of
theology of the Salesian Pontifical University, campus at Monteortone, an Italian translation of Fr.
Quadrio's original Latin treatise on the virtues. He expanded the bibliography and added some citations
of Vatican II documents, but kept Fr. Quadrio's structure and content. This treatise is still up-to-date.
Comparing this treatise with those in use at the Roman colleges at the time, or with the
contemporary treatment of the French Dominican authors of Initiation théologique, one sees that Fr.
Quadrio stands out for a certain boldness in of initiative and arrangement. For all that he sticks to the
thesis, he nonetheless reflects a vastness of concept, especially in relation to the usefulness of the
treatment, in the precision and abundance of positive data, in the rigor and originality of the synthesis,
in the transparency and liveliness of expression, in the delicate and serene evaluation of non-orthodox
positions, and also – I daresay – in the supernatural air that it breathes.
It is understood that in Fr. Quadrio the “doctrinal”, far from excluding the “pastoral”, includes it,
precisely because the pastoral is not an alternative, nor optional, but essential for the virtuous Christian
in the case of his own life.
But even here, from the virtues of a Christian to the reality of the virtuous Christian, the terms are
interchangeable, first of all in the life and teaching of Fr. Quadrio. “Life – teaching”: an inseparable
binomial for the professor of dogmatic theology. This is also in the vitality which he transmitted. The
“spiritual” connotation of his teaching admits diminution neither of the truth he must hand on nor of the
authority with which he teaches. Fr. Quadrio knew how to integrate ecclesiology effectively,
emphasizing its Mariological dimensions, along with the social and mystery dimensions.
For this, happy to study Fr. Quadrio, let us study how to imitate him.
15 Translator's note: Fr. Triacca gives the original Latin title, Subsidia in tractatum de virtutibus theologis. The second
edition adds to the title: emendata et aucta.
16 See the beginning of the next talk, by G. Gatti.
17 Original titles in Latin, respectively: Quaestiones recentiores de virtutibus, and De virtutibus theologicis in Sacra
Scriptura.

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A TEACHER'S RELATIONS WITH THE STUDENTS
Guido Gatti
My talk aims to reconstruct some aspects of the figure of Fr. Quadrio the teacher, above all in terms
of his rapport with the students. This is based on my memories, unfortunately a little vague and already
getting old. I will also base it on two editions of the reader Fr. Quadrio worked up as an adjunct to the
treatise18 on the theological virtues, done in 1954 and 1957.
1. The course on the theological virtues
The two editions were not followed by others. The course was given in a three year rotation, so it
would start over every three years. Fr. Quadrio' sickness kept him from giving it in 1960-1961, and so
he did not do a third edition.
I came to the Crocetta in 1954, the very year Fr. Quadrio gave that course for the first time, or at
least, the first time he used that reader.
Naturally, I was in the first year and could not have him as a teacher. But I remember my buddies in
theology, although finding Fr. Quadrio particularly interesting and appreciated, did not spare him some
criticism.
According to them, the course was still tied to traditional models of a theology too scholastic in
form and content.
Thinking about it, I don't see how it could have been otherwise. Fr. Quadrio was still a rookie
teacher. His ties, emotional even more than intellectual, with the theological scene at the Gregorian
University in Rome, kept him from doing anything much different. He felt a dutiful veneration for his
teachers, especially Fr. Lennerz. That would have been too rapid a break from the kind of theology he
had studied so diligently and so intelligently from his own student desk there. That is the price every
beginner pays for lack of experience.
2. Ability to question himself
I'd have to say that students at the Crocetta had access to their professors that would be almost
unthinkable today, even where they live in the same house. Even so, with no professor was access so
free, practical, unveiled and without reservation as with Fr. Quadrio.
He was at recreation with us. He'd hear our gripes in his room with infinite patience, whether about
his teaching or that of other professors. After all, he was the chairman of the theology department, and
you could vent to him.
Not that all the criticisms were justified or well measured, but they were always stimulating, if one
had the courage to question himself. He did.
He responded firmly, but with great courtesy, to criticisms he thought less justified or ungenerous,
especially those aimed at his colleagues. But he always took note if there was even a minimum of
reasonableness and truth in them, and strove to accept the stimulus to renewal contained in them.
The criticism given him, and generally to the whole teaching of scholastic theology in those days,
18 Translator's note: before the Council, theological courses were called treatises, and had Latin names. Here, it is De
Virtutibus Theologicis.

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was above all the abstract, stereotypical, artificially syllogistic way of treating the material; the scarcity,
fragmentary and tendentious use of the Bible and the Fathers of the Church; the absence of any contact
with human sciences; the astronomical distance from any of the pedagogical or pastoral problems the
students ran into in their practical training.
Fr. Quadrio, moved by these criticisms, improved his teaching so rapidly, so that when my turn
came to take the second three year rotation, this course on theological virtues was unanimously
regarded as a happy exception to the quality of theological teaching at that time and place.
That is at least what I remember.
I wanted to get confirmation on these impressions by comparing the two editions of the reader. I
won't hide the fact that, reading them after so many years, I found much to be disappointed about in
both of them.
I don't think just written pages do full justice to the living reality of school. Fr. Quadrio himself
recognized that, writing in the preface to the 2nd (1957) edition: “This modest study aid, copied for the
convenience of the students, offers only the main lines of the material and is somewhat dry. It would be
useless, then, if not animated and complemented by the living voice of the teacher and the careful
meditation of the students.”
Anyway, there is a very significant difference between the two editions.
The 1954 reader was essentially compiled from Fr. Lennerz's 1947 text published at the Gregorian.
The outline, the theses, even the wording in some parts, were the same. Same, too, was the use of little
pieces and morsels of Scripture and the Fathers, even in the middle of these impossible syllogisms.
There was the same cold, artificial style, the same hierarchical list of problems, coming from the most
part from past centuries; the same distance from today's world and our culture; the same solutions to
disputed questions not a few.
You might see a certain move toward deduction in Fr. Quadrio's placing the reader material on
theological virtues in general at the beginning. Fr. Lennerz put that after the parts on the particular
virtues of faith, hope and charity. That added even more of a generic and abstract character to the
reader.
But there was a exceptional clarity in doctrine and its exposition compared to Fr. Lennerz's text. Fr.
Quadrio had a happy ability to synthesize, and get at the essentials. He radically reduced the more
scholastic parts of the text, reducing the reader to half the size of the text.
But we deal here with only a promise of improvement. That promise is kept in the 2nd edition.
3. First fruits of the revision
Some signs of a greater independence from Fr. Quadrio's favorite author, and from the cultural
world of his admirable formation, appear in this 2nd edition. You can see that in the solution to some of
those disputed questions.
For example, when he explains the affirmation of Vatican I that a Catholic can never have a
justifiable reason to abandon or hold in doubt his own faith, he still follows Lennerz's opinion that
“justifiable cause” is not only to be taken objectively (which would be too obvious), but also
subjectively, in the sense that any abandonment or questioning of faith must be culpable. But Fr.
Quadrio is careful to exclude, very reasonably, from the presumption of grave culpability “those who
never adequately and consciously believed, or never had a true Christian education.”
On the contrary, according to Fr. Quadrio, this presumption holds only for the Catholic “sufficiently
developed in the doctrine of the faith, who is in fact conscious of it, having once professed it under the
magisterium of the Church.”19
19 Translated from Fr. Quadrio's Latin reader pp. 237-241, as reported by Fr. Gatti: “sufficienter in fidei doctrina exculto,
qui reapse catholicam fidem conscius, sub Ecclesiae magisterio aliquando professus sit.” On the same argument, see the
side note “La perdita della fede nei cattolici”, in Dizionario Ecclesiastico 1, 1953, pp. 1076-1078, now reprinted in Don
Giuseppe Quadrio, Risposte, edited by R. Bracchi, Rome 1992, pp. 331-336. Translator's note: the reprint is Fr. Quadrio's

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In the new text there are frequent references to problems of faith for the young and people of our
time, gathered from research results, articles in catechetical and pastoral reviews, books not specifically
theological, recently published in Italy and abroad, that deal with these current problems of faith.
But the really new point and the full break from the outlines inherited from the scholastics is in the
“short notes on faith in Scripture”20, which make up about one seventh of the reader.
Here, he abandons the gray prison of the Latin, to which he had been constrained by obedience to
the superiors' decisions. Here, he finally found himself in the style at once compact and profoundly
evocative of his non-academic writings. No more proof texts from the Bible, taken from a theoretical
construct extraneous to Scripture. No, the Bible is at the center of the discourse, presented with due
philological and and historical competence.
A complete phenomenology of faith, as “a vital, total, personal act”, comes out of this investigation.
Faith is “obscure recognition, affective, connatural.”
This new treatment does not fully remove the scholastic aridity of the old set-up; in a sense, it
remains extraneous and parallel to the old. You feel even more strongly the need for a more radical
renewal.
Fr. Quadrio himself puts the problem as one of rapport between the biblical and the theological
concept of faith, and finds it difficult to reconcile them.
But the results of the added biblical section start to impact the outline of the traditional treatment of
faith. As though to demonstrate the freedom of the act of faith, the affective and vital characteristic of
faith, the believer's reflection and work on it are emphasized more than the traditional motive of
non-observability. Elsewhere, he exalts the communitarian and ecclesial character of faith itself, with a
beautiful profession of love for the Church as “a society of believers, a visible organism of revelation,
almost a concrete divine revelation.”21
But the new material still does not, of itself, impact the whole outline of Fr. Quadrio's reader.
4. Listening and availability for dialog
Fr. Quadrio, who was also department chairman, could do no more in the course of those three
years. But, in concluding the 2nd edition, he set for himself as a program to make a “true biblical,
psychological, pastoral and pedagogical synthesis of faith, hope and charity, in another volume of the
work.”22
One recognizes easily in this series of adjectives: “biblical, psychological, pastoral and
pedagogical”, the full acceptance of the students' criticisms, which he confronted without
defensiveness, which were at the basis of his progressive but not painless renewal. It could be objected
that he could have found those same stimuli, with a quite different authoritativeness, reading
theological works and networking with other experts.
But the example of other teachers, no less than Fr. Quadrio acquainted with these sources, but more
closed than he to the needs of renewal, authorizes us to think the reverse: reading books and attending
meetings with his own peers would make it too easy to pick and choose selections and find a consensus
in favor of one's own preconceptions. You can't domesticate students as easily as that. There's nothing
like mixing it up with them to test your own preconceptions, and open up to really new perspectives.
So, that attitude of humble listening, benevolent condescension, non-defensive discussion, was
before all else an ascetic value. It was a difficult kind of dying to oneself and one's own pretensions to
answers to questions from readers of the monthly Meridiano 12, an Italian Catholic magazine like Catholic Digest. Fr.
Bracchi's book has a chapter on these: it is Raimondo Frattallone, “Fr. Quadrio's Answers to Readers of Meridiano 12”, pp.
131-151.
20 Fr. Quadrio's actual section title is “adnotatiunculae de fide in S. Scriptura”.
21 Fr. Quadrio's original Latin: “societas credentium, organum visibile revelationis, quasi concreta divina revelatio.”
22 Fr. Quadrio's original Latin: “Complementa vero sive biblica, siva psychologica, sive pastoralia et paedagogica de fide,
spe et caritate, in altero operis volumine tradentur.”

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intellectual and self-sufficient superiority. That attitude showed itself a precious force of intellectual
renewal and an indispensable means to confront adequately the duties of an educator and master.

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THE PRIEST, THE SHEPHERD
Luigi Melesi
It is hard to summarize, and concentrate in a few pages, the life of Fr. Quadrio, even though it
lasted only 42 years and spanned only Vervio, Turin and Rome. The risk is to make it banal, or
exaggerate and make it mythical.
The difficulty is to reproduce faithfully, with verbal tools, the weight and depth of his charity, the
totality of his faith, and his Christian stamina in hoping for eternal happiness. More, there is his nature
and his style, his questioning and convictions as a seeker of truth, his sentiments echoed or repressed,
the things he accomplished, interpersonal relations he made and kept. Above all, there is the years-long
conscious daily conviction of impending death.
Even while focusing on his “being a priest”, the perplexity remains because Fr. Quadrio never split
his life into hours teaching and hours being a priest; he did not fragment his being priest from being a
researcher, an educator, or a sick man.
He was a priest with everyone, everywhere and always. Echoing Don Bosco, he repeated in
speaking and writing, that a priest has to be a priest in the classroom, on the playground, in his room, at
the hospital, on the train or on the street...
So, to know and understand his priestly essence and action, we need to study and penetrate his
personality, monolithic and unified. It is not fractured by roles or outside spectators, by fashion or
narrow interest.
1. A three arch bridge
Fr. Quadrio planned and built his priesthood in form and dynamics like a great bridge with three
arches, spanning the universe. His priesthood is inspired by that of Christ, indeed, it is modeled by His
from up close.
He loved to say that a priest is a pontifex23, one who makes himself a bridge between men and God.
He it is who makes connections, who demolishes mountains of hate, fills valleys with love, makes
reconciliation and communion even when that seems impossible.
Incisive and imaginative is the presentation of the nature of the priest described by him to his
friends when they met on the third anniversary of their ordination:
Priesthood and incarnation are two faces of a single mystery; the classical deformations that
threaten our priesthood correspond to false notions of the Incarnation, well known from theology.
Indeed, there can be a disincarnated priesthood, in which divinity has not succeeded in assuming a
true and complete humanity (Docetism). Today we have some priests who are not authentic men, but
mere larvae of humanity. They are like Martians dropped out of the sky, strange, de-humanized,
incapable of understanding or being understood by people of their own time and surroundings. They
forget that Christ, to save men, “descended … was conceived … was made man.” and “wished to
become like them in all things but sin.” If we are the bridge between men and God, the end of the bridge
has to be solidly supported by the human shore, accessible to all for whom the bridge was constructed.
23 Translator's note: Latin for “bridge builder”.

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But maybe for us the opposite risk is worse: that of a worldly priesthood, in which the human has
diluted and suffocated the divine (Monophysitism). We have now the tearful spectacle of priests who are
maybe good professors and organizers, but no longer “men of God”. They are not true epiphanies of
Christ. They are like certain churches turned into secular museums.
There is an infallible thermometer for measuring the consistency of one's own priesthood: prayer. It
is the first and essential occupation of a priest, be he Director, Councilor, Prefect, or in charge of the
Oratory. All the rest is important, but comes after prayer. Otherwise, we're a bridge where the last arch
has collapsed: the one that reaches God.
Finally, there can be the deformation of priestly Nestorianism: a lacerated priesthood, in which the
divine and the human coexist without harmony. Priests on the altar, but they act like lay folk in at the
teacher's desk, in the courtyard, among men. They are like a bridge with the two ends in good shape, but
with a fallen central arch that should have connected them.
A true and authentic priest is the one in whom the man is completely, always, and only a priest, even
while remaining perfectly human, not excluding any field or sector. The man and the priest have to
expand and mutually penetrate in a harmonic synthesis which imitates the union of God and man in
Christ.
Even the most secular occupations must be animated by an acute, un-eclipsed priestly
consciousness.
The priestly ministry for Fr. Quadrio is not simply functional or ritual, but real and connatural to the
consecrated man. It sinks its roots in the mystery of Christ the God-Man, to the point of generating in
itself, by divine grace, a sacramental, psychological and mystical conformation to Christ the Priest, so
enabled to not only act in the person of Christ, but to live Christ. It fills up from Him the human
dimensions and powers.
In a letter he wrote to me on April 2, 1961, he says, “One should be so taken by Him, as to be a
living Sacrament of his Person, Truth, and Grace. And maybe also a visible Sacrament of His Passion
and Death. And, above all, a tangible Sacrament of His Goodness.”24
In that “one should”, I see his daily effort to come as close as possible to the full measure of Christ,
eternal High Priest.
But what set Fr. Quadrio on that project of life, to chase year after year that unimaginable and
unreachable goal, with only his human strengths and capacities? Who favored him and helped him to
realize it, to reach it? How was he able to keep from sterilizing his heart, limiting his intelligence, or
weakening his will, but to grow instead in humanity and to live the Beatitudes of the Gospel with such
intensity, coherence, and constancy?
There could be several answers to this question.
I'll be content to offer only two (already indicated by Fr. Quadrio himself, in the letter quoted
above): God and humanity, the two ends of the bridge. Fr. Quadrio was conquered by the Triune God,
revealed in Jesus Christ, and by that humanity so loved by God, but so in need of grace and salvation.
In the discovery of the Holy Spirit during his first year of theology at the Gregorian in Rome, and in
that resulting name change to “docile to the Holy Spirit”,25 I think I glimpse a significant moment
which irreversibly determined his road to holiness in priestly life, even though rough and steep in some
periods, which I believe had no pauses except to check on the journey done and on the future direction.
From that year 1944, he always sought with tenacity and joy, to become a “man of God for the
salvation of men.”
The theological treatises26, which made up the subject and substance of his teaching at the
24 QL 188.
25 E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Joseph Quadrio, Model of Priestly Spirit =
Model], Rome 1980, pp. 48-49.
26 Translator's note: before the 2nd Vatican Council, theological courses were called treatises (tractatus), and had Latin
names.

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Pontifical Salesian Athenaeum, help us understand how God as Trinity, and man, were driving ideas for
him; what a precious pearl they represented for his will, what a subject of love they were for his heart.
2. The priest, man of God
In the treatise on God as Creator27 he helped us know and possibly meet God, creator of the
universe and our Father.
I remember how he underlined God's “special care, solicitude, attention, admiration, sympathy and
satisfaction in creating the first human couple.”
As with Jesus, the theme of God the Father was often also preached and witnessed by Fr. Quadrio.
He was conscious and convinced that without God one can do nothing, just because He is the Father, is
the source of life. He knew that without God any society, be it technically and culturally advanced,
becomes corrupt and violent. It's on a one-way road to death.
God the Father was for Fr. Quadrio the value superior to all others. It includes a strong sense of His
presence, and above all, His rapport and affection for each one of us. God is everywhere, in every
moment, in every place, in every sector of our life. Fr. Quadrio believed in the omnipresence of God, in
his transcendence and sovereignty and, at the same time, in His nearness and tenderness.
He believed God the Father, in God the Father, to God the Father. God was not empty or dead or a
mere hypothesis for him, but a God living and true, Who penetrates us with His creative and
providential action, invades us with His grace, is present and near to us, Who cares for every life as a
fruit of His love.
His sweetness and infinite strength surround us. God the Father was the object of Fr. Quadrio's
hope: “To die is to push the front door ajar and say, 'My Father, here I am!' [Death] is, truly, a jump into
the dark, but with the security of falling into the arms of the heavenly Father.”28
“Tell everybody God is good!” That is the last thing Fr. Quadrio wrote in his diary.29
Only God is good. Every goodness we can encounter on Earth is but a pallid image of the immense
goodness of God.
For this reason, God took the trouble to busy Himself in our lives so His Kingdom could come to
fullness, His salvific Will come to completion, His presence be in all and everywhere.
“There can be no joy without God... our restlessness is the seal and signature that our hearts are
made for Him. Nothing can please us; nothing can content us, outside of God. Every love against God
or without God is a most bitter delusion, a bleeding wound on the heart.”30
In Fr. Quadrio there was an immense passion, not for an idea, or for an activity, nor for things, but
for Someone. For Someone met, recognized and called “Jesus Christ, my brother, our Lord.”
The love of Christ: this is the motivation, the wellspring, the secret of Fr. Quadrio's priestly life.
“Jesus Christ had faith in me, in spite of everything, and has called me to be his minister,” said St.
Paul in his letter to Timothy.31 Fr. Quadrio had a clear consciousness of being called by God, through
Jesus Christ, in the Spirit, to be a Salesian priest. The signs of this calling were for him the insistent,
daily, vivid anxiety that tormented him for the Gospel and the Kingdom of Jesus.
Having known him from up close, I feel I can confirm that from theology on he relived in person,
with intensity and fidelity, the expression of St. Paul: “For me, to live is Christ.”32
27 Tractatus De Deo Creante, theological study of God as Creator.
28 Giuseppe Quadrio, Risposte, edited by R. Bracchi, Rome 1992, p. 236. Translator's note: the reprint is Fr. Quadrio's
answers to questions from readers of the monthly Meridiano 12, (“High Noon”) an Italian Catholic magazine like Catholic
Digest. Fr. Bracchi's book has a chapter on these: it is Raimondo Frattallone, “Le Risposte di don Quadrio su Meridiano
12”, pp. 131-151.
29 See QL 142.
30 Model 206.
31 Cf. 1 Tim 1:12. Translator's note: not an exact quote.
32 Translator's note: see Phil 1:21.

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He wrote in his diary for January 17, 1945: “From tomorrow on, I will live with Jesus for the unity
of His Church; I will pray with His prayer; I will suffer with His suffering, burn with His desire,
immolate myself with His immolation, cry with His tears, agonize with His anguish and agony: that all
may be one.”33
In the treatise on Confession34 he has revealed Jesus Christ to us, the incarnate Son of God, to be
Himself mercy and pardon. That course let shine for us how much he wanted to be a disciple of Christ,
meek and humble of heart.
Who of his students does not remember his vibrant explanation and warm testimony of Jesus Christ
meeting the Samaritan woman, with the paralytic, with Judas, with the sinful woman, with Peter, with
the Good Thief crucified with him?35
It is Christ the bridge between God and men, the one revealing the Father, the road that leads to
Him, by which supernatural and divine life reaches us.
In school more than anywhere else, taught by him with love, seriousness, constancy even while ill
with a fever of 102º, with sympathy for all his hearers, with no hypocrisy, that has convinced me how
seriously he took the Gospel. In word and life he reminded us that Jesus lives, in our midst, as a human
God, Who does not force but invites, does not impose but waits like a faithful friend who comforts and
commiserates, like a most beloved older brother who bears our burdens, our offenses, all our evil.
What Fr. Quadrio confided to us, what he wanted to communicate, is what he himself strove to live.
How much time he spent explaining to us the Word of God, to rouse up in us an enthusiastic faith in
Jesus Christ! He was not preoccupied with himself, his fame or glory, or his health, but that we would
learn to get ever closer, every day, to new life in Christ.
Rightly could he put himself forward to future priests as a guide, because he himself had already
traveled a long road with the poor, chaste, obedient Jesus the Priest. He was no longer the novice at
Villa Moglia, but a real “presbyter”36 in the sense of the Gospel, in the heroic practice of the
evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, and in the apostolate.
I recall us talking about the book Like Them by R. Voillaume,37 on the religious life of the Little
Brothers [of Jesus], that he gave me to read. He said at a certain point that he also wanted to write
something like that; he would have titled it Like Him. Then he added, “But there's already a book like
that. It's called the Gospel.”
I said earlier that Fr. Quadrio “was conquered by the Triune God,” so also by the Holy Spirit, of
whom he became a docile disciple, clay no longer furnace hardened, but formable by the Spirit of
Christ. “The Holy Spirit gave me a great grace at Pentecost. I believe that Pentecost will remain famous
in my little life...”38
In that year 1944, the fundamental idea that animated him was
corresponding to grace, more particularly, attention and fidelity to the Holy Spirit, principle and soul of
all spiritual life... all the visits and prayers were to profess renunciation of the dictates of pride, of
self-interest, of nature, to let myself be totally guided by His divine inspiration. On the practical side,
this bound me to to an absolute fidelity to all the smallest duties, to avoid any infidelity to inspiration, to
33 Translator's note: Fr. Quadrio took the words in italics from the Latin Vulgate Bible, John 17:22.
34 Tractatus de Poenitentia.
35 Notes from that course have been preserved.
36 Translator's note: a play on the Italian presbitero, or “priest”, derived from the Greek word for “elder”.
37 Translator's note: full title is Come Loro: nel Cuore delle Masse, or Like Them: in the Heart of the Masses. Italian
translation published Rome, 1987 by Edizioni Pauline, long after Fr. Quadrio's death. He almost certainly read it in the
original French: Au cœur des masses, Editions du Cerf, Paris 1951.
38 Model 61.

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do all those acts of love and mortification suggested to me. Basically, to avoid any altercation of my
nature with the Holy Spirit.39
In these lines of his diary, Fr. Quadrio shows us not only when his life style started: of simplicity, of
attention, of constant little gestures of love, of tolerance, of submission. There was no aggression or
arrogance, but sweetness and humility which even we could see. Those lines show us the third forming
and animating force in his priesthood, the Holy Spirit.
From the Holy Spirit he unveiled to us above all the gifts of faith, hope and charity, in the course on
the theological virtues. During those explanations, while he talked about charity as the love of
friendship between God and his children, “our hearts were burning in our breasts,” in the manner of the
two disciples of Emmaus. And this was because his explanation was not just a fruit of study and
research; it was above all an experience.
I think Fr. Quadrio expressed his great faith and charity in death, in the long years of living with it.
When in 1956 he was not well, and was cured of a stomach ulcer, he off-handedly told me it could
have been quite different, but God always gives strength to his children to put up with anything, any
cross for love.
Reading his diary after his death, I noticed that in the year dedicated to the Holy Spirit40 he had
already come to believe that in death for love we give glory to God in the highest degree, and we give
faith, love and salvation to our brothers. He wrote:
I have a desire and need to love God, to die of love for Him. [I have an] immense desire to suffer, to
be humiliated. I do no more than to offer myself to the crucified love of Jesus, that he might take me
over and make me die of love and pain... I desire to suffer without anybody knowing it, and this is a
miracle of God. I abandon myself totally to Him.41
On May 27, 1960, when he had stopped teaching because his illness grew worse, he wrote to me:
God has been very good to me. Help me thank Him. Obtain for me the grace to die in love, for the
love of Christ, for the glory of the Father, for souls, for the Church.42
3. The shepherd, friend of men
The theme of this talk surely requires a reflection on Fr. Quadrio as a shepherd.
The term could seem little suited to Fr. Quadrio; he was never pastor of a parish, Director of a
community, or bishop. But as a boy he herded sheep in the pastures of his beautiful home village of
Valtellina.
Maybe “friend” sounds better for Fr. Quadrio. In the Gospel, especially in John, that is synonymous
with “shepherd”. He uses that word to call, greet or invite a person, to ask something of him, to console
or pardon him... to make the person feel like an equal, esteemed, with things to share.43
I asked Andrew Mellano, a former oratory boy at the Crocetta who weekly went to confession to Fr.
39 Model 60.
40 Translator's note: 1944.
41 Model 61.
42 See QL 141.
43 Don Giuseppe Quadrio a 25 anni dalla morte. Acts of the Solemn Commemoration in Valtellina, edited by R. Bracchi,
Rome 1989, p. 36. Translator's note: these published the proceedings of a 25th anniversary commemoration of Fr. Quadrio's
death.

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Quadrio, what memories he might have of him. He answered:
He was a priest of great humanity, truly out of the ordinary. He showed himself a friend as soon as
he met you, not just a superior or guide as he was. His great openness of mind and heart favored a frank
and peaceful dialog; he put you at ease right away. You could open up to him with the greatest
confidence, without the least hesitation or difficulty... With him, you could be free and sincere, because
his friendship was true, not formal or clerical.
This testimony takes us to the second strong motivation by which Fr. Quadrio wanted to become a
priest: to be a friend of the people, the boys, youth, the poor, the sick, of priests and sinners... a friend
to all.
Even though living in closed-in quarters, he lived in the world, for all people in the world, favored
by meeting daily with Salesians from the five continents.
Fr. Quadrio loved the people he met; he liked to be with others, mix with them, lose himself like
leaven or salt in a mass of dough, be in the midst of God's people and not on a throne.
“Taken from among men... the priest is sent for men.”44 The priest is separated from his brothers,
but to be at their service. He is the man of God to become the man for all the human community. These
two aspects were simultaneous in Fr. Quadrio. He did not feel himself to be a priest for himself, but for
the redemption of the world.
The saying on his ordination card makes that dimension of his priesthood evident:
Pray, brothers and sisters:
O Eternal High Priest,
who has constituted your humble servant
a Vicar of Your Love,
give him a priestly heart
like Yours: forgetful of self,
abandoned to the Holy Spirit,
big enough for self-giving and compassion,
passionate for souls by Your Love.
More than a souvenir of his first Mass, this seems to me to be a memorial; in fact, it does not invite
to return to the past, but expresses a becoming, a continual re-making of self by the divine activating
power. As with the Eucharist, so the priesthood of Christ becomes represented in the priesthood of Fr.
Quadrio, which makes it present.
In these few lines is his faithful certitude of having received from Christ a precise mission: to love
as God loves, with His intensity, breadth and depth. That is why he invites all his brothers and sisters to
obtain for him an infinite capacity to love, to suffer with them, to give of himself in simplicity and joy.
Fr. Quadrio continued to ask, every day, for a heart like that of Christ, invoking the help of the
Mother of God with that prayer of Léonce de Grandmaison we all know.45
Now we ask ourselves: how did Fr. Quadrio live out this intense pastoral friendship?
3.1. One of them
To be a true friend of all, he accepted not just in words, to be “one of them”, a man like his brothers
and sisters in all things. He knew hunger and fear of war, fatigue in study and teaching, in preaching
44 Heb. 5:1. Translator's note: not a direct quote. It goes “For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for
men...”
45 Giuseppe Quadrio, Documenti di vita spirituale, ed. E. Valentini, Turin 1964, pp. 116-117. Translator's note:
Grandmaison's prayer is online at http://veniteavedere.blogspot.com/2010/01/every-day.html.

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and hearing confessions. He felt the instincts of human pride, the hard road of obedience, the penance
of community life, discouragement, temptations, sickness, the anguish of death to the point of tears,
blood and sweat... He felt himself a sinner like everybody: “Help me expiate all my sins and wash them
in the Blood of Jesus.”46 That is just what he wrote to me.
Because of all this, he was esteemed by us, by everyone he met: shoe-shine boys,47 Oratory boys,
boys in juvenile detention, university students, the sick, the doctors and the infirmarians...
Because he felt himself surrounded by weakness and fragility, he was able to be indulgent toward
those who sin by ignorance, error,48 habit, obsession...
He showed a great compassion for all; like the unhappy, the sick, the prisoners who pity each other
while sharing their same lot.
3.2. Available servant
To be a friend-shepherd, he was available to all, like the little wall that separated the two courtyards
at the Crocetta.49 “When you see some poor devil on your street, you ought to remember that he also
needs all your love,” he used to say.
And “available” means “being a servant” in Gospel terms.
If you remember, he much esteemed those clerics50 who were available for the community, for the
Oratory, for teaching catechism or music... and he envied their multiple talents.
Listening seems to me one not so easy service Fr. Quadrio did, even today ignored: listening to
anybody, day or night, in the courtyard or in his rooms, in school or in the confessional, in church, and
even in oral exams.
He listened with sympathy, wonder, attention, with pleasure. I remember what he wrote to me in
September 1960, at Arese, where I had just arrived:
Approach them with courage, especially the malcontents and the suffering. Always listen: with
patience, with understanding, but not with connivance. Sickness and pain are an open door to a soul.
Have a personal relationship with everyone. Be informed, be interested, directly and discreetly. Jealously
keep secrets. Never betray a confidence. If the common good requires that something be made known,
have an understanding first with the one involved. Give corrections directly and personally as much as
you can, not through an intermediary. Talk little. Listen willingly. Give importance to all. Show faith in
them.51
That is what Fr. Quadrio did.
3.3. Break the bread of God's Word
This is the third manifestation of his love for people: evangelize, catechize, teach, counsel, preach...
and not just in any old way.
He strove, and not a little, to write out what he had to preach or teach or say. His characteristics
46 See QL 141.
47 Translator's note: sciuscià in the original. These were street boys, many homeless, who earned loose change shining the
shoes of Allied soldiers during and shortly after World War II. The only English they knew was “shoe shine”, corrupted to “
sciuscià” for Italian pronunciation. Seeing their needs, Pope Pius XII got the Salesians to take care of them.
48 See Heb 5:2.
49 Model, 233. Translator's note: in a private communication, Fr. Bracchi wrote me that the little wall separating the two
courtyards at the Crocetta was so low everybody from both sides could just sit on it. The seminarians likened it to Fr.
Quadrio because it was so accessible. This is the testimony of Fr. Raimondo Frattallone.
50 Translator's note: “clerics” here are seminarians, not in the strict sense of §207 in canon law.
51 QL 162.

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were clarity, reasonableness, conviction. He made his hearers understand and assent. Beyond always
being well prepared, there was the heart and soul of a priest in his talks, lectures and sermons.
People aren't looking for pretty phrases. What moves is what comes from the heart. 95% of the
people understand the language of the heart, not that of reasoning. Jesus, the Apostles, the Fathers of the
Church, Don Bosco all talked with the heart.
He wrote to me:
Reason belongs to the Salesian spirit (and even before, to the spirit of the Gospel); that means
(among other things) never to impose what is not reasonable, to impose reasonably what is, by reason
and persuasion. In the first place, this goes for religious practices. Nothing is more irreverent to God,
more against the Gospel, more educationally counter-productive than to force boys to do what they don't
understand, don't want, don't love.52
I won't dwell any more on this aspect, because it seems this pastoral action of Fr. Quadrio deserves
a deep and documented study.
3.4. To lay down one's life for his friends
I will bring up a fourth epiphany of Fr. Quadrio's love for the children of God, for humanity. It is
the love most proclaimed, exalted, and lived by Jesus.
Can we say Fr. Quadrio came to the point of a similar sacrifice?
I'd say yes, for two reasons at least. First, the Holy Mass he celebrated with great calm, faith and
living love, offering his and Christ's sacrifice for the glory of the Father and the love of humanity.
Second, his three year crucifixion of sickness and death, without wanting to come down off that cross,
not praying to come down, but doing always the will of God.
In these two rites, mystical and physical, not disjoint but mutually penetrating, Fr. Quadrio truly
gave his life for the salvation of the world, for people, for the Church.
Deprived of strength, he was for many an evident sacrament of the Passion and Death of Christ.53
It is not easy, in fact it is very difficult, to penetrate the mystery of physical and moral pain, of
incurable sickness, at the age of 39. That is a road painful and inexorable up to the altar of sacrifice. It
is a death that, in spite of everything, has the power to agonize anyone.
On the cross one can truly assess a person's faith, hope and love.
Fr. Quadrio, too, from his cross just before death, saw the Church, sinners, priests, the condemned,
all the world's evil; he saw the love of God.
I see the innovative ideas of the Council, the commitments of the apostolate. There one feels the
preoccupation to save souls, and the urge to insert Christian truth into the world. I see the effort of the
Apostles to tame the colossal block of materialism and indifference. I see studied planning to break
down the barrier of paganism; I see the care in choosing means to reach out to souls and have
indispensable contact with them. I am convinced that never like today has the Holy Spirit stirred up the
waters of the Church.54
52 Ibid.
53 See Ibid.
54 Model 185.

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READING GOD IN FR. QUADRIO'S LETTERS
Sabino Palumbieri
1. Collected letters: a legitimate access
Man is word. He is capacity to communicate. He is experience of communion. A letter is always a
recording of a fragment of interior life. Letters are so many mosaic pieces to reconstruct a face, starting
from expressions of moments of interior life, true fragments of intimacy. It is not for nothing that
collections of letters, not so much those already predestined for publication, but those recovered from
an unplanned collection of testimonies, have been considered mirrors of the heart from antiquity. They
are in reality road maps of the spirit. From the collection of his letters, then, results not a “Fr. Quadrio
minor” with respect to the version known from his profound lectures, conferences, academic works, but
instead an “intimate Fr. Quadrio”, that is, more true, because the truth presents diversified levels of
inner life.55
His letters are sober in content, and not frequent in time. Quite a few times he excuses himself for
not writing. There are two reasons. First of all, the structure of his temperament made him aim for the
essential, thanks to his clarity of mind and the summarizing capacity of his heart. Plus, his activities of
study and research, of teaching and organization, of ministry and prayer, did not leave him a lot of time.
Often – notoriously – he worked through the night due to time pressure during the day.
His collected letters include letters from Joey the fervent novice, from Quadrio the seminarian
dedicated to his formation, from Fr. Quadrio the priest, professor, department chairman, sick person
and fully aware candidate for death. They are about historical and existential contexts so different, yet
so coagulated around a growing, unified reality, which joins fidelity and dynamism.
Thus he auto-constructs as a man and believer. The crystallographic law is realized, which declares
that whatever the outward surface, crystals of the same substance always have the same internal axes.
On the anthropological plane, the axis is bipolar as William of Saint-Thierry proposes: the love of
truth and the truth of love. The first is intellectual ability; the second is is that of will and heart.
In reality, the deep movers of every one of his letters are always two: heart and intellect. There's not
one that is cold or empty. Warmth and light are the two characteristics of this collection. None lacks
surges. Not one ephemeral. Although starting from episodes, diary events, from everyday happenings,
they are never banal or lacking a message even for others besides those to whom they are sent. They
bear a profound sense of involvement. Little things can add up to a lot;56 it can happen that, as when
reading Scripture, reading these “love letters of God to every man”, you feel questioned. You feel truly
touched inside. These are not, then, just transient messages.
There is a breath of truth and love. Perhaps because it's the truth that is breathing here. And truth is
not a theory. In an historical epoch of truth imprisoned by systems and ideologies, of truths “isolated
and crazed”, of truths “possessed and manipulated”, there is the longing for truth in the flesh. The place
55 The collected letters (DON GIUSEPPE QUADRIO, Lettere [= Spirito e Vita 19], Rome 1991) offers precious
documentation for knowing his personality, beginning with the interior. The collection is also stimulating, because of the
continuous interplay of expressions of humanity and faith, which were first lived, then projected onto the screen of spiritual
rapport. This contribution has already been published as introduction to the aforesaid volume.
56 Translator's note: Latin si licet parva componere magnis in the original.

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of truth is not on paper, but in human flesh.
And today, the testimony documents are particularly researched, perhaps for the nostalgia of clear
skies, as a reaction to the multiple pollution of messages. A collection of letters is a serendipitous
recording of this truth, which is incarnated in what Lévinas57 calls “the little kindness”. That is,
kindness shines out, that which is woven into the folds of the everyday.
2. First, kindness
You can't fake magnanimity in the everyday. There are no little things. There is only a small way to
do things. It is over this “footbridge”, to use a term dear to our Fr. Quadrio, that grand messages pass in
credible form.
Since kindness breathes over the everyday, it becomes a conductor of truth. So declared Giuseppe
Prezzolini, a non-believer, to Paul VI, who asked advice from his friend on “entering dialogue with
those far off”, or as he also said, “to render the Church believable to contemporaries.” “Only one way,
Holiness,” replied Prezzolini. “Men of the Church should be above all good and strive for one goal
only: make men good. Nothing attracts like kindness because of nothing else are we non-believers
more deprived. The world is full of intelligent people. What we need is good people. Forming them is
the job of the Church: to re-attract men to the Gospel; all else is secondary.”
Now, Fr. Quadrio in his letters is presented as a man expert in kindness, and so, efficacious in
transmitting intelligent messages. He is a man available, ready for service, responsive, continually
anxious to form men modeled on the humanity of Christ. “Be brave,” he wrote to a friend. “One cannot
be too good, when He has been so good to us. Men, by definition, are the beings who must be
understood and pitied at our expense.” (Letter 116, Oct. 14, 1958)
The collected letters reveal in themselves the kindness of this man, which, while being so sober and
attentive, wrote several times to a friend about sadness over the illness, agony and death of his mother,
with tender accents. This kindness overflowed from his temperament, was nourished by the Gospel,
and was communicated in a friendly style. This was for him a need of the heart and a life assignment, a
way of being, and at the same time, an art. The counsels he gave are significant, which he gave in
answer to a youth on the way to converse with persons even of different sides. It is the true art of
conquering hearts: “Make friends with the one you are talking to. Try to understand him. Agree with
him when you can. Do not wound his susceptibilities. Don't rush. Take the tiller of the conversation. Be
ready to respond to his difficulties. Show him the positive values of Christianity. Be profoundly
convinced. Don't forget the essential thing, which is to pray every day for the one you're talking to.”
(Answer in Meridiano 12, January 1962)
The kindness of the priest was lived by him, in the preferential option, and in absolute gratuity,
before being declared in his facial expression. Writing to us who were in the last year of theology, he
expressed himself thus:
Be the priests of the unhappy, the poor, the lonely. Be kind, understanding, lovable, accepting, at the
disposition of all, easily approachable. Measure out neither your time nor your energies. Give without
counting the cost, easily, with simplicity. Try to put yourselves in the shoes of all you deal with: you
need to understand before you can help. Do not set your person above any other's, or at the center of the
question. Be noble and above all that regards your personal prestige. Have no other ambition than to
serve, no other aim than to be useful. (Letter 168, 11-12 December, 1960)
We all realized that this letter was first chiseled in his own flesh.
3. Grace and Humor
So many letters – right from his early childhood – give witness to the delicate state of his health,
57 Translator's note: Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995), Lithuanian philosopher and Talmudic commentator.

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which he tended to minimize when he could not hide it. His goodness shone forth most luminously in
his writings, while he was emerging from physical and moral tribulations.
In this frame of reference, he could have turned out as a dry and austere preceptor. Instead, he
appeared full of grace and humor. His serene character, his ability to absorb the joyful spirit of Don
Bosco, shown outwardly in a vivacious – and at times mischievous – spirit. And this is the Fr. Quadrio
we knew in the familiarity of the course. To one recipient who asked who was department chairman at
a lyceum, he answered: “I don't know who the Professor might be, but one such as you want, I think,
hasn't been born yet.” (Letter 121, July 15 1959) To the same correspondent, who probably asked him
how to deal with certain confreres, he appealed to the Salesian spirit to criticize certain activities held
fashionable. He wryly responds: “A good Salesian goes to bed early; a good Salesian loves Salesian
activities and not the novelties of the day like bonfires and community Masses; a good Salesian
observes the circular letters of the Superiors, which say that theology students should take a vacation...”
(Letter 124, Aug. 31 1959). To another who struggled and fretted over the problems of others, in the
middle of a serious letter he wrote, “Sleep, forget it, smile, don't make a big deal about it. Getting mad
just makes you ugly, and profits nothing” (Letter 133, Nov. 2 1960). To a Sister, who had lovingly
cared for him at the hospital, he indicates things prohibited: “First: crying. Second: thinking about
Martini [the hospital]. Third: tasting melancholy. Fourth: not eating enough. Fifth: staying up late”
(Letter 146, June 28 1960).
We even find a masterpiece of adaptation to the writing style of a little boy, in reference to that
same Sister. It's a letter jokingly written to the Child Jesus, with the typical big letters and many
mistakes of a cheeky kid:
Deer Baby Jesus I writing this letter to ask a big faver. At the Martini theres a Sista reel good Sista Mary
Ignashes. She's the one always runing around and cooks ever day. You know her? She's good, you knwo.
Deer Baby Jesus I am so poor an I dont know what to give Sista Mary Igantius. Can you give her
something in my place? Put it under the pillow, so Mother Sperior don't see, else she'll grab it. Watch out
don't let Sista Mary Lawra see you she's big friend Mother Sperior those two share everthing so if she
sees you it's the same thing. Now bring Sister Mary Ignayshs these gifs (1) A little bag of payshuns for
when the Sperior wacks her (2) a pair of little wings so she can fly when she's tired of runing (3) A pack
of hapynes for the days when she is in a bad mood” (Letter 204, Christmas 1961).
Here we note humor expressed in a moment of great suffering for the recipient. It is a way full of
affection and confidence, to render some difficult situations effectively less dramatic. And it is still
another sign, more than of intelligence and refinement, of Easter faith and good news. He knew how to
do that from even from the hospital, even with people far away to whom he wrote letters overflowing
with grace and esteem. So many are estranged from the Lord, perhaps because we have presented to
them a Christianity that is cold, unpleasant and unhelpful.
4. Air of simplicity
After grace, the most effective initiative to recover so many estranged brothers is our testimony of
joy and goodness. What's needed is to announce the Gospel of grace with true grace. We need to
present a Christianity of serenity, which makes one exclaim to those brothers: “Look how happy he is
who believes and trusts in God!”, one that calls forth serious belief in God-Abba and loyal love for
them. We need a Christianity of generous goodness, which would say to others, with deeds, “Do me the
honor of letting me serve you.”
It is this experience of love which creates the conditions for reaching out by the interlocutor, and
for the development of his hidden resources. “What does it mean to love, if not to count on possibilities

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still latent of the other person, even the possibility of God in him?”, declares Jürgen Moltmann (Man,
Queriniana, Brescia 1973, p. 193).
The collected letters reveal that the grace of announcing something is obviously joined to the
sincere humility of the writer, which renders it true, accessible, desired. Writing to the Superior
General, Fr. Ricaldone, who had asked about the news that Pope Pius XII was interested in the
exposition Fr. Quadrio had given at the Gregorian University, he expresses himself: “The Pope's
paternal solicitude has left me truly moved and humbled... Perhaps, never so justly as this time, St. Paul
has rightly said that the Lord chooses clumsy instruments” (Letter 41, Dec. 29, 1946).
And to another superior, Fr. Ziggiotti, who certainly did not spare praise over the honor that the
young priest had given to the Congregation, and who had invited him to take on important
responsibilities, Fr. Quadrio wrote: “Permit me ... to express to you, and through you to the Superiors,
my renewed wish to be completely at their disposition, for whatever they believe to be the best. I
cannot refrain, however, from adding with equal simplicity and sincerity the prayer that my
inexperience and modest capacities will be taken into account, such as are more modest than are
generally believed” (Letter 57, June 26 1949).
This humility shows all through the collected letters not as a servile and unctuous talent, but instead
sincere and filially tender. To Fr. Berruti, Prefect General of the Congregation, he opens his heart thus:
“I tell you something I've never told anyone in my life: I love you very much, and I am ready to do
anything for you today or tomorrow” (Letter 31, 7 Nov. 1945).
The tenderness that he kept treasured deep within him, also showed in dealing with his parents, a
constant point of effort in his family letters. He wrote from Rome during the wartime bombings, in the
period when Italy was split along the Gothic Line: “I'll come as soon as I can, but I don't know the hour
when I will be in the arms of Mom, Dad and my brothers. I love you always more and more, and feel
myself closer to you every day. Now I must close, but how many things I still have to tell you! Will the
day come soon when we can recount them around our sweet fireplace? A kiss to all with all my heart.
Joey” (Letter 22, May 28 1944).
The numerous letters written to his novice-master, Fr. Magni, are an expression of filial rapport,
which he maintained until death. It is interesting to note, as he says, that advancing in age and
experience, even confronting the highest goals, he kept intact inside him that affective bond with the
one who had guided him in his first vocational steps with joy and serenity.
5. Faith as an axis
If we want to indicate the type of all-encompassing atmosphere that pervades every element of the
collected letters, we would have to say it resolves to faith, cultivated in terms of concreteness. All his
letters are contained within the light cone of the radicality of faith. Here there is a significant step in the
letter in which he invites the recipient to make a grand, profound, definitive act of faith before Jesus:
“To believe with an act of faith which invests all the soul's energies, that You have put me and wanted
me here where I am, that the concrete situation I'm in, is a grand act of Your love for me, that my life
this year, my activities, my successes and failures, are in Your hands, under the wings of Your
Providence moment by moment: 'in manibus tuis tempora mea'; 'in manibus tuis sortes meae'; to hope,
with an act of confidence which lifts the whole spirit, that You will never leave me, You will be my
light, strength and consolation; that whatever happens, You will have it turn out for the better. To love
with a most intense act of charity, which would transform this whole year, all activity, the anxiety, into
love: I am here at God's service, to be a priest, to become a saint. To accept and love my own situation
as a gift of divine love for me” (Letter 93, Sept. 29 1956).
It is this energetic rapport of total consignment to the hands of God that pushed him to complete the
supreme sacrifice for his noble heart launched towards the priesthood. On the vigil of his ordination,
the dream of his whole being, he wrote to his Director: “On the occasion of the Day of Priesthood and

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Vocations, considering my lack of preparation for the already imminent priestly ordination, I hold it a
due act of honesty to offer to Jesus the Priest, through the hands of Mary Most Holy, my poor life for
the vocations that God raises and nurtures among the youth who frequent our house, in view of
avoiding the ordination of someone not worthy, and to implore this formidable honor for others more
worthy than me” (Letter 36, May 1 1946).
This fuel, transformed into zeal for the salvation of men, pushed him to write during the time of the
ultimate test: “I seek to preach the Gospel to those I meet: in my room, in the hospital, on the train... I
have discovered – finally – that this is a form of evangelization always possible to anyone, anywhere. It
seems that all, under the crust of normal interests, have a thirst for Him and are waiting for someone
who can make them see it. 'Volumus Iesum videre'58” (Letter 188, 2 April 1961).
This, that Teilhard would have called vis a tergo59, gave him a thrust up and away, and that was
translated into an attitude of openness in an era of poorly hidden suspicion to an attitude of hope in the
upwelling spring of power, alpha and omega of the human event. “I think that, slowly and wisely, yet
courageously, we need to move and get near the Fonts and Principles, humbly asking that God render
us 'capaces sanctae novitatis'60. The enormous difficulties and dangers should not bog us down, but
prudently bold. Where there's a true and deep occasion, the idea will make its own way” (Letter 102,
May 25 1957).
Faith, once become passion for the service of men and projected ahead, is transformed into love of
zeal and ardor of hope beyond any expectation. Writing to me in the last period of his life, he said:
“You will often seem to sow in the night, seeing nothing sprout. Have faith: others will harvest. 'Debet
enim in spe qui arat arare'”61 (Letter 231, Nov. 2 1962).
This is the eye that sees the seed in the ground and foresees the ear full grown. Writing some
months before the end, he affirms: “It is possible that this be a good turn, and that the good God will
not send me back again to prepare better. In reality, I live with eyes turned up there, waiting for the
door to open so I can sneak in” (Letter 246, March 5 1963).
We can say that Fr. Quadrio, especially in the collected letters, shows himself an expert in the “time
of the meanwhile”. And this expertise of the spirit is nothing else but the ability to cultivate hope
beyond appearances of decline and travail of ascent.
6. Unity of life
Again, there emerges from the collected letters the figure of a man who knew how to synthesize.
The wise man is he who has, before all else, the capacity of unification. The sophos, according to the
Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo, is a meth-orios, that is, a man placed between two boundaries,
on the ridge line between two slopes, to unite – Philo indeed says, sum-ballein62 – diverse aspects of
reality, and habitually avoiding the operation of dia-ballein63 or separation of the aspects. Only this
way, as the Orphics underline, can the sophos become poly-sporos, that is, a man of many seeds and
shoots. The truly wise man, thanks to his capacity of theoretical and practical synthesis, is prolific and
fruitful.
The formula of synthesis, so dear to Fr. Quadrio in daily conversation, is “heart in heaven and feet
on the ground.” Heart in heaven, which adores: prayer, exercise of trust and tenderness in the Father,
familiarity with the living Christ, permanent communion with the Holy Spirit: a piety profoundly
Trinitarian, like that of our Fr. Quadrio. Feet on the ground, which move in the service of love:
attention to all, especially to the most needy – a preventive system of intervention, perseverance in
58 Translator's note: “We want to see Jesus,” John 12:21 from the Latin Vulgate Bible.
59 Translator's note: Latin: “a push in the back”.
60 Translator's note: Latin: “capable of holy innovation,” taken from prayers of the liturgy for Tuesday of Holy Week.
61 Translator's note: Latin: “So, whoever plows should plow in hope”, 1 Cor 9:10 from the Latin Vulgate Bible.
62 Translator's note: Greek: “throw together”.
63 Translator's note: Greek: “throw apart”. From this comes diabolos, or “devil”.

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effort, and warmth of style. Just like Mary at Ain-Karim: heart in heaven, which adores: the bursting
out of the Magnificat. Feet on the ground, which serve: the visit to Elizabeth, completely at her
disposition.
On the anthropological plane, he joined the love of truth with the truth of love. This way, he
indicated to all who corresponded with him, and through them to those who knew him, the two
journeys so urgent today: that from the head to the heart and the other from the interior to the concrete.
The first avoids intellectualism and rationalizing exercises, which only know how to quantify and
standardize. The second overcomes superficiality and pragmatism.
All the messages in his letters have the interior as point of departure, that is, his deep inner life, rich
in experience of the divine and the human. So, they move in the internal concrete to reach the historical
concrete.
Strong in his self-giving into the hands of the Power of Love, he could pray with Hammarskjöld,
his ideal friend and contemporary: “Before You, in humility. With You, in faithfulness. Immersed in
You, in serenity.” Being present, characterized like that, belongs to what the Letter to Diognetus calls
the soul of the world64. The soul does not make a fuss, but expresses itself in intellectual operations,
willing and loving. Noise does no good and good makes no noise. It is silent. It is like the light, which
floods the universe and makes it significant with its tones and colors, indispensable expressions of life.
With this type of presence, rich in life and life-giving, Fr. Quadrio has run the way of unexpected
Easter, as for every man. That is not a straight freeway, but a steep path. But it gets there. And it's all in
the climbing. Fr. Quadrio – homo viator65 – has effectively taught through his letters, because he
himself has become a letter. Paul, writing the second letter to the Christians of Corinth, affirms: “You
yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a
letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor 3:2-4). We can truly say, paraphrasing the
expression and putting it in the mouth of Don Bosco, that Fr. Quadrio was a letter of Christ, which he
wrote on his knees before the living God, invoking His Holy Spirit and presenting it to His brothers,
that they be encouraged to go forward according to His project.
7. A message-synthesis
There is a letter (# 143) that could be called a message-synthesis of his whole life. In it, Fr. Quadrio
tells his sister about the first operations, after the news that brought trepidation and dismay to his
relatives and friends (June 7 1960). Here one discovers an admirable symbiosis of spicy humanity and
theological faith that cannot be simply juxtaposed, but integrated with each other. Let us analyze its
elements.
The salutation and the beginning certainly breathe humanity: “My dear sister – he writes – you are
anxious about me. Really, there's no reason for that.” Right away, he strives to insert the theme of faith
integrated into life: “Everything God prepares and disposes for us is a gesture of infinite love. What
bad can happen to us, if God the Father loves us, and keeps us as the pupil of His eye? Could you
possibly wish me ill? Could the Lord do that, who loves me so much more than you do? Faith, then, joy
and gratitude to the good God, always! Let us thank Him for everything, for everything is grace!”
Then he moves on to the daily suffering of the human condition, with a dose of delicacy, esteem and
affection: “I'm still at Astanteria Martini (74 Via Cigna). But I'll get back to the Crocetta as soon as
possible. I'm doing fine here. I'm getting the best and most delicate treatment in every respect. I have
never been treated so well: and I don't think it could ever be better. All credit to Sister Mary Ignazia,
who is truly the Angel of Astanteria Martini. She has prepared a most beautiful gift for Marina [Fr.
64 Translator's note: the Letter to Diognetus is a defense of Christianity, thought to be written about 200 AD. The
reference here is to the first sentence of the sixth chapter: “What the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world.”
65 Translator's note: Latin: “man on the move”.

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Quadrio's niece] on her feast day, that she will send as soon as possible. On condition: that our little
princess be always good and pray well.”
At this point a note of realism follows, which reveals his consciousness of the gravity of his illness.
Even so, he tries to soften it in the act of communication, insisting instead on the expertise of the
hospital staff and the lack of pain: “The doctors did a lot of tests on me. The result is better than they
had foreseen. There is disease, but not so serious. It is absolutely painless, and won't impede – the
doctors say – resuming my work. It is lymphogranuloma, which they are already curing with good
success. Just think: I can stand and say Mass! The doctors tell me that, after the cure, I can even travel.
And now I hope to come and visit you. So don't bother coming here.”
Again, an inclusion of the message of responsible and vigilant faith into the wavelength of very
human expression: “In reality we all, healthy or sick, should be ready to appear before our good
Redeemer. And now I should be more than ever prepared.”
In the same key there follows now a profession of confidence, full of tenderness, in the presence of
the Father, and of promptitude to say to Him: “Here I am.” “I assure you, with the grace of the Lord,
that I am serene, content, calm and happy, as I have never been before in my life. I feel the hand of the
Father on my shoulder, and I am perfectly at peace. When he tells me, “Come,” I'll answer, “Here I
am.”
This is the touch that characterizes Fr. Giuseppe's whole life. It is the exclamation of Samuel: “Here
I am.”66
I remember when he, still a deacon, gave to the community a liturgical reflection on the great “Here
I ams” of the Old and New Testament. After that talk, Fr. Quadrio called me over and encouraged me
and declared that “Here I am” was the axis of reference of our life as consecrated believers. In reality,
he presented himself as a lucid, self-sacrificing and joyful incarnation of that attitude.
“Here I am” is his calling card. Because of this he has become a “letter of God to humanity”. This
is how he becomes convincing through his letters now to us men. “Here I am” measures his growth in
grace before God and men (see Luke 2:52).
The attitude of radical availability is measured with the poverty and weakness of the “flesh”. Even
so, he feels the necessity to ask for prayers, as a motive of strength: “I'm counting on your prayers a lot,
dear sister of mine. I need them. So many people pray for me, and that comforts me.”
The message-synthesis concludes on the wavelength of his humanity in the expression of lively
solicitude in dealing with his parents, subject now to the risk of preoccupation and anxiety: “If you
believe it opportune, say something to Mom and Dad, because rumors are going around. Explain to
them what's going on, so they don't suffer. Tell them I'm very happy, cared for in the best way, and that
there's nothing to worry about. They don't let me lack for anything here.” In a P. S.: “I just now got
Mom's letter; she's a bit worried. Please, see if you can calm her down. Thanks!”
8. A true letter of the living God
And so Fr. Quadrio is a living letter. The letter is an expression of the word. Fr. Quadrio is an
expression of the Eternal Word. Yes, every man is an absolutely unique Word of God incarnate –
verbum Verbi67 – that has never been duplicated nor will ever be repeated, destined then, with the
Resurrection, to be a word ever speaking.
In our “time of the meanwhile,” these words, in the measure in which they preserve the original
divine breath, act like Jacob's ladder. Jacob left Beersheba for Haran. The sun had set. He used a stone
as a pillow and fell asleep. “He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its
top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.” (Gen 28:12)
Look, Fr. Quadrio was and will remain a ladder between heaven and earth for all of us who knew
66 Translator's note: see 1 Samuel 3:4.
67 Translator's note: Latin: “word of the Word” [of God].

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him, through his messages and letters. This ladder lets angels of God to go up and down, and allows
God to come down to men. Fr. Quadrio remains a ladder, so that these earth-heaven goings and
comings can function.
Fr. Quadrio was nourished by the Word – often in his letters occurs the recommendation to feed
daily upon it – and so he become ever more a similar word. By creation we are verbum Verbi; with
baptismal consecration we are in Verbo viventes.68 Being conformed to Christ, we become workers
secundum Verbum.69 Now, at this point the nourishment of the Word strikes deep, which makes us
become a Fifth Gospel, a Christic history which has the stamp of a single man, called to be a living
letter, branded by the Spirit.
The letters of this “Servant of God” and servant of men involve us, so that, like a ray from the most
perfect letter of the Father – which is Christ – can reach us. He is “the radiance of God’s glory and the
exact representation of his being” (Heb 1:3), a reflection of the Gospel of salvation. They are a herald
of joy and liberty, all the more convincing as they are more coherent to the experience of the diseased
flesh of Fr. Giuseppe.
This was possible, thanks to his being made a word from God, that has become flesh in an
experience.
Flesh is his profound interiority.
Flesh is his constant prayer.
Flesh is his ecclesial passion.
Flesh is his professional activity.
Flesh is his faithful friendship.
Flesh is his sacrificial offering.
His troubled flesh, while he was writing the letters, has given us the flavor of the Beatitudes. “O
Cross, bitter wood, bloody price of the Beatitudes,” as Raissa Maritain would often exclaim. And the
Beatitudes are refractions of the fundamental Beatitude, which is Easter.
Reading the letters of Fr. Quadrio, one experiences in his heart the flavor of Easter, of that event
which makes St. Athanasius exclaim: “The Risen Christ makes our life a continuous feast.”
In his letters, Fr. Quadrio is truly thus, a window through which we can already glimpse a new
world. A window, through which the air of spring comes in, rich with the oxygen of hope.70
68 Translator's note: Latin, “living in the Word”.
69 Translator's note: Latin, “according to the Word”. See Luke 1:38 of the Vulgate, or the American Standard Version.
70 See also Monica Ferrari, “He Confirmed Every Day His Salesian Priestly Choice. Letters of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio”, in
Salesian Bulletin (Italian), Vol. 113 No. 18 (December 1, 1989), pp. 37-40.

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FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO, THEOLOGY TEACHER AND MASTER OF LIFE.
THROUGH THE INITIATIVES LEADING TO INTRODUCTION OF THE
CAUSE
Remo Bracchi
This communication attempts to collect various documents (writings, depositions, initiatives,
official and unofficial correspondence) which, having a remarkable convergence, have moved the
Postulator General's office toward a formal request to introduce the Cause of Beatification.
Testimonies that chiefly underline Fr. Quadrio's character as a teacher esteemed for his professional
competence and holy person will be emphasized. But almost everybody prefers the title “master” for
him, one who has testified all through his life the truths he was teaching.71 In many depositions, the
motive for his success as a model to imitate jumps out: the harmony, the unity, the synthesis he made in
his own person between nature and grace, between prophecy and fidelity, between contemplation and
incarnation, between theology of the Mount of Transfiguration and theology of the Garden of
Gethsemane.
These testimonies will be presented in chronological order, seeking to point out in their continuum
some significant stages. More space will be given to the text than to the commentary. This is to remain
faithful to that Providence which, through some apparently disconnected little fragments and a few
simple words, has guided the great uninterrupted history of the recognition of authenticity for a true
“pupil of the Holy Spirit”.
1. Reputation of a holy teacher in his lifetime
By his humanity and transparency, by his constant and joyful gift of self, Fr. Quadrio was
considered a saint even before his death. The sensible harmony of intelligence and grace gave to his
teaching a character at once profound and simple, which only the great incarnations of God succeed in
possessing. One of his students, only occasionally at the Crocetta because he was not a Salesian, was
the Conventual Franciscan Filippo Pittaluga. He testified that “you could smell his holiness from miles
away.”72
By common testimony, he was always among the seminarians. Thus he continually and vitally
transmitted, by word, gesture, contact, and smile, what he had been teaching in the lectures. He had
learned the interior gentleness of the Master, letting himself be molded by the Spirit; for this, he was
re-christened “Teachable”73. He understood that, to teach the truth (or, better, the Truth), one had to
make himself a disciple above all else. “Fr. Quadrio was a sacrament of Jesus... he incarnated in
himself the words of the Gospel: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will
find peace for your souls.”74 He radiated peace all around, because he was meek and humble. I think he
was already living the life of the Resurrection, the victory over death, because he was humble,
71 The use of italics is intended to show the more explicit affirmations in this sense.
72 Letter to Fr. Giuseppe Abbà, Jan. 30, 1987 (Archive).
73 E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Joseph Quadrio, Model of Priestly Spirituality,
= Model], Rome 1980, pp. 48-49 (from his Diary, May 28, 1944, Pentecost Sunday).
74 Translator's note: Mt 11:29.

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profoundly humble. That is the indispensable sign of holiness.”75
This teaching of the Lord has been made flesh and blood in him. His very presence, in every case,
was enough to reveal it: “Yes, I have always been impressed by Fr. Quadrio's great humility, much
more than his profound and proven doctrine. And this is the most beautiful lesson, and the most useful
for me, that I have learned from him, one I want to keep forever.”76 So, it's not learning that pops out of
the books, but the wisdom of the Cross, which renders one able to empty oneself, and thus seems to be
foolishness in the eyes of the world.
It was his sickness and death that showed, above all, the never broken coherence between teaching
and life in Fr. Quadrio. Fr. Peter Broccardo writes, “I have heard that his reputation for sanctity was
spread all through the staff of the Astanteria Martini (Turin), where he bore unspeakable sufferings
with heroic strength, admired and esteemed by all... [Among those] taking part in the funeral, the rumor
'he was a saint' was not just the usual conventional expression. It was a conviction among Salesians and
others that were close to him. It was above all a conviction among the students who were closest to
him.”77
Fr. Quadrio himself describes, in a letter to Fr. Antonio Martinelli, his own program for
evangelization during his forced period of inactivity from teaching. “In these months, due to the almost
complete impossibility of doing anything else, I have (finally!) discovered how necessary it is the
preach the Gospel one on one, in personal encounters, soul to soul, by means of approach,
comprehension, solidarity, friendship. In hospitals, on trains, on the street, everywhere people wait for
someone to show them Jesus.”78
Professor Giancarlo Milanesi commented: “Now we also know what faith and theological hope he
lived in his illness right up to the end. I believe that his priesthood was nourished from the wisdom that
the Lord gives to whomever he wants to love, more than profound theological conceptions – which he
no doubt had.”79
His forced suspension from teaching theology guided him with greater dedication to the school of
daily life, no less profound and current. He became a long-distance correspondent of Meridiano 12, for
readers who turned to the magazine for advice on certain doubts. Some of them expressly asked that Fr.
Quadrio answer.80 The pages coming from his lucid intelligence and his heart sensitive even to the point
of tenderness, “were calibrated, simple, profound, of a clarity that implied a long meditation. He was a
specialist in the most complex problems of theology. But wherever he brought his thinking to bear,
there was light.”81
2. Spontaneous testimonies after his death
A first synthesis of the value of the teaching given by Fr. Quadrio was traced out by Fr. Giuseppe
Melilli on the very day of the funeral:
75 Letter of Fr. Francesco Goyenechea to Fr. Mario Simoncelli, July 6, 1986 (Archive).
76 Testimony of Fr. Franco Mazzon, in Bollettino di collegamento [Connection Bulletin, = CB] for priests of 1960, Feb. 11
1964, p. 53. See note 20 below.
77 From sworn testimony of Fr. Pietro Broccardo (Archive). Translator's note: the Astanteria Martini is a hospital in Turin
where Fr. Quadrio received cancer treatment.
78 Letter of April 2 (Easter Sunday), 1961. Cf. Don Giuseppe Quadrio: Lettere, ed. By R. Bracchi [Letters, = L], Rome
1991, p. 266 (L 189).
79 Testimony of Professor Giancarlo Milanesi, in BC, p. 66.
80 Letter of Fr. Enzo Bianco to Fr. Remo Bracchi, May 28, 1989. See Don Giuseppe Quadrio, Risposte [Answers, = R],
Rome 1992, p. 26. Translator's note: see note 10 of chapter 3, above, on Fr. Quadrio's work in Meridiano 12 [High Noon].
81 Bollettino Salesiano vol. 23, no. 89 (1963), p. 412. Other witness to Fr. Quadrio's reputation for sanctity during his life
can be found in E. Valentini, Articoli di prova testimoniale... [Articles of Testified Proof...], Rome, 1985, pp. 43-46.

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I speak in the name of all who had the good fortune to have you as teacher, and of the seminarians
here present. Some of them loved and admired you on your bed of pain, even though they had not
known you. I come to say the last good-bye, to give the last 'Thank you'...
Many owe to you a big part of their priesthood. On your way of interpreting the priesthood of Christ,
many [of us] have tried to model ours. Following you, we tried to imitate the goodness and humanity 82
of Our Lord; so many of us have learned to love the Mass. How many reflections of your priesthood are
now scattered all over the world! …
We have seen in you an attractive embodiment of the priesthood of Christ on the throne and at the
lectern. But, allow me to remember, how many treasures of your priesthood you scattered around so
spontaneously, in hallways and in our courtyard... You said recently: "How different will my death be
from that of the saints." No, Fr. Quadrio! We don't know how aware of your suffering you were in the
last days, but we know how ardently for three years you recited your "suscipiat." Your life, your
suffering assure us of the death of a saint.83
The mortuary letter, penned by Don Eugenio Valentini and still vibrant with emotion for the great
loss, already puts together, even that soon, some fundamental traits of the personality of Fr. Quadrio
professor (Dean), master of life and martyrdom. In particular, the synthesis he made between teaching
of doctrine and interiorly following the Master, stands out. "Young, but mature in judgment, he had
immediate ascendancy in front of the students, who admired his clarity, his depth and the goodness
communicated by his character. Balanced and open to all that is true in the new currents of theological
studies, he was admired in precisely this rare balance between tradition and up-to-date outlook on the
problems of the time ... You could say, without hesitation, that he was considered the best professor in
the Theology Department. Yet nothing in him was vanity, self-sufficiency, but only kindness,
condescension, understanding, humility ...
In the time of his sickness, the Lord put him in position to carry out a new and fruitful apostolate in
the hospital. Whenever he could, he forgot himself and his pain and ran to the aid of those who needed
him. How many absolutions, many conversations and how many conversions! ... I thought more than
once, that if the Lord had sent this illness only to enable him to carry out this apostolate of good, it
would be sufficient reason for all the suffering he endured."84
He was, then, the "professor" of Theology in the etymological sense of the term, that is, one who
"professed", who joyfully and totally lived as a commitment his teaching at the cost of life, with a
dedication that he breathed out with no second thoughts. His own death contributed to first spreading
the knowledge of Fr. Quadrio, in Valtellina. After his death, some provincial and diocesan newspaper
articles came out.85
In Corriere della Valtellina, on November 30, 1963, there was a funeral notice, briefly outlining a
profile of the deceased. "After priestly ordination, he was immediately called to Turin, where he began
his shining apostolate as Master of young generations of seminarians. His most effective preaching
lasted three years and his lectern was the hospital bed that saw the heroism of his virtues."86
The profile (unsigned) "In memoriam," published in Salesianum, could not ignore the same
82 Translator's note: benignitas et humanitas (Latin) in the original.
83 The eulogy is published in E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Quadrio, Model of
Priestly Spirit], Rome 1980, p. 185-186. Translator's note: “suscipiat” in Latin means “may he accept”. The Latin Mass has
an offering prayer, “Suscipiat Dominus sacrificium...,” or “May the Lord accept this sacrifice...”
84 Dated October 24, 1963. Similar, despite its conciseness, is what is written on the funeral holy card: "An open and
acute mind, a clear and highly respected professor, spending his entire short life for the good of the students, showing them
by word and example the way to the priesthood. A disease of three years prepared him as a victim for sacrifice, making the
bed in his room into an altar and his room into a living and effective pulpit. "
85 Como's dicocesan newspaper L'Ordine, November 2, 1963: “Solenne ufficiatura funebre a Vervio del prof. don
Giuseppe Quadrio” [Solemn funeral rites in Vervio, in memory of Professor Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio]. A week later: “Le
estreme onoranze a Vervio del prof. don Giuseppe Quadrio” [Last rites at Vervio for Professor Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio].
86 The article bears the title: “Il salesiano don Giuseppe Quadrio sacerdote di eroiche virtù” [Salesian Father Giuseppe
Quadrio, priest of heroic virtue].

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consistency in personified by Father Quadrio between teaching and life, between the verbum dispensed
and its embodiment. “And all this, while he taught by casual word and lectures, he joined to it a
natural life example. Everybody agrees on this; his example was right before our eyes and in our
hearts. Whether it was by a gentle remark or a tactful silence, that example was engraved into us. I
don't know what was more admirable: his remarkable intelligence with secure and moderate judgment,
with pure and clear depth, with harmonious eloquence in declaration; or was it the gentle way he he
guided us to the high and perfect virtues of the heart? He was truly outstanding in humility, not less in
gentlest sweetness of fraternal charity.87
It is remarkable how many letters spontaneously came to Don Eugenio Valentini around this time,
to express from all over the world the warmest condolences for the loss of the beloved "master".
The priests ordained in 1960, the last who were lucky enough to have Fr. Quadrio during the entire
period of their formation (as a professor and as Chairman),88 devoted the February 11 1964 issue of
their Bolletino di collegamento to him, and to Fr. Gallizia who had passed away just before. Both
professors were described as “unforgettable blacksmiths” of their priesthood.89
They are not few, those students who point out in the Master that deep assimilation deep from
which sprang the solid doctrine had been explaining. Fr. Raimondo Frattallone already wrote then: "For
me, Fr. Quadrio was and is the Priesthood, that is, an idea personified. He made priesthood a gesture,
a smile, a fraternal meeting: a Priesthood of Light: Fr. Quadrio the teacher (“contemplata aliis
tradere”); Priesthood of Love: Fr. Quadrio had a special way of telling you, “Good morning!” In his
modesty he never said no. Priest-Victim: and this seemed to me when he celebrated Mass."90
Fr. Gonzalo Garcia added:
I feel my priesthood turned upside down ... from his priesthood .., in every sense, but especially
spiritual... Now that I've started my priestly ministry, I better understand the authentically evangelical
scope of how he lived his priesthood ... reaching out to all, and with the heart of God... I always did feel
the coherence of his priesthood – certainly, made with much Love – in living happily crucified. “The
Priest - he once told me – has to live in a state of victimhood.” Didn't he live like that? 91
He used to say: “On Mount Calvary, you don't do the tourist thing.”92 “You won't find the Lord
except in Gethsemane... not only the Lord of Holiness, but also the Lord of Apostolate and the Lord of
Theology.”93
The testimony of Fr. Luigi Melesi dwells at some length to analyze this aspect of Fr. Quadrio's
personality. “Fr. Quadrio was an 'Epiphany of the Lord, Epiphany of the goodness and wisdom and
humility and sacrifice' of Christ. Really, he wasn't a professor but a Master, not a superior but a pastor.
87 Salesianum 25 (1963), p. 634. Another short portrait appears shortly afterwards in Marianum 26 (1964), p. 262-263, by
Fr. Domenico Bertetto: "The last three years of his earthly existence sublimated his teaching and priestly apostolate in a
painful and slow immolation, which he accepted with fortitude, giving the Lord the supreme witness of love and zeal with
the total gift of his young life." Translator's note: original Latin: “Quae omnia dum verbo passim ac magisterio docuit, iugi
ac fere connaturali etiam vitae exemplo, omnibus fatentibus, ad oculos praebuit atque cordibus, sive alliciendo suaviter sive
tacitus etiam insinuando, insculpsit. At horum quid magis hic efferam admirandum haud scio: utrum cum insueta
intelligentiae vi securum ac moderatum iudicium, limpidam profunditatem atque harmonicum edicendi eloquium; utrum
mites admodum animi modos an altas cordis perfectasque virtutes. Humilitate enim praecipuus fuit et nec minor in
sollicitissima caritatis fraternae suavitate extitit.”
88 Translator's note: this refers to the 4 years of theological studies, not the whole period of initial formation. For Salesian
seminarians, initial formation consists of novitiate, philosophy, practical training, and theology. Then comes ordination to
the priesthood.
89 Mimeographed booklet, 76 pages of text and 12 of notices. It has some recollections of the two deceased priests, and
testimonies of colleagues and friends.
90 BC, p. 43.
91 Ibid., p. 45.
92 Ibid., p. 51, testimony of Fr. Eugenio Mayoral.
93 Ibid., p. 59, testimony of Fr. Luigi Melesi. Cf. L 106.

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He was incarnated. He was and felt fully human, a man among men. A man simple, true, free,
optimistic, evangelical...
You didn't feel like a 'heretic' arguing with him. He lived his familiar expression: “We don't have
enemies to defeat, but brothers to win over.” They came to him blind, and left believers.
At school, he was teacher and witness. He made you love the truth. He presented it living, personal,
new... school suffers through the truth, but it had to pass all through his heart. He shoveled the living
Christ into our souls. He taught us the the truth which enlightens and converts, without suffocating it in
a sea of erudition or high-flying somersaults of logic or purely technical points. At the end of class, you
felt not only that you understood, but that you believed more. I made my meditation in Fr. Quadrio's
classes, more than in chapel in the morning. I just felt the Lord and stuck to Him. I was convinced that
the Lord's truths are not just pronounced, but witnessed. And he evangelized us, because he had the
living Gospel in him... In class and in life he was a witness, without making propaganda, without laying
blame, without getting agitated. His was an affirming witness, and it showed the “reality” beyond
reason. He was a “sign”...
He wanted us to be priests, not professors. Priests. Totally concentrated in Christ. He instilled into
us that “sense of Christ” present in his way of doing things. “You will only be yourselves by living
Christ. Then, you will be not be a vestment on emptiness or a mask on nothing.”
He loved the Gospel as he loved Christ, and he lived it all. He wasn't just an index of the Gospel,
but the whole thing. He used to say that theology has to be study, comprehension, conpenetration,
contemplation, assimilation of the Lord's Gospel. For Fr. Quadrio, the Gospel was Christ, the Gospel
was human beings; the Gospel was all things. He was a testimony of all that.94
Fr. Quadrio was able to use the school and common life as a proclamation of the Gospel. “All his
life, all his teaching, those unforgettable conversations with him, are here to testify to his “vocation” of
catechesis, the “kérygma”95, the proclamation of God's saving word. There were three reasons for
which he felt an identification of his vocation of theologian and that of a catechist. 1. The study of
theology, for seminarians, ought to be essentially a preparation for the “ministry of the word.” 2. An
authentic theology has to be also an authentic catechesis... living testimony of of Christ died and risen...
Fr. Quadrio... often repeated an affirmation of St. Thomas, “The action of a believer doesn't stop with
an announcement, but with reality.”96 For him, theology had to be a meeting with Someone, touching
Christ, then to witness to Him in life and preaching. 3. Finally, there was an historical realization that
confirmed to Fr. Quadrio how tight were the family ties between theology and catechesis. “In all times,
catechesis has been the faithful mirror of theology.” He was firmly persuaded that the first principal
renewal of catechesis had to be “courageous and wise renewal of theological formation.” Fr. Quadrio
was starting to trace out the main lines of this “courageous renewal”: return to the Bible.97
Proclaiming, but above all incarnation, kérygrna of the Word and of suffering.
3. Publication of the diary (first and second editions)
Already in the introductory letter the priest's testimonies of 1960, collected in their Bollettino di
collegamento of February 11, 1964, Fr. Eugenio Valentini (then, Director at the Crocetta) announced
the imminent publication of the diary notebooks. These survived Fr. Quadrio's “iconoclastic fury”98 of
the last months of his life. “Unfortunately, he destroyed much of it, and only fragments are left. But
they are precious just because of this, and adequately trace out his road to sanctity... I am sure they will
94 Ibid., pp. 53-57.
95 Translator's note: Greek, “proclamation”.
96 Translator's note: original is in Latin, “Actus credentis non terminatur ad enuntiabile, sed ad rem.”
97 Testimony of Fr. Roberto Giannatelli, in BC, pp. 47-49.
98 Translator's note: the Iconoclasts (8th and 9th c) held all images (statues, paintings) to be sacrilegious, and therefore
broke or burned them. A modern-day example: destruction of ancient Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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be of great benefit; they will become a book dear to all his former students.”99
The booklet came out in that same year 1964, with the title Documents of Spiritual Life, and was
dedicated as a memento, or better as a memorial, “to the former students of Fr. Quadrio, so they might
learn to appreciate their Master more, and to encourage them integrally in their apostolic life.”100
Publication of the intimate diary contributed notably, in spite of its primitive intent, to make Fr.
Quadrio known outside the limited circle of those who had him as teacher. All who came to know him
as a result of it, only now beyond the school, the main “bridge”101 that opened up all the other
possibilities, understood where his inexhaustible energy in giving the witness of such goodness and
serenity came from: the years of sufferings, when he, heroically struggling with his sweet strength,
became equally a “bridge” to the pain of others.102
Thus other people came in contact with the profound and most human spirituality of Fr. Quadrio
and felt themselves taken. He could, this way, continue to teach, to be a master, even after death.
From Sardinia, Mrs. Maria Mereu wrote on October 29, 1967 to Fr. Valentini (then Rector
Magnificus):103 “Thank you for the book... I haven't stopped reading it. I am convinced that he was a
saint and we hope to have him shortly on the altars.”104
In 1968, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Fr. Giuseppe's death, a second edition of the
diary came out, notably expanded. Fr. Eugenio Valentini took on the project to answer appeals from
many who could not get their hands on the first edition. From the good reception this one had, the
editor could declare that the book had done much good, and had “a unique mission in the formation of
the young ranks of the Salesian Society.”105
Other external testmonies were not sought, not even for this second edition, but it did report diary
entries, letters, homilies, and unpublished talks. The adopted motive was simply, “No other words
could have the efficacy of his: that soft, calm, thought-out word, permeated with sacrifice and
suffering, inspired and enlivened by the breath of the Holy Spirit.”106 A word, then, that proceeded from
life, a teaching formed by witness and blood.
The second edition got an authoritative presentation by Fr. Luigi Ricceri, who became Rector Major
of the Salesians in the meantime. The gifts of “master of wisdom” were picked by the Major Superior
for acute and concise consideration: “I think I can say that he seems to me, five years after his death,
among those souls who have most enriched our Congregation in this generation. He was an open soul,
admiring human wisdom wherever found, even surpassing it; he was sensitive to distress of our time,
but always came through it in faith. The light he shed from his heart (he was essentially a
contemplative, a “man of prayer” like Don Bosco), permitted him to enlighten every situation; his faith,
so rooted in the Eucharist and the Word of God, constituted for him force to stick his arrow into the
depths of our current situation.”107
Fr. Quadrio could give, because he had seen.
4. Intervention by the Rector Major: the spark
That same Rector Major gave a speech to the confreres of the “reborn Crocetta”108 (October 15,
99 Ibid., p. 17.
100 From the Preface.
101 Letter to Professor Giulio Girardi, cited in BC, pp. 25-26. Cf. L 283.
102 Ibid., pp. 24-25. See also L 215.
103 Translator's note: In Italy, a Rettore Magnifico is a university president.
104 From the “Letters of Fr. Quadrio” (Archive).
105 DON GIUSEPPE QUADRIO, Documenti di vita spirituale [Documents of Spiritual Life], ed. E. Valentini, Turin, 1968
(2nd edition), p. 5 of the Preface.
106 Ibid.
107 Ibid., p. 3.
108 Translator's note: Fr. Quadrio taught at the Salesian major seminary in Turin, called the Crocetta, but officially the
Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum. It moved to Rome at the time of the Rector Major's intervention. See note 43 below.

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1968), in which was authoritatively highlighted the figure of Fr. Quadrio as a "teacher of life" and
"unified model" of intellectual values and gifts of grace. It stands as the beginning of the first explicit
demand for his Cause. There had already been oral requests from various places. We have some
sporadic evidence of these in the Archive folders.
Fr. Luigi Ricceri expressed himself in his address to open the academic year:
For a Salesian who gets around in the Congregation, it is interesting to hear people talk (and how
they talk), in San Francisco and Cairo, in Tokyo and Buenos Aires, in London, in Bombay... for example,
about a Fr. Vismara, a Fr. Gennaro, a Fr. Quadrio.
Fr. Quadrio! Allow me, for a moment, to bring you to look at this, our great Brother, Fr. Quadrio,
almost like a human synthesis of all these formation workers, of these “masters – who have come and
gone... Fr. Quadrio, a very young professor, but a master of life...
So much to remember, so much to meditate... Well, anyway, remembering this example, all of you
together (because he was master of life both for students and colleagues) have inserted yourselves into
the great stock of the Crocetta.109
Reading the words of the Rector Major, Fr. Dominic Bertetto, who was a colleague and confessor
of Fr. Quadrio, and who was one of the confreres present at his death, asked himself if the time was
ripe to start the canonical Process.110 The cue was given at the highest level of the Congregation.
Why can't this figure, so precious, modern, and close to us, become valued as an ideal of a
genuinely Catholic and Salesian spirit, above all for the confreres in formation, and for the staff of our
studentates?111 If the Lord permitted this sacrifice, was it not perhaps only so the grain of wheat fallen to
the earth would have to bear much fruit,112 above all now when we so much need to see guides, or real
saints, living in our time and for our time? Maybe the Lord... wanted... him to live with our examples in
our young generations.113
The motivations put forward by Fr. Bertetto presented a double direction: to the past, resting on the
holiness of Fr. Quadrio and on his example of total education, that is, made up of knowledge and life;
and to the future, to young generations, who could find in him a guide sypathetic, modern, securely on
the road to priesthood.
Contemporaneously, Fr. Giuseppe Abbà, deeply touched by the spirituality emanating from the
diary, had “the clear idea of a possible introduction of the Cause, inserted in the general impression of
esteem and and of holiness that he enjoyed.”114 So, he prepared a first draft for a direct letter to Fr.
Ricceri. This was stylistically revised by Fr. Mario Simoncelli, who added his own signature. Fr. Nicolò
Loss and Fr. Domenico Bertetto spontaneously got together to endorse it.
The four signers referred again to the speech of the Rector Major and its vibrant re-evocation of Fr.
109 That address, offset printed, was distributed to the teachers (Turin, December 1968, pp. 3-4).
110 Translator's note: beginning of the process for declaring a Saint.
111 Translator's note: Centers of philosophical and theological studies for the priesthood. Salesian lay brothers sometimes
study in these, or in centers specifically designed for their formation.
112 Translator's note: See John 12:24.
113 Letter of Fr. Dominic Bertetto to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, December 3, 1968 (Archive). The letter closes with an explicit
petition: “So I entrust to you this initiative: to suggest to the Superiors the introduction of the Cause for Beatification and
Canonization of so precious a fruit of the PAS. Collect as soon as possible the testimonies of anybody who knew him. That
would offer to all a precious model and patron.” Translator's note: PAS means “Pontificio Ateneo Salesiano”, or “Pontifical
Salesian Athenaeum”. This was the Salesians' highest study center, established under that name at the Crocetta in 1940. It
moved to Rome in 1965. Paul VI elevated it in 1973 to the title of Pontifical Salesian University (UPS), as over the years it
had added many high quality degree programs.
114 Letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà to Fr. Remo Bracchi, June 5, 1989 (Archive).

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Quadrio.
Your word struck us also because it found full accord in our souls and our memories: an admiration
which, already alive during his life of “Master” at the Crocetta, is still growing and being enriched with
new horizons, after which intimate aspects of his personality as a priest and religious have become
known...
Five years since his death, while in the most varied parts of the Salesian world, there are those who
keep alive the memory of Fr. Quadrio, and on whom he exercises a rare ascendency. It is made up of
admiration and also sympathy (a true “man of synthesis” between the human and the divine , as you
defined it, a true “master of life, from whom there is much to gather and meditate”). Could this be the
right moment to solidify and hand on more completely this figure so modern, Conciliar, conversational;
a man of study, a Master, a model priest and Salesian, the “man of synthesis”? His testimony could be
up-to-date and effective far beyond the circle of his former students.115
The “synthesis” between the human and the divine accented here es that which Fr. Quadrio called
the “incarnation” of the priest.116 “Master” could simply mean one who lives what he teaches. The letter
also shows the balance of the model proposed in Fr. Quadrio, a model fully Salesian, but so open and
successful as to be extensible to the universal Church.
Fr. Ricceri answered Fr. Bertetto, being the most venerable of the signatories. While declaring his
own full conviction of the holiness of Fr. Quadrio, he affirmed the necessity of deferring the process for
a time, the while industriously preparing the necessary documentation.
I want to thank you for what you have written to me about our holy confrere, Fr. Quadrio. I
understand, like I said in the same preface to the second edition of "Thoughts", that the figure of Fr.
Quadrio deserves to be well put in evidence for the richness of the Congregation. But I don't think this is
the time to start something official. Instead, it will be opportune to gather documentation and testimonies
while memories are alive and fresh.117
It was certainly providential that the same Rector Major, who contributed so much with his own
authority to present Fr. Quadrio as a model teacher and formation person, pushed at that time for the
documentation in order to proceed with the Cause, and that he knew so well this exceptional figure.
Fr. Eugenio Valentini, tasked with summarizing the life and spiritual profile of Fr. Giuseppe in the
Biographical Dictionary of Salesians, Turin 1969, writes on p. 229: “The little that survived destruction
was gathered... to the edification of everyone who esteemed and loved him as a privileged soul, who
pointed to a higher goal, more by example than by word.”
5. Gathering of testimonies, and first biography
In the next decade, Fr. Eugenio Valentini took it upon himself to research the asked-for testimonies.
He went through the Congregation's member catalog and sent out letters to all the Salesian world,
asking for recollections and impressions on the part of all Fr. Quadrio's school buddies, his former
students at the Crocetta, his colleagues, his acquaintances.
We will cite here only some brief extracts from the replies, choosing from among those more
explicitly recognizing in him a model to be proposed for imitation.
115 Letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà, Fr. Domenico Bertetto, Fr. Mario Simoncelli, and Fr. Nicolò Loss to the Rector Major, Fr.
Luigi Ricceri, December 20, 1968. This letter also contains an explicit expression of holiness and heroic testimony: “We
sincerely think – and not just since yesterday or today – (and we are convinced that this is also the deep feeling of many of
those who knew him) that Fr. Quadrio has corresponded with generosity to the Lord's grace as to realize an extraordinary
holiness, worthy of canonization, supremely balanced and sympathetic.”
116 Letter of Fr. Quadrio to the priests [ordained in 1960] on their third anniversary of ordination, January 3, 1963 (cf. L
242). The same point is made in various forms in other letters.
117 Letter of Fr. Luigi Ricceri to Fr. Domenico Bertetto, Feb. 7, 1969 (Archive).

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Writing to Fr. Giuseppe Marchisio, Bishop Camillo Faresin, a fellow student with Fr. Quadrio at the
Gregoriana, affirmed without reticence: “I've kept a greeting card from him... as a reminder, a relic of
admiration: how many times have I read it over, to jolt me ahead in my personal work! Now, more than
ever, he is before my spirit with his writings: I invoke him as a Saint, and I hope that a nice biography
will come out as soon as possible... that will be a guide, light and stimulus for so many priests.”118
Fr. Arturo Alossa, alumnus of the Crocetta, did not hesitate to proclaim in his emotional testimony:
“I hold it a true grace of the Lord that I could know Fr. Quadrio, enjoy his friendship, and feel edified
by his holiness.”119
In the brief arc of his life, Fr. Giuseppe had already become “master” even for those who had been
his peers.
Bishop Camillo Faresin intervened repeatedly in the following years, always manifesting his own
conviction: “I believe it would be the time to write a nice biography... and if it has to do with
introducing the Cause of Beatification, Fr. Quadrio has all the character of true holiness.”120
“In 1962, during the Council, he wrote me another letter from Rome, which unfortunately I've lost,
but that was a marvellous page of priestly holiness. I have a true devotion to him, because I knew him
so well.”121
Bishop Bonifacio Piccinini echoes his confrere: “For me, Fr. Quadrio was without doubt the model
of priesthood that most influenced me during my formation years. Not to diminish the magnificent
figures who formed us in those unforgettable springtime years which I had the grace to spend at the
Crocetta... Fr. Quadrio still has much to teach all of us.”122
Often those same students, while recognizing his extraordinary gifts as professor, insist more on
what they took from Fr. Giuseppe outside the school of theology, in that teaching that can't be given by
word or but fragmentary form, but only with solid and coherent life witness. Bishop Hilàrio Moser
wrote: “I never found in Fr. Quadrio anything less than edifying, not even the smallest... Indeed, I
always observed the perfection with which he did everything. I particularly want to reveal here his
peace and tranquillity: for me, those are signs he lived in God. I've never seen him disturbed at any
time: never flustered, never agitated, never nervous. Before everyone, and to everyone, he was always
calm: persons, events, sickness, nothing could take away his peace. This for me is a real sign of
holiness.123
With the collection of diverse testimonies received, Fr. Valentini succeeded in putting together a
biography, already twice requested by Bishop Camilo Faresin. The volume was entitled Fr. Giuseppe
Quadrio, Model of Priestly Spirit (Rome 1980).124 The very title is itself significant in the framework of
our theme. Following the first part (life), there is a second (moral figure), in which certain aspects are
illuminated and proposed for attention and imitation by religious and teachers: priestly personality,
priestly friendship, the master, the catechist, the writer, the professor.
The book's Presentation reprints the a letter from Bishop Faresin, particularly apt to describe the
slant of the document. “This is a life but not just a life, a re-living, in words and in writings, of this
model of priestly sanctity. Here are crumbs of memories, of scattered letters, sermons, often
incomplete, but that retain his style, his preoccupations, his zeal, his anxiety, his ideal, the lines of his
personality, the testimony of his holiness... even if we are convinced that we cannot succeed in
118 Letter of Most. Rev. Camino Faresin, Bishop of Guiratinga (Brazil), to Fr. Giuseppe Marchisio, June 7, 1969 (Archive).
For the greeting card, see L 024.
119 Letter of Fr. Arturo Alossa to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, Aug. 4, 1969 (Archive).
120 Letter to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, Feb. 4, 1972 (Archive). See also Model 4.
121 Letter to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, April 15 (Easter Sunday), 1979 (Archive).
122 Letter fo Fr. Eugenio Valentini, May 28, 1979 (Archive). See Model 214.
123 Letter of Bishop Hilàrio Moser to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, June 16, 1979 (Archive). See Model 215.
124 Translator's note: original title Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale. Not available in English. See
Amazon.com for this, and several other biographies.

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reproducing him fully, such as he was.”125
6. An external intevention
Together with Fr. Valentini's new work, a request providentially raised from outside contributed in a
decisive fashion that same year. It sped up an authoritative intervention to renew the petition to open
the Cause of Beatification. This time, it came not from teaching colleagues or from within the Salesian
Congregation, but from an outsider, moreover, a non-Italian. The Benedictine Fr. Manuel Garrido
Bonario, who had already done so much for the Cause of Beatification for Sr. Eusebia Palomino FMA,
and who came to a knowledge of Fr. Quadrio's spirituality by reading his writings, so spontaneously
wrote to Sister Domenica Grassiano, who had sent him the biographies of some Salesians with a
reputation for holiness: “You cannot imagine how much I enjoyed the reading of these so marvellous
writings. I tell everyone I meet about them. Now I think I told you that I was very impressed by the
reference to Fr. Quadrio. I fervently hope that his Cause is introduced soon. We cannot leave such a
lamp under the bushel basket.126 I am truly devoted to him. His profession is very similar to mine; I
identify with his criteria and his whole spirituality.”127
What pushed Fr. Garrido to this request is only mentioned here: the profession of a theology
teacher, the coherence of life with teaching, and thus his suitability as a model proposed to other
teachers and priestly formation people. It is taken up several times again by the same Benedictine
Father in later letters.
On March 7, 1981, on the occasion of a plenary sesseion of the Salesian Marian Academy, Fr.
Garrido's request was made known to the association, in which Fr. Quadrio had also taken part during
his own life. The proceedings of that session report the succinct notice of a communication that had to
produce a deep impression, even reverberating outside. There we read: “Sister Domenica Grassiano
gave notice about a Spanish Benedictine, Fr. Garrido, who edited the published letters of the Servant of
God Sister Palomino. After reading the writings and biography of Fr. Quadrio, he was left in much
admiration and proposed opening the Cause of Beatification. The Rector Major then called Fr. Fiora in
on it.128
Also in 1981, and perhaps not completely independent from the atmosphere produced by the
initiative of the Salesian Marian Academy, a widely diffused article by Fr. Arnaldo Perini came out:
“The Priestly Spirituality of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio.”129 The author pointed out the secret of Fr.
Giuseppe's sanctity as his absolute docility to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. “Our epoch – especially
in the immediate post-Conciliar period – seems to be happily marked and favored by a flowering of
priestly spirituality... One of these souls – and probably in a singular manner – was Fr. Giuseppe
Quadrio, teacher of dogmatic theology at the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum in Turin... the secret of
such sublime success in learning the divine wisdom, and of such extraordinary orientation on the
mystical journey could be easily spotted and partly also revealed: indeed, he himself with extreme
delicacy, has offered us the key of interpretation, and illuminated the exact proportion, lifting... the veil
125 Letter to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, Feb. 4, 1972, thus relating to the second edition of the diary. See Model 3.
126 Translator's note: See Mark 4:21 and parallels.
127 Letter of December 17, 1980 (Archive). Another external intervention, unnoticed for some years, was that of Fr. Carlo
Bozzi, pastor at St. Anthony Morignone in Upper Valtellina. The parish bulletin for February 1976 pointed out the young
priest from Vervio as one to be imitated. After a brief profile, culled from Fr. Quadrio's writings, some points: simple and
humble faith, thirst for holiness, exemplary work ethic, joyful sanctity [heroism] in the face of death (Archive).
128 Proceedings of the plenary session of the Salesian Marian Association, March 7, 1981, p. 6. Fr. Firona was brought in
as Postulator General. Translator's note: the Postulator General of the Salesians introduces the Causes for Beatification of
holy Salesians.
129 In Palestra del Clero vol. 15-16 (1981), pp. 938-968. Translator's note: the name of the magazine means “Clergy
Arena”. It was a bimonthly, published from 1878 to 1912, then a monthly from 1921 to 2000, then as the quarterly Nuova
Palestra del Clero in 2001 and 2002.

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of the mystery. He let himself be guided by the Holy Spirit: “docile to the Holy Spirit”130 was his
intuitive formula, then his occupation, taken up into the novelty of a program of sanctification, caught
in a lightning flash of grace. That was for him a Petecostal event.”131
“Many are the letters that Fr. Quadrio wrote, as friend and teacher, to priests... This was his typical
mission: it occupied him for the space of a about a decade. He would have continued to be a teacher, to
give lectures as a dogmatic theology professor, but a grave illness, lethal and pernicious, discovered
right from the beginning interrupted that activity. He remained practically cut off from any work or
duty, confined to the bed or the silence of his hospital room. God's plans were different. The theology
of the cross burst into his existence: he was called to stay long in Gethsemane and then climb Calvary.
He was adding the liturgy of life and suffering to the liturgy of the altar.132
Sent to Fr. Giuseppe Abbà some time later, the proceedings of of the Marian Academy re-lit the
spark. At the beginning of February 1983, Fr. Abbà wrote to Fr. Raffaele Farina,133 Rector Magnificus
of the Salesian Pontifical University at the time. Here is how he summarizes the intervention he made
then in a memorandum left in the papers of the Archive: “Based on what I have read, I have written to
Sister Domenica Grassiano herself a letter, in which I asked her to take the initiative of a more visible
proposal, well justifiable for reasons I indicated there. I thought the proposal would have been better
accepted had it come from outside – from a Sister of Mary Help – and so I gave her full permission to
handle it with Fr. Farina – Rector Magnificus – and Fr. Valentini, the biographer.”134
Fr. Abbà was convinced of the urgent need to propose a model of priestly sanctity, as much to those
who had finished their period of formation and thus found themselves already in full pastoral activity,
as also to those still on the road to a life consecrated to the “profession” of the realities of God.
7. Official requests
Fr. Farina's answer to Fr. Abbà was not long in coming. In the month of March that same year 1983,
three official petitions reached the Rector Major, Fr. Egidio Viganò. They agreed in asking his
intervention to get Fr. Quadrio's Cause started.
The underlying motives for the requests are exactly those summarized in the title of this
contribution.
The first letter bears Fr. Farina's signature.
On March 2 last I presented to the Academic Senate of our University a proposal to direct a formal
request to you to start the Cause of Beatification of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, former Chairman of our
Theology Department. The Academic Senate was unanimously and enthusiastically in favor.
I therefore pass on to you this request with great joy, but also with some trepidation that I myself do
not know how to explain... The figure of Father Quadrio is for me and for all the teachers of the UPS a
symbol and a goal, a benchmark. It is the thought of having a model and a protector for our University
that has chiefly led me to this request. The University is at a turning point for its future development and
its service to the Salesian Congregation and the Church, and in need of holiness. Fr. Quadrio, proposed
to all those who have this task of teaching and research, would enlighten and guide our thinking and our
work.135
The letter from Fr. Angelo Amato136, Chairman of the Theology Department, followed very soon
130 In the original Latin, docibilis a Spiritu Sancto.
131 Ibid., pp. 1-2 of the extract. For the re-echoed selection of the diary, see Model 48-49 and 60-61.
132 Ibid., p. 13.
133 Translator's note: now Cardinal Raffaele Farina, Archivist Emeritus of the Vatican Secret Archives.
134 Memorandum of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà, dated August 14, 1987 (Archive).
135 Letter of Fr. Raffaele Farina to Fr. Egidio Viganò, March 12, 1983 (Archive).
136 Translator's note: now Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. That puts him
on the other side of the bench.

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after.
The Counselors unanimously declared in favor [of the proposal to introduce the Cause, presented at
their March 11 session], and the great majority of them did not hide their enthusiasm, including the
undersigned... The period in which our University is now living, trying to effect that “re-foundation” you
yourself launched, requires from all who work on it an authentic supplement of holiness. The figure of
Fr. Quadrio is... singularly fitted to this vital necessity, setting before us a model who lived in an
exemplary fashion, in times not so far removed from our own, and in circumstances substantially
identical to ours, our own type of life. He is a kind of benchmark, which Divine Providence seems to
have prepared just for us today.”137
Having lived during a season of transition, from wartime to the post-war rebirth, in the volcanic
upheaval of pre-Council theology, and thus constrained to open himself to a difficult path from past
certainties to a trackless future, Fr. Quadrio could be singled out as the paradigm of a courageous
pioneer. He was able to go beyond himself, with fidelity to the tradition, toward new times, loaded as
his were with tensions and hopes.
The third petition is drawn up by Mother Rosetta Marchese, Superior General of the Daughters of
Mary Help of Christians. It is in her personal capacity, but lets a chorus of assent [from other Sisters]
come through it. The letter's contribution is in notably extending the exemplary nature of the model
proposed in Fr. Quadrio. “It has been a great joy for us [the request by the Academic Senate of UPS],
because it shows the vitality of the Congregation that even today gives Saints to the Church, and is at
the same time a lively hope that the new Cause of Beatification might become an effective stimulus for
the FMA, particularly for those more directly involved in the teaching field. Fr. Quadrio, in his short
life, could not have many contacts with our Community, but his figure is today known, studied and
admired by many Sisters through the biography and the Documents of Spiritual Life.138
8. Systematic start of work in view of the Cause
In the month of May, 1983, Fr. Fiora, called in by the Rector Major as Postulator General of the
Salesian Family, wrote to Fr. Giuseppe Abbà and tasked him, in association with the previously
contacted Fr. Egidio Ferasin, with finding the necessary documentation. That put urgency onto some
preliminary tasks:
Collecting all published works.
Collecting surviving unpublished works.
Compiling a list of significant testimonies.
Collecting miscellaneous writings.
Checking the house chronicles where he'd been.
Asking for reports on heroic virtues (especially older texts).139
The following years, then, were dedicated to a preliminary collection and organization of all this
material, and with it, preparing the Archive, even if there was no proper place for it yet.140
It required a long process to get request forms out, and to transcribe the results in legally correct
form. The upcoming [22nd] General Chapter was an opportunity to distribute a questionnaire to alumni
137 Letter of Fr. Angelo Amato to Fr. Egidio Viganò, March 19, 1983 (Archive).
138 Letter of Mother Rosetta Marchese to Fr. Egidio Viganò, March 25, 1983 (Archive) All three letters were published in
the Acts of the Superior Council 309 (1983), pp. 61-63, with the following notation: “The Superior Council, on March 18,
1983, after previous insistent requests, has taken into consideration these present requests, and has tasked the Postulator, Fr.
Luigi Fiora, with the help of Fr. Eugenio Valentini and Fr. Egidio Ferasin, Vice-Postulators, to promote the Cause of
Beatification of our dear confrere, Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio.”
139 Translator's note: part of the process for beatification is to determine whether the subject had practiced virtues to a
heroic degree.
140 For details, see Fr. Cosimo Semararo's contribution in Chapter 9 of this volume.

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of the Crocetta.141
Among the questions that were developed, were naturally highlighted the ones requiring a
reflection on the values Fr. Quadrio transmitted in teaching and in daily pastoral encounters.
Towards the end of 1983, Fr. Manuel Garrido published an flowing profile of Fr. Quadrio in a
spirituality magazine, contributing to the diffusion in Spain of the charisma of the Salesian teacher.
“Reading Fr. Quadrio's writings, and the testimony given by by those who have studied him
assiduously, one is pleasantly surprised to see how he could fully harmonize high theological science
with a deep and continuous mystical life.”142
The favorable reception given to the proposal to start the Cause in various places was clearly shown
by the volume of letters and articles, starting then.
A new profile of Fr. Quadrio, witness of suffering, was edited by Fr. Arnaldo Pedrini for
L'Osservatore Romano.
For the superiors... who esteemed him for his ingenuity, he had to be the educator of minds, the
university professor for the teaching of dogmatic theology. He was, in fact, accepted for this task while
still very young.
But he passed from the teacher's lectern to forced inactivity rather quickly. He was confined to a
little room in the Astaneria [Martini] Hospital in Turin. Almost immediately, his externally academic
discourse, his clear and convincing word, was stilled. But at the same time there stood his more
laborious and effective testimony of faithfulness to Christ in every trial. It seemed that in his existence
[up to then] there was still lacking a typical aspect, that connotation of full and true conformation to the
Divine Model: to the science of Christ, glimpsed [before] in lucidity of thought, theoretically, going from
then on joined in admirable conformation with the science of the “theology of the Cross”. And this was
in the hard “everyday” he endured for several years...
Fr. Quadrio, at only 41 years of age, thus closed his short time as a priest; his ideal was reached,
precisely in what he had asked of others: “Let people see Jesus in you, like a light inside a crystal...”
The brilliance of his lamp still shines on our road today. Today more than ever, when the proposal to
introduce his Cause for Beatification has been put forward: how we rejoiced in our hearts! It is a fervent
wish, a longing of so many hearts, especially of those who have contemplated him in the aura of his
suffering, which made him so like Christ.”143
The writing of articles in magazines and newspapers of ever wider circulation served to spread,
especially among priests, knowledge of a significant figure of our time, who knew how to embody and
live the demands of the old faith in the new cultural mix. The reception of the article by Fr. Pedrini in
L'Osservatore Romano contributed in assigning to the figure of Fr. Quadrio its proper place in the
universal Church.
A singular fact showing in these preparations for introducing the Cause is – as Fr. Giuseppe Abbà
expressed it – the 'conversions' of those who worked on it. In 1983, Fr. Egidio Faresin was assigned to
investigate. I worked with him. But at the beginning, when we went to talk with Bishop Luciano
Giovanni (in charge of Causes for Beatification for the Diocese of Turin), I recall clearly that he – even
though having known him for four years at the Crocetta as a professor – showed no enthusiasm at all for
this Cause. A year later it became necessary to find somebody else, who turned out to be the Vicar of the
Central Province, Fr. Sergio Pierbattisti, who never knew Fr. Quadrio. He worked with him on the
project a good deal up to May 1986, when he was called to the Vatican. Both Fr. Ferasin and Fr.
Pierbattisti, on leaving the job, felt in love with the Cause, and left it with a certain disappointment.
141 Letter of Fr. Egidio Ferasin to Fr. Luigi Fiora, September 26, 1983 (Archive).
142 “Don Giuseppe Quadrio (1921-1963)” [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio] in La Vida Sobrenatural [Supernatural Life] 509 (Sept. -
Oct. 1983), p. 370.
143 “Sacerdote salesiano testimone fedele del Vangelo. Giuseppe Quadrio condivise la croce con gli ammalati” [A Salesian
Priest, Faithful Witness of the Gospel. Joseph Quadrio Shares the Cross with the Sick], in L'Osservatore Romano 73/3,
October 27, 1983, p. 4.

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A more significant case is that of Fr. Fiora: in January 1985 – here at San Giovannino,144 indeed in
the presence of Fr. Ferasin and Fr. Pierbattisti – asked if it were worth the bother to introduce this Cause!
I said something in reply; he accepted, but he surely didn't change his mind because of it. In the last days
of 1985, again here where he had also called Fr. Pierbattisti, he declared himself “cooked” for this
Cause, and told us that he'd talked the day after with Bishop Luciano about starting the Cause: which he
did. Seems to me that this conversion – the most significant and important – was the fruit of a
converging, positive opinion of his colleagues the Postulators, to whom he'd given the biography written
by Fr. Valentini. From it, too, the Spanish Benedictine Father at the beginning of this story, had in all
probability formed his idea of Fr. Quadrio's sanctity.145
The initial perplexities described here, resulted in great importance for the Process itself. These
reveal, in fact, how the Cause made headway of itself, without forced aid. It was direct contact with the
thought and spirit of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio that overcame every obstacle, allowing one to accept in his
teaching a legacy incarnated but not perishable, that rewarded the effort to make of it a permanent
possession.146
9. Growing involvement of the Vice-Province147 and Salesian Pontifical University
The new Rector Magnificus of the Salesian Pontifical University, Fr. Roberto Gianatelli, responded
to an appeal by Fr. Giuseppe Abbà. He took on the job of finding the Crocetta alumni scattered all over
the world, and sending them a questionnaire to gather testimonies that had escaped previous attempts.
The official opening of the Cause, seen to be immanent at the time, would certainly have shaken some
who before had been undecided.
The collaborators at Turin thus had the reduced job of gathering depositions in Valtellina (with the
help of Salesians of Sondrio), and from among those who knew Fr. Quadrio in the Turin and Ivrea areas
(confreres, doctors, infirmarians, Oratory members, parishioners, groups Fr. Quadrio had guided). They
included material from Rome not related to the academic sector.148 For that, the UPS would have dealt
directly with the Bishops, prelates and professors of the Gregorian Pontifical University.
Several times Fr. Abbà tried to get a devotional brochure printed, but that initiative never got off the
ground.
The Salesian University paid for the publication of the Articles of Testimonial Proof Proposed by
the Vice-Postulator of the Cause, Fr. Eugenio Valentini, for the Informative Process on Heroic Virtues
and Miracles in General of the Servant of God Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Professed Priest in the Salesian
Society (1921-1963).149
144 Translator's note: The Oratory, school and church of St. John the Evangelist, built by Don Bosco in 1882. It has the
nickname “San Giovannino” to distinguish it from the cathedral, dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
145 "So do I renew my belief that 'the Holy Spirit is leading his student [Latin, Docibilis in the original].' Fr. Sergio
Pierbattisti expressed the same feeling to me the afternoon we returned from the home of Ms. Zanin [Fr. Quadrio's nurse]. If
not, the Cause would have collapsed." (Letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà to Fr. Remo Bracchi, June 5, 1989) . "One day Fr.
Pierbattisti told me: 'If we look at the little that we do and the mess in which we move and the remarkable results that come
out, we really have to say that a Higher Power is driving things [and] wants this Cause."(Letter to Fr. Giuseppe Abba,
August 17, 1987; Archive).
146 From the letters in the Archives is a significant example of a Sister conquered and "converted" from the diary of Father
Quadrio. She wished to remain anonymous (cf. letter of Don Sergio Pierbattisti to Don Giuseppe Abbà, July 6, 1986, with
attached "N. B. reserved"; Archive).
147 Translator's note: all the Salesians in the UPS are organized as a Salesian Province, with the special name in Italian:
“Visitatoria”. Its superior is a “Visitatore”; “Visitor” and “Vice Province” will serve as translations here. There are several
local Salesian communities in it.
148 Letter of Fr. Luigi Fiora to Fr. Giuseppe Abbà, March 28, 1985; letter by Fr Joseph Abbà to Fr. Sergio Pierbattisti, 7
April (Easter) 1985; letter of Don Giuseppe Abbà to Don Roberto Giannatelli, April 15, 1985 (Archive).
149 Translator's note: yes, the title is that long. Original Italian: Articoli di prova testimoniale proposti dal Vice-Postulatore
della Causa rev.mo don Eugenio Valentini per il Processo Cognizionale sulle virtù eroiche e miracoli in genere del Servo di
Dio don Giuseppe Quadrio Sacerdote professo della Società Salesiana (1921-1963). It contains material presented to the

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There was a request to various persons for more newspaper articles, but not much came of it,
perhaps because the decisive step was still being awaited.150 Fr. Fiora wrote in July 1985: “Knowledge
and veneration of Fr. Quadrio is spreading, especially among the young confreres when they read the
biography... invoking his help in necessities, sending notices of graces received to the Postulator
General. The Cause deserves to go forward if there is an authentic and widespread devotion.”151
On July 29, 1985, Fr. Gaetano Scrivo, Vicar General of the Congregation, in the name of the Rector
Major, informed Bishop Teresio Ferraroni of Corno of the decision of the [Salesian General] Council to
promote the Cause: “I will have the diary and biography of our Servant of God sent to Your Excellency,
who was, as one testimony reads, a true Epiphany of the Lord.”152
The booklet of the Articles had its resonance, too. A letter from Fr. M. Garrido OSB was not long in
coming. “Providence has put the Articles of Testimonial Proof Proposed by the Vice-Postulator of the
Cause, Fr. Eugenio Valentini, for the Informative Process on Heroic Virtues and Miracles in General of
the Servant of God Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio into my hands. How I enjoyed reading it! I have written an
article about it for another magazine of wider circulation, with the title “An exceptional Salesian of
Don Bosco”. For me, he is one of the most prestigious Salesians in the whole great family of Don
Bosco. His Beatification and Canonization will do much good for the Church, and will give great glory
to God... It will be an marvelous example of such an important aspect for the Church, the teaching of
Theology. I believe it to be a unique case in modern times.”153
The Discalced Carmelite Fr. Valentino Macca of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of the
Saints asked Fr. Valentini for a copy of the Articles, that in his judgment would have been “a
noteworthy model of renewal”. He went on to add, “I am happy for the opening the Cause of Quadrio,
whom I had known in my youth. I appreciated him as a man who transmitted the serenity of a
convinced and secure faith, as an open and enlightened Marian theologian, anchored in the Scriptures,
balanced.”154
After the article announced by Fr. Garrido, in 1985 a pregnant profile of Fr. Quadrio came out,
traced by Fr. Sabino Palumbieri.
A true word made flesh by God. What he said, he put into practice. Thus, he communicated with
credible language a radioactive experience. His greatness is all in this synthesis. He was a unified man.
He reached what the Council called unity of life. Synthesis of profession and vocation. Synthesis of
vocation and inclination. And his teaching at the University was not an improvisation, nor an occasional
situation. It was the expression of a call. And when God calls, He arranges the interior. Fr. Quadrio was
strongly inclined to being a teacher. And that he did, in terms of life...
Fr. Quadrio: a harmony of nature and grace. A synthesis of love and work. We can say that he
signified among us the emblematic illumination of the humanism of the ancient wisdom: “firm in work,
glad in love.”155 Fr. Quadrio: unity of life between discretion and initiative. Tradition welded to the
future. This human and charismatic richness made of him a true well for the town in the Johannine
image,156 from which we have drawn deep lessons of the science of God and of human experience. From
a free, pure, evangelically optimistic man, passionate for the truth, not the abstract truth worked up in
alchemist's alembics, but the truth of God, incarnate in Jesus the perfect man, who became the truth of
mankind...
The point of synthesis, the fulcrum of it all, is... in his effort to make himself a living sign of Christ,
the friend and teacher... With the introduction of his Process of Beatification the boundaries will expand,
diocese of Turin in support of the Informative Process for eventual beatification and canonization.
150 Translator's note: formal request to open the Diocesan Process.
151 Letter of Fr. Luigi Fiora to Fr. Sergio Pierbattisti, July 14, 1985 (Archive).
152 Letter of Fr. Gaetano Scrivo to Bishop Teresio Ferraroni, July 29, 1985 (Archive).
153 Letter of Fr. Manuel Garrido Bonaño to Fr. Luigi Fiora, August 13, 1985 (Archive).
154 Letter of Fr. Valentino Macca to Fr. Eugenio Valentini, November 29, 1985 (Archive).
155 Translator's note: Latin in original is “in labore firmus, in amore laetus”.
156 Translator's note: see John 4:6.

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and the “perfume of Christ” of this terse sacrament will extend throughout the Church renewed by that
Council, which Fr. Quadrio predicted and foresaw.157
At the beginning of 1986, the road already seemed to be turning into its destination. The Salesian
University, as a religious and scientific community, felt ever more convinced of the legacy of mastery
and holiness it had received from Fr. Quadrio. We can catch this air of of growing sensibility from a
letter of Fr. Abbà to Fr. Adriaan Van Luyn, Superior of the UPS Vice Province. “Fr. Fiora told us, Fr.
Pierbattista and me, to get this Process for the Cause of Fr. Quadrio listed ..., on which you as religious
Superior of the UPS Vice Province collaborated so intelligently and cordially for its success. One gets
the impression of a slowly but clearly growing fire. The same new attitude of Fr. Fiora – owing to the
enthusiastic acceptance by Postulators of other Congregations who have read the two writings of Fr.
Quadrio – seems to me to be a sign of what's been going on.”158
Fr. Sergio Pierbattisti, called meanwhile to Rome to work in the Curia, had to leave the post of
Vice-Postulator. He had gradually come to love that job.159 Fr. Giuseppe Abbà started to ask that the
post be taken over by some UPS professor. All the collected material would then be sent to the
University,160 where it would finally unite in a stable home.
The 25th anniversary of Fr. Quadrio's death was approaching, an elegant gift that Providence made
it coincide with the centenary of the death of St. John Bosco. The UPS Vice Province moved toward
two goals: 1. A solemn commemoration in Valtellina, Fr. Quadrio's birthplace; 2. A study
Convention to be held in Rome or in Turin.161
Fr. Angelo Amato, Theology Department chairman, informed the Visitor of the full availability of
the teaching faculty to “give their own contribution to this noble common cause,” and proposed as the
title of the Convention “Fr. Quadrio as Master of Doctrine and Holiness.”162 Rome was chosen as the
most opportune venue.
There still remained unresolved the problem of scientific organization of Fr. Quadrio's manuscripts.
Fr. Cosimo Semeraro, specialist in handling archival materials, was asked to do it. He accepted, and
having once established his jurisdiction, organized a seminar that took care of inventorying and
re-ordering the scattered papers into numbered folders, subdivided by topics already set for pushing the
Cause.163 Thus, the indispensable premise was in place to open a path for the hoped-for study of Fr.
Quadrio's thought.
The Salesian Family of Sondrio put together, as a Christmas present for 1986, a booklet entitled Fr.
Giuseppe Quadrio, a Man and a Priest for Our Time.
157 “Fr. Quadrio, a Master”, in Bollettino degli Amici dell'Universita Salesiana [Bulletin of the Friends of the Salesian
University] II:1 (September 1, 1985), pp. 12-13. Translator's note: this came out before Fr. Macca's letter, instead of after as
the Italian original says.
158 Letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà to Fr. Adriaan Van Luyn, February 10, 1986 (Archive).
159 Letter of Fr. Sergio Pierbattisti to Fr. Giuseppe Abbà, May 4, 1986 (Archive).
160 Letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà to Fr. Luigi Fiera, April 17, 1986; letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà to Fr. Adriann Van Luyn,
August 20, 1986 (Archive). Translator's note: nobody in Italy works much in August; that's national vacation time.
161 Minutes of the Provincial Council meeting, November 12, 1986: “The Superior proposes for the date of the
Commemoration the 25th anniversary of the death of Fr. Quadrio, October 23, 1988 (or another more opportune date around
then): it seems a very significant coincidence, being able to do it during the Centenary DB 88: Fr. Quadrio “At the School
of Don Boscco.” (Archive)
162 Letter of Fr. Angelo Amato to Fr. Adriaan Van Luyn, November 14, 1986 (Archive).
163 See the contribution by Fr. Semeraro in this volume. Letter of Fr. Angelo Amato to Fr. A. Van Luyn, November 20,
1986; letter of Sister Domenica Grassiano to Fr. Manuel Garrido Bonaño, October 17, 1987; reply of Fr. M. Garrido,
October 27, 1987: “You may ask of me what you believe convenient for this most worthy and holy son of Don Bosco. I will
do it with great pleasure; I want this Cause to get started soon. He is a great example of virtue, of which we have such great
need, as a professor of Theology and as an authentic apostle of youth.” (version in Spanish; Archive).

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At twenty years since his death, the Cause for Canonization has been introduced, and the Church
has been asked to recognize him as one of the Saints. Our time needs to continue to hope, to believe in
the goodness of people.”164
“It is easy to become a saint, if you don't want to be human!” This accusation by Marx does not
apply to Fr. Quadrio, who lived his humanity intensely: a true man of God. He was a good man, just,
accepting, open to the various voices of the world, attentive and sensitive, ready to give of himself for
others. His was not a sanctity of gaudy gestures, such as we would like to see in order to believe, but of
the ordinary, of the day by day, of simple contact with youth and with God. With his life, Fr. Quadrio
has demonstrated that no saint exists without also being human!... Perhaps Fr. Quadrio is more a model
for priests: he passed his life in the ambient of priestly formation, and from the biographical point of
view, it is easily summarized. In his writings, whoever is a priest or on the road to priesthood, a religious
brother or a nun, can find comfort, stimulus and encouragement; the young instead can read in him a
man who lives not by bits and pieces, but the globality of a life project, to which he has remained faithful
right from earliest youth.165
The possibility of proposing Fr. Quadrio as a model, not only for priests or seminarians, but for all
without distinction, will be explicitly affirmed here. This especially for young people, to whom the
booklet is directed: how the style and elements of it shine forth.
On April 9, 1987, there was an extraordinary meeting of the Theology Department faculty, calling
into collaboration also the Postulator's people and the Vice Province. It was to coordinate the decisions
already taken. Participating were Fr. Luigi Fiora, Fr. Adriaan Van Luyn,166 Fr. Roberto Giannatelli,167 Fr.
Angelo Amato, Fr. Juan Picca, Fr. Tarcisio Bertone,168 Fr. Eugenio Valentinti, Fr. Cosimo Semararo.
The need was expressed to find somebody with the concrete possibility to push the Cause, and to
prepare right away the documentation necessary to open the Diocesan Process.169
10. Submission of the Cause to the Curia of Turin
Finally, on November 10, 1987, came the widely hoped-for official document. The Postulator
General submitted a petition to Cardinal Anastasio Ballestrero, Archbishop of Turin, that the Diocesan
Process “Canonization of the Servant of God, Giuseppe Quadrio, professed priest of the Socieity of St.
Francis de Sales (1921-1963)”, be opened.
Your Eminence, Most Reverend:
The Postulator General of the Society of St. Francis de Sales, Aloysius Fiora, duly constituted by
mandate of the Procurator's Office, and in its own name, reverently beseeches Your Eminence that the
Process concerning the life and virtues of the Servant of God Giuseppe Quadrio, a professed priest of the
Society of St. Francis de Sales, be kindly ordered into execution.170
The Salesian News Agency,171 at the beginning of the following year, gave a communication to the
entire Salesian Family.
164 From the Presentation, p. 5. The text was written by Fr. Vittorio Chiari (unsigned), from material taken from the
biography by Fr. Eugenio Valentini, from letters of Fr. Quadrio to Fr. Luigi Melesi, and from the Valtellina investigations.
165 Ibid., p. 31.
166 Translator's note: now Bishop emeritus of Rotterdam.
167 Translator's note: at his death on Oct. 12, 2012, he was Honorary president of MED, the Italian Media Education
association.
168 Translator's note: now, Cardinal Bertone, former Secretary of State of the Holy See.
169 Minutes of the meeting, April 9, 1987 (Archive).
170 A copy of the petition is kept in the Archive. In Appendix I of the Library of the Saints, Rome 1987, columns
1099-1100, see the already detailed profile of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, signed by Fr. Eugenio Valentini. Translator's note: title
and text of the original petition are in Latin.
171 Translator's note: Newsletter of the Salesian News Agency (ANS).

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The assembly of documents – written and oral testimony – to introduce the Cause of Beatification of
the Salesian priest Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio (1921-1963) is already at a good state. The documentation for
opening the Diocesan Process is imminent. At this time, it is important to spread knowledge of Fr.
Quadrio among the faithful, so that prayer for his intercession may be intensified. This will also
complete and enrich the series of testimonies in favor of the Cause, from whoever is ready to express
recollections and facts regarding him.
The apostolate of Fr. Quadrio, played out principally in study and priestly formation... sets him up as
an inspirational model above all for those preparing for the priesthood and for those responsible for the
centers of priestly and religious formation. But his spirituality is a model and stimulus also for every
category of the faithful.172
More meetings of the committee for the Cause checked on progress, and the members worked to
establish a concrete program for the upcoming event in Valtellina and for the Study Convention, whose
date was already being postponed due to missed deadlines.
Besides the members named above were invited: Fr. Josef Struś and Fr. Remo Bracchi,173 named
Vice-Postulator.174
Others joined, mostly enthusiasts from the Central and Lombardy-Emiliana Provinces, who were
more directly interested in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Fr. Quadrio's death. Fr. Pietro
Ponzo, Vice Provincial of the Central Province, in the name of Fr. Angelo Viganó, wrote: “We are
united with the UPS Vice Province in thanking the Lord for having given to the Congregation and to
the Church a learned and holy priest, who could be indicated to all as a model of priestly life and a
stimulus to holiness.”175
The Vice Province and the University (Theology Department) divided the work of bringing the two
projects to completion: The Vice Province prepared the days of commemoration of the 25th
anniversary in Fr. Quadrio's native place; the Theology Department started concrete planning for the
study Convention on his thought.”176
11. The 25th Anniversary commemoration in Valtellina
The solemn celebrations in Valtellina had an extraordinary resonance. They were carefully planned
from Rome, with the notable participation of the Crocetta in Turin, the Lombardy-Emilia and Central
Provinces, of Fr. Quadrio's home town and nearby places (especially Grosotto, where Fr. Pierino
Rubustelli, cousin of Fr. Quadrio is pastor), of Bishop Teresio Ferraroni of Corno, and of local clergy.177
172 [Raimondo Loss] “Italy: Cause of Beatification of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio”, in Agenzia Notizie Salesiane [Salesian News
Agency, =ANS] 1 (1988), p. 4.
173 Minutes of the meeting, Jan. 6, 19888. See also minutes of the Vice-Provincial Council, February 11, 1988 (Archive).
174 The document designating him is dated June 24, 1988 (Archive).
175 Letter of Fr. Pietro Ponzo to Fr. Adriaan Van Luyn, March 31, 1988. See also the letter of Fr. Arnaldo Scaglione,
Provincial for Lombardy-Emilia (undated); the letter of Fr. Ugo Contin, Director of the house at Sondrio, March 23, 1988.
Announcement in the minutes of the Provincial Council meeting, March 10, 1988 (Archive).
176 Minutes of “Meeting on the Cause of Fr. Quadrio), Feb. 5, 1988 (Archive).
177 The local and Salesian press gave notice before and after: “The Salesian Family Remembers Fr. Quadrio”, in Il
Settimanale [The Weekly] (Diocese of Como), October 16, 1988; “Aperto il Processo di Canonizzazione. La Valtellina avrà
un nuovo beato? Ė don Giuseppe Quadrio di Vervio” [Process of Canonization Opened. Will Valtellina Have a New
Blessed? It is Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio of Vervio], in Corriere della Valtellina [Valtellina Courier], Oct. 16, 1988;
“Commemorazione di don Giuseppe Quadrio” [Commemoration of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio], in Centro Valle [Valley Center],
Oct. 16, 1988; R. Bracchi, “Don Giuseppe Quadrio: la violetta delle Alpi” [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio: the Violet of the Alps], in
Il Settimanale, Oct. 22, 1988; “Un bel ritratto di don Giuseppe Quadrio tracciaot dai suoi confratelli nel 25° della sua morte.
Un fatto prodigioso avvenuto nel 1969 ha tutte le caratteristiche del miracolo”[A Good Portrait of Fr. Quadrio, Sketched by
his Confreres on the 25th Anniversary of His Death. A Prodigious Event of 1969 Has All the Characteristics of a Miracle],
in Corriere della Valtellina, Oct. 29, 1988; Fr. Antonio Saiu (Pastor at Vervio); “A Vervio e a Grosotto, giornata di
meditazione nel recordo di don Quadrio” [At Vervio and Grosotto, A Day of Meditation in Memory of Fr. Quadrio], in Il
Settimanale, Oct. 22 – Nov. 5 1988; Fr. Egidio Ferasin, “Un maestro di teologia verso gli altari? In ricordo di don Giuseppe

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They led to a decisive surge of knowledge and veneration of the Servant of God.
Fr. Abbà affirmed: “The march was long and tiring, and a little uncertain, I'd say, up to the big event
of 22-23 October last. A cordial involvement of the UPS, both religious and academic, was felt. Up to
then I believed in the Cause; after, I thought it a done deal with interest... And, Fr. Quadrio will help us
from Heaven!”178
In the Acts of the 25th Anniversary one can repeatedly catch the underlying motive for
communications like this.179
Already in the Preface of Fr. Adriaan Van Luyn we read: “His figure was often highlighted, as
much for his outstanding qualities as a teacher, as for his gifts as a teacher of priestly spirituality in
particular... Among the motivations adopted in support of the request – beyond the fame of holiness
and heroic degree of virtues, demonstrated particularly in the acceptance and in the exemplary
endurance of the long and incurable illness which took him at only 42 years of age – the academic
authorities point out that of being able to present in the figure of Fr. Quadrio an inspirational model for
all who have the responsibility for the scientific, cultural and religious formation of future priests, as
well as the candidates to the priesthood themselves.180
In the homily given at the Marian church of Grosotto by Fr. Roberto Giannatelli, a former student
of Fr. Quadrio and Rector Magnificus of the Salesian Pontifical University, the homilist testified: “Fr.
Quadrio has been for us a Friend, a Master, and Model of a priest adapted to the 'new times' that, at
the end of the '50's, already were being announced to the Church and the world. Fr. Quadrio had it all
together for us, in a delicate moment of cultural transition already under way then... a bearer of the old,
and herald of the new; rooted in tradition of the Church and open to the breath of the Spirit, expressed
through the Biblical and liturgical movements, in a renewed concept of catecheis and a new way to do
theology.”181
In his congrratulatory message, Bishop Teresio Ferraroni of Como singled out Fr. Quadrio as a
modern model for his own clergy. “The famous five points, written by Fr. Quadrio for a new priest, are
still current in themselves and as a sure guarantee for faith which is shocked and undermined by lax
discipline. I hope that the clergy of Valtellina will not let this occasion for an examination of life pass
by.”182
Fr. Luigi Melesi has shown how Fr. Quadrio was a true master, because he knew how to imitate the
one Master who bore that name in the true sense of the word: “He lived what he taught; he lived for the
praise of the Lord Creator and Redeemer; he lived the mercy of the Lord; he lived the faithfulness of
God, hoping in the promises of the Lord; above all he lived the love of God. He wanted to make... his
whole life an imitation of Jesus, orienting it definitively and radically in a prospective at once
Quadrio nel venticinquesimo della morte” [A Master of Theology Moving to the Altars? In Memory of Fr. Giuseppe
Quadrio on the 25th Anniversary of His Death], in Notiziario Ispettoria Centrale S. Cuore [Central Province of the Sacred
Heart Newsletter] 56 (December 1988), pp. 27-29; “Commemorazione di don Giuseppe Quadrio nel 25° della morte”
[Commemoration of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio on the 25th Anniversary of His Death], in L'Amico, Bolletino dell'Associazione
delle Famiglie Quadri e Quadrio [The Friend, Bulletin of the Quadri and Quadrio Families Association], XVIII (April
1989), pp. 24-25; Report in “Chronica” of Salesianum (1989), p. 202.
On the vigil of the Commemoration (Friday, Oct. 21, 1988), the figure of Fr. Quadrio was presented on local TV: Fr.
Tarcisio Bertone and Fr. Remo Bracchi spoke on Teleradio Valtellina (recording in the Archive); Fr. Cosimo Semeraro and
Fr. Enrico dal Covolo spoke on TeleSondrio. Translator's note: Fr. Dal Covolo is now a Bishop, and current Rector of the
Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. Fr. Semeraro is now Secretary of the Pontifical Committee on Historical Sciences.
178 Letter of Fr. Giuseppe Abbà to Fr. Remo Bracchi, June 5, 1989 (Archive).
179 Remo Bracchi (ed.), Don Giuseppe Quadrio a 25 anni dalla morte. Atti della solenne Commemorazione in Valtellina
(Grosotto-Sontrio-Vervio, 22-23 ottobre 1988) [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio at 25 Years Since His Death. Acts of the Solemn
Commemoration in Valtellina (Grosotto-Sondrio-Vervio], Oct. 22-23, 1988), Rome 1989.
180 Ibid., pp. 7-8.
181 Ibid., p. 20.
182 Ibid., p. 28. For the “five points”, see L 207.

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contemplative and apostolic, in the Christocentric and ecclesial dimension.”183
As others have already grasped, Fr. Sabino Palumbieri has presented us with Fr. Quadrio as Gospel
realized in life. “There are, above all, people of meek heart and robust spirit, who write a fifth Gospel
in their very flesh, and guarantee the possibility of living the code of humanism to the full, which is that
of the Beatitudes. There the content goes against the usual logic of greed, abuse, violence, duplicity,
amorality, no thirst for justice. These people-made-signs are a determining contribution in making the
story into History.”184
“He visualized priesthood as a prolonging of the Incarnation. 'There are,' he used to say, 'two faces
of one mystery.' As the Incarnation is the union of two natures without confusion, the divine and the
human, so living out the priesthood is a union of mystery and history, of faith and life, of altar and
work for liberation.”185
Fr. Quadrio became that mystery he dealt with. “His word... was a window into his deep self, that
is, his being... His life was a continuous becoming better, enabling an existential project. It was a
dynamism of faithfulness and faithfulness in dynamism. And it became itself, but a sign of perfection
both on the plane of natural talent and on that of the Christic seed of grace.”186
“With all his being, Fr. Quadrio taught us to strive to be men truly believers and truly human, that
is, Christians who become Christians every day, refusing to transmit a bargain bin Christianity. At the
end of the day, it's about showing ourselves as believers with credibility.”187
The teaching of Fr. Quadrio at the Crocetta during the run-up to the Conciliar renewal corresponds
to a precise plan of Providence. That is what Fr. Gaetano Scrivo vigorously emphasized in his
conclusion at Sondrio. “We feel the need to thank God, because he [Fr. Quadrio] has been a great gift,
a stupendous gift. Thank God for all we have received through him. How many and how much!... God
does not act carelessly. God does not calculate in probabilities. God knows what plans he has for man,
inviting him to a synergistic human and divine action. So, where did he leave this gift? Where has this
gift become a richness for the whole Congregation? At the Salesian University. That is a sign. Here
there's no calculation; there's a project. God saw looking forward, at a distance. He saw that in
particularly difficult moments, the hope of the future and the future of hope are prepared there, during
the whole arc of formation, in which a man becomes ever more conscious of God's planning and of his
responsibility. And look, he gave it to you, dear Superiors, teachers, students and alumni of the Salesian
University at Rome. We need to discover in this commemoration, beyond the duty of giving thanks, the
intuition and intentionality of God in giving [Fr.] Quadrio to the highest cultural Institute of the
Congregation, as though to say: if you want to be secure about the future, here is a model, here is the
realization of a project, here is a man who knew how to say yes.”188
With other words and images Cardinal Rosalio Castillo Lara repeated the same concept in his
homily at Vervio, drawing out a significant parallel between Don Bosco and Fr. Quadrio:
One cannot forget his qualifications... principally that of being a master, a master priest, who had the
gift of teaching the most difficult and unattractive things with clarity, make students assimilate and love
them. He taught at the lectern, and one could almost say, above all at recreation. Without many words,
with a gesture, a smile, with all his Salesian personality...
For you professors, the personality of Fr. Quadrio totally represents a program. Doing a teacher's
job is not just a search for the truth, but above all a credible transmission of the wisdom of the heart,
made flesh in your lives... Leading the sheep to pasture, he was conquered by Don Bosco.189 What a
183 Ibid., p. 29.
184 Ibid., p. 34.
185 Ibid., pp. 67-68.
186 Ibid., pp. 75-76.
187 Ibid., p. 81.
188 Ibid., p. 96.
189 Ibid.

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coincidence! The shepherd boy of Becchi right here, while Joey did what Johnny had done. He chose
another pasture, for that great family of shepherds of youth that is the Salesian Congregation.190
12. From the commemoration to the study congress
The Postulators and the Vice Province on the one hand, and the faculty of the Theology Department
of UPS on the other, proceeded on two parallel tracks after the great experience of the
Commemoration. The faculty sought more to clarify the first: Fr. Quadrio as a teacher of theology. The
Postulators and the Vice Province are committed to broadening awareness of Fr. Giuseppe as a teacher
of life, that is, pointing more to the second track. Given the harmonious unity achieved in Fr. Quadrio
between teaching and witness, it is clear that the two aspects cannot be completely separated and are
destined to illuminate each other. The Postulators edited a series of anecdotes from Fr. Quadrio's life,
that were published contemporaneously in the diocesan newspaper Il Settimanale and the local
Corriere della Valtellina,191 directed to putting the human and priestly figure of the Servant of God into
relief for adolescents. They pointed to him as a model for youth “of one word only”, to adults as a
paradigm of a man of crystalline transparency for grace, to religious as the ideal of a priest
“professional of God's tenderness”.192
Mrs. Caterina Pedrini participated in the solemn Commemoration in Valtellina, and was profoundly
impressed by that holiness so serene of the Servant of God. She was first to have the idea to found the
“Friends of Fr. Quadrio”. She was joined spontaneously and convincingly by people from many places.
Among the first and most enthusiastic should be singled out Mr. Guido Visini, provincial Minister for
Culture and neighbor of Fr. Guiseppe. He began to work up the by-laws, that required of each one in
his or her own sphere of activity, a concrete commitment to imitate the most characteristic traits of the
Servant of God. These are the sweetness of his educational method dealing with young people, the
transparency and affability in daily contacts, his deep participation and capacity for self-giving, the
incarnation of the humanity and goodness of the Lord. As a cultural aim, the Friends of Fr. Quadrio
sought to spread knowledge of him, organizing events for this purpose, and raising funds for an
eventual publication of his works.193
The “Quadri and Quadrio Families Association,” coming to know about the movement, said they
were ready to support the initiative.194
The activity of the Vice Postulator was, in the meantime, principally directed to cover some gaps in
the Archive. With detailed research, he tracked down over 100 new letters, never before published.
Photocopies of ones already noted but with uncertain documentation were recovered. He got other
depositions by persons who, although favorable to the Cause, were undecided or not yet ready to put
their names to their testimonies. Some of these turned out to be very significant.
Systematic computerization work began, then, especially following three tracks. All the discovered
letters were transcribed onto diskettes, in view of possible publication.195 Similarly, work on
computerizing the homilies began, after a patient effort to sort them by themes, and chronologically
(where possible) within those themes. Also, all the biographical references in the various archival
materials were traced (diaries, letters, testimonies, reports, minutes, official civil and religious
documents). Work started on assembling pieces for a solid outlne of a biography.
190 Ibid. Card. Castillo retouched the text for printing. This last part comes from a recording of the homily (tape cassette in
the Archive). The spoken version is reported in p. 103 of the Acts.
191 In Il Settimanale [The Weekly] beginning Feb. 18, 1989; in Corriere della Valtellina [Valtellina Courier] beginning Feb.
17. These articles in the Vervio dialect, with a biographical introduction and an Italian version, were included in the
Appendix of the booklet of the Acts, pp. 97-163.
192 The expression was coined by Fr. Valentino del Mazza.
193 Copy of the by-laws in Archive (Studio Notarile Schiantarelli-Laurini, Tirano, attachment -A- to N. 5341/1159)
194 Letter of the President (Dr. Bruno Quadri) to Fr. Remo Bracchi, April 30, 1989 (Archive).
195 The Bollettino Salesiano [Salesian Bulletin] 113/18 (Dec. 1, 1989), pp. 37-40, has an attractive profile of the first
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Finally, preliminary work is underway for the republication of Fr. Quadrio's “Answers” in the
magazine Meridiano 12. For all these works, an introduction for each is planned, that will present the
content and its importance.196
The “Pier Giorgio Frassati” Cultural Center put out a pamphlet in February 1989 entitled The City
and the Works. On the Trail of the Saints of Turin.197 Fr. Quadrio is #47.
In March 1989, the Benedictine Fr. Manuel Garrido Bonaño wrote a new article for a religious
journal, aiming to make the figure and the spirituality of Fr. Quadrio known also in Spain.
Today, more than ever, the greatest figures of theological thought are useful for us. The Salesian of
Don Bosco, Fr. José Quadrio, is one of these... Ordained priest on March 16, 1947, he was destined to
explain theology in the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum. His classes were most brilliant for their depth
and intense supernatural elevation. In 1954, he was named Chairman of the Theology Department of the
Athenaeum... One remains in admiration at how Fr. Quadrio could harmonize so perfectly his love and
study of Theology, and his apostolate among the youth, and his high mystical contemplation. A very
serious illness wasted his body little by little. In the clinic, he carried out a most valuable apostolate
among the patients, doctors, and staff.198
In the 1989 Acts of the Council of the Central Province, Fr. Angelo Viganò presents the theme of
the 23rd General Chapter: “Educating Young People to the Faith: A Task and Challenge For Today's
Salesian Community.” He recalls the figure of Fr. Quadrio to all confreres, “a Salesian of the same
Province and a faith educator of exceptional value”, invoking him that he might help each on to realize
this project.
A first quick profile of the “Study Seminar on Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio”, held in Rome October 21-22,
concomitant with the 26th anniversary of the death of the Servant of God, can be found in the Bulletin
of the Friends of the Salesian Pontifical University 4/2 (2nd semester, 1989), pp. 6-7.
On November 11-12, a small group of representatives of the Vice Province, of the University, and
of the Postulator's office went to Sondrio and to Vervio to present the volume of the Acts of the 25th
[anniversary celebration], to keep alive the connections with the land of Fr. Quadrio, to deepen the
spirituality of the local people, and to encourage imitation and devotion among them. Local press and
TV were invited on short notice, but gave a lot of coverage to the event.199
196 The works (in Italian) are in print: Don Giuseppe Quadrio, Letters [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Letters], ed. R. Bracchi (=
Spirito e Vita [Spirit and Life] 19), Rome, 1991; Don Giuseppe Quadrio: Risposte [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio: Answers], ed. R.
Bracchi (= Spirito e Vita 20), Rome, 1992; Don Giuseppe Quadrio: Omelie [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio: Homilies], ed. R.
Bracchi (= Spirito e Vita 21), Rome, 1993. Tables of contents of these three are given in an appendix to Fr. Cosimo
Semeraro's contribution in this volume. Translator's note: where?
Copies of notes for a biography, chronologically ordered, edited by R. Bracchi, were given to the Postulator
General's office.
197 Translator's note: In Italian, with original title La città e le opere. Sulle tracce dei santi torinesi.
198 “Un jóven Salesiano ejemplar” [An Examplary Young Salesian], in Iglesia-mundo [Church-World] 318, first fortnight
of March 1989, p. 16. Similar thoughts appear also in the preceding testimonies. See, in particular, point 6 (pp. 71 ff.) and p.
76 (no. 56).
199 “Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio at 25 years Since His Death”, in L'Amico. Quadri and Quadrio Families Bulletin, Oct. 1989, pp.
25-26; “Sarà presentato a Sondrio dalla Famiglia Salesianaa un nuovo libro su don Giuseppe Quadrio. Ne è autore don
Remo Bracchi” [Presenting a New Book on Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio by the Salesian Family at Sondrio. Fr. Remo Bracchi Is
the Author], in The Weekly, Nov. 4, 1989, p. 16; “Presentation on Saturday the 11th at Sondrio. A Volume on Fr. Giuseppe
Quadrio”, in Centro Valle [Central Valley], Sunday, Nov. 5, 1989; “Sabato Prossimo presenterà il suo ultimo libro su don
Giuseppe Quadrio don Remo Bracchi poeta valtellinese” [Next Saturday Fr. Remo Bracchi, poet of Valtellina, will present
his latest book on Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio], in Corriere della Valtellina [Valtellina Courier] Nov. 10, 1989; P[iero] M[elagra],
“ Presentato a Sondrio il volume curato d Remo Bracchi, ricordando don Quadrio a 25 anni dalla sua morte” [Presentation
in Sondrio of the book edited by Remo Bracchi, remembering Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio 25 years after his death], in Corriere
della Valtellina, Friday, Nov. 17 1989, p. 3; P. M[elgara], “A precious book presented in Sondrio: Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio at
25 years since his death”, in Il Settimanale [The Weekly], Nov. 18 1989, p. 18; Chiara Docorato, “Ricordato a Sondrio don
Giuseppe Quadrio” [Remembrance of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio at Sondrio], in Cantro Valle, Sunday, Nov. 19 1989, p. 6; Giulio

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Elvio Mainardi, painter of Bormio, prepared a pictorial study of the grand dimensions of Fr.
Giuseppe's face for the occasion, and gave it to the Salesian University through the Friends of Fr.
Quadrio. This now stands in the entrance atrium of the University chapel.
13. Overview of the more important next steps
On November 17 1990, the Archbishop of Turin, Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini, got the declaration
“No Obstacle”200 from the [Vatican] Congregation for the Causes of the Saints; the Cause of
Beatification could proceed.
The actual opening [of the diocesan process] was not long in coming. Fr. Quadrio was the first of
five candidates (Bro. Luigi Andrea Bordino of the Cottolengo Institute, the Carmelite Mother Maria
degli Angeli, the lay widow Marchioness Giulia Falletti di Barolo, Fr. Eugenio Refeo CSJ). It took
place on Monday, Jan. 21 1991, at 5PM in the Turin church of St. Lawrence. The report affirms in the
section of Fr. Quadrio: “He can be proposed as an example of seminary and priestly life because of: 1)
his faithfulness to his vocation; 2) the way of perfection undertaken in poverty, humility, and
obedience; 3) the love for study in which, with professional integrity, he became outstanding; 4) or the
love with which he has spent his knowledge in his lectures to souls called to the priesthood, and by
means of the printed word, to youth whom he loved intensely in the spirit of St. John Bosco.”201
On October 2 1991, the Rogatorial Process was opened in Rome at the Vicariate, requesting transfer
of numerous testimonies from Turin to the Salesian Pontifical University. In the spring of 1992 the
examination of witnesses was over, and in autumn of the same year, the Roman phase of the Process
was finished. The Acts (700 pages) were transmitted to the diocesan tribunal of Turin.
An important new initiative was undertaken by the Theology faculty of the Turin campus of the
Salesian Pontifical University, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its own “rebirth”, coinciding with
the 30th anniversary of Fr. Quadrio's death. On the Solemn Feast of St. Joseph (March 19 1993), after
the concelebrated Mass with Card. Giovanni Saldarini, a commemoration “The Servant of God Fr.
Giuseppe Quadrio, Master of Theology and Life,” was held in the Great Hall.
The Rome campus of the University had already extended an invitation to its permanent staff to
freely participate in the solemn celebrations which would be held in Valtellina on October 23 and 24
1993, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of Fr. Quadrio's death.202
We have climbed, through these testimonies, up to a crystal clear mountain spring. We have seen
the stream become bigger and bigger. We look for it to become the river that gladdens the City of God.
Perotti, “Ripercorsa con foto e testi nel volume curato da Remo Bracchi la vita del sacerdote di Vervio don Giuseppe
Quadro a 25 anni dalla morte” [Tracing with photo and texts the life of the Vervio priest Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio at 25 years
since his death in the book by Remo Bracchi], in Corriere della Valtellina [Valtellina Chambers], Friday, Nov. 24 1989, p. 3;
P. M[elgara], “Solenne celebrazione a Vervio in memoria di don Quadrio” [Solemn celebration at Vervio in memory of Fr.
Giuseppe Quadrio], Ibid., p. 7. G. R. Davante, “Vervio. Ricordando un grande compaesano, don Quadrio. Presentati gli Atti
dei festeggiamenti dello scorso anno in memoria di don Giuseppe Quadrio” [Vervio: Remembering a great countryman.
Presenting the Acts of last year's celebrations in memory of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio], in Il Settimanale, Nov. 25 1989, p. 15;
Le Vie del Bene [The Ways of Good] 60 (Nov. 1989), p. 19; Notiziario del Bollettino della Società Storica Valtellinese
[Notices of the Bulletin of the Valtellina Historical Society] 43 (Dec. 1989), p. 3. The video cassette with the whole taping
of the celebration at the Salesian Theater in Sondrio was given to the Archive. Translator's note: all the book and magazine
titles are here translated from the original Italian.
200 Translator's note: Nihil Obstat, Latin for “there's nothing in the way.” Such declaration may also be given for other
requests, like publication of a book.
201 See La Stampa [The Press], Jan. 22 1991, p. 19. Copies of these papers from the [diocesan] Curia are in the Archive.
202 Letter of Fr. Paul Natali to the permanently residing confreres of the UPS Vice Province (Prot. Vis 93/2; Archive).

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FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO AND THE DOGMA OF MARY'S ASSUMPTION:
HISTORICAL AND DOGMATIC CONSIDERATIONS
Angelo Amato
This is a communication and thus a partial study, like one piece of the complex mosaic of the figure
of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio SDB (1921-1963), a professor and scholar of dogmatic theology. Lacking a
scientific biography, which would offer a reliable overview from the point of view of the
historical-critical dates, people, places, circumstances, it is still without a secure point of reference for
the further investigation of particular aspects of his personality. It is quite daunting task to rebuild from
time to time, and from a fragment, the historical background of the story of a man who, despite having
lived only forty-two years, went through one of the most troubled periods of European history in this
cen-tury. That is the pre-war period, the whole of World War II, post-war reconstruction, fermentation
before the Council, and its beginning.
This communication aims to open a window on the world of theology and Mariology of his time. In
doing such excavation work, you will come across a thousand little tunnels, containing useful and
valuable materials for refining and use at the surface. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, to study the
role of Quadrio you cannot consult the “common knowledge” culture. You have to go to the sources,
enter the mine, open the gates, make connections, make hypotheses, hazard some first interpretations.
However, as a first approach, Fr. Quadrio appears with his own distinct theological personality
developed in a horizon much wider and more universal than that of Turin and Salesian Crocetta, where
he spent the years of his maturity until death. He was formed and established himself brilliantly in a
university, the Gregorian University in Rome, which at that time was - and still is - a most celebrated
center of theological and ecclesial culture, with world class teachers. Right from the beginning, in fact,
he acquired expertise and some reputation in the theology of the Assumption. This points to his
undeniable talent for theology.
1.
The theme of Mary's Assumption in Fr. Quadrio's theological formation
Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, after completing his philosophy studies at the Gregorian University
(1938-1941), began his theological studies in 1943 at the same university and at the height of the war.
Those lasted six years, up to his doctorate.
We offer a brief chronological table of his training and his encounter with the theme of Mary's
Assumption.
October 1943: Father Quadrio began his theological studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University;
December 12, 1946: He argues the affirmative in a solemn debate at the Gregorian on the
definability of the dogma of the Assumption;
March 16 1947: he was ordained a priest in Rome;
October 12 1947: continuing the brilliant outcome of the debate, he starts his doctoral thesis in
Rome. It will be on an historical-dogmatic question related to the topic of the Assumption, under the
guidance of Fr. Charles Boyer.203
203 In a letter of Aug. 11 1948 to Fr. Renato Ziggiotti, then Superior General of Studies, Father Quadrio writes that he had
to work hard on the probable identification of the anonymous author of a treatise on which he was working and then notes:

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October 4 1949: After two years of intense work, he presents his doctoral thesis;
October 15 1949: Arrives at the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum in Turin, as teacher of dogmatic
theology;
December 7 1949, Vigil of the Immaculate Conception: brilliantly defends his thesis summa cum
laude;204
October 19, 1950, 12 days before definition of the dogma: he gives the lecture to open the school
year at the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum on the theme: “The Definition of the Dogma of the
Assumption of Mary Most Holy in the Light of Tradition”;205
November 1 1950: at the invitation of the Superiors, he goes to Rome for the solemn ceremony
defining the dogma;
1951: He publishes the doctoral thesis in the series Analecta Gregoriana,206 and another article on
the Assumption in the journal La Scuola Cattolica di Venegono (Milano).207
This simple chronological comparison shows that the dominant theme of his studies in Rome was
that of the theological foundation of the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. Let us also add that this
topic, tackled with intelligence and diligence, gave him a well-deserved reputation, even to make him
an authority in this field. All this began with that debate in 1946, when Fr. Quadrio was only 25.
"Father Boyer is most generous to me with praise and approval, but - given the nature of the subject - cannot do much
more." (E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio model of priestly spirit],
LAS, Rome 1980, p. 118). In same letter he also says that he needs to prepare well because he had to fight with Father H.
Lennerz, who had opposing views of his thesis adviser (Don Giuseppe Quadrio, Lettere, [Letters], edited by R. BRACCHI,
Rome 1991, p. 100-101, L 054). Not all the teachers at the Gregorian shared that much enthusiasm for such topics. In
another letter dated 26 September 1949, he mentions the suspicion of most of the professors at the Gregorian toward these
types of themes and to this particular topic (Ibid.. p . 120, L 058). The writer, moreover, in an October 7, 1989 interview
with Father Zoltán Alszeghy, found something surprising. Fr. Alszeghy, who in l946 began teaching at the Gregorian
University as a professor of dogmatic theology and issues closely connected with the problem of Mariology (such as
creation, original sin, grace), had never written a scholarly work on a subject about Mary, because - so he explicitly told me
– never felt himself sufficiently challenged by Mariological issues. Cf. A. Amato, “P. Zoltán Alszeghy, SI” [Fr. Zoltán
Alszegy SJ], in Ricerche Teologiche[Theological research] 1 (1990) p. 196-206.
204 The defense was made with Card. P. Pizzardo, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Grand Chancellor
of the Gregorian Pontifical University in attendence. Besides [thesis adviser] Fr. Boyer, the thesis committee consisted of G.
Filograssi and M. Flick. Present also for the defense were Fr. C. Balic, Fr. M. Jugie and Fr. G. Roschini, all noted
mariologists and supporters of the dogma of the Assumption (cf. L'Osservatore Romano, December 11 1949).
205 The lecture was given with Card. Maurilio Fossati, Archbishop of Turin in attendance. Fr. Pietro Ricaldone, Rector
Major of the Salesians was also there. Text is published under the same title in Salesianum 12 (1950), pp. 463-486.
Translator's note: Salesianum is the scholarly journal of the Salesian Pontifical University. The University is sometimes
called by that name.
206 Giuseppe Quadrio, Il Trattato “De Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis” dello Pseudo-Agostino e ill suo influsso nella
Teologia Assunzionistica Latina [The treatise “On the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” of Pseudo-Augustine and its
Influence on the Latin Theology of the Assumption] (= Analecta Gregoriana 52), Apud Aedes Universitatis Gregorianae,
Romae 1951, pp. 428 ff.
207 Giuseppe Quadrio, “Le ragioni teologiche addotte dalla costituzione “Munificentissums Deus” all luce della tradizione
fino al Concilio Vaticano” [Theological reasons put forward in the Constitution “God Most Munificent” in the light of
tradition up to the Vatican Council], in La Scuola Cattolica [The Catholic School] 79 (195), pp. 18-51; this is essentially a
reprint of the 1950 Salesianum article. Translator's note: First Vatican Council.

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2. Solemn debate on the definability of the dogma of the Assumption (1946)208
The motion of the debate was that the Assumption could be defined as dogma. This is about a truth
of faith that Fr. Quadrio likens to a nova which, although shining in the heavens since the Creation, is
discovered only now;209 or a seed which, although buried in the deposit of revelation, only in the course
of centuries reaches full maturity.210
As was the common method of pre-Conciliar theology, the thesis to be demonstrated is given right
away: “The bodily Assumption of Mary as a formally revealed truth, at least implicitly”, with the
qualifying characteristics of Scholastic theology: “We submit that the bodily Assumption is a formally
revealed truth, at least implicitly.”211
The proof proceeds along these three stages:
1) The bodily Assumption has been taught and learned in the Church as infallibly certain in the Church for
centuries;
2) And therefore it is can be certainly said that it is divinely revealed;
3) But not, it seems, explicitly revealed, but in implicit form, contained in a fully understandable way in the
revealed truth about Mary.212
In support of the first affirmation, Fr. Quadrio mentions the existence of the liturgical feast of the
Assumption of Mary in Syria already from the 5th century. He then affirms that this celebration spread
all through the East, and then to France in the 6th century, then to Rome in the 7th century213... and so,
by the end of the 7th century or early in the 8th there was already a mature theology of the Assumption.
This is testified by St. Germano, Patriarch of Constantinople, by St. John Damascene,214 among others.
He notes also that in the Byzantine, Mozarabic, Gallican and Roman liturgies the feast of the
“Dormition” of Mary gradually gave way to that of her Glorification and Assumption.215
Fr. Quadrio specifies that this progressive consciousness of the Assumption was found also among
theologians. While in the 13th century the Assumption came to be considered a “pious consensus in the
Church”, and in the 15th century as a “certain truth”, after Vatican I it was instead held to be
“theologically certain truth, or also revealed and definable.”216
At this point, he makes the conclusion of W. Hentrich and R. G. De Moos, who, along the lines of
their collected Petitions,217 affirm that, taking into account the morally unanimous consensus of bishops
208 The debate was held at the Gregorian University in the presence of nine Cardinals (including the Polish Salesian A.
Hlond), archbishops and bishops (among them, G. B. Montini, the future Pope Paul VI), Fr. G.R. Janssens, Provost General
[Superior General] of the Jesuits, the Rectors of the Roman Pontifical Universities, and many renowned teachers, among
them Fr. A. Bea [later, Cardinal Bea], Hermann, M. Jugie, C. Balic. Fr. Quadrio answered the objections of Bishop Armando
Fares and Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange with surety and mastery, and with modesty (cf. L'Osservatore Romano,
December 14 1946). The original text of the debate is in 9 typewritten Latin pages: cf. Archivio Don Giuseppe Quadrio, N°
96-104, Posizione VI [= D]
209 Translator's note: “nova stella” or nova is the name given to a white dwarf star which steals hydrogen from a nearby
normal star; the hydrogen then explodes. Novae are being produced now, and have been since early in the history of the
Universe, but not “the beginning of creation”. The author's point, however, is substantially correct: novae brighten and
become visible many thousands of years before we do see them, since their light takes that long to reach us.
210 Cf. D p. 1. Translator's note: the Latin original reads, “probari contenimus assumptionem esse veritatem formaliter
saltem implicite revelatam”.
211 D p. 2.
212 D p. 3.
213 D p. 3.
214 D p. 2.
215 D p. 4.
216 Ibid.
217 Cf. W. Hentrich and R.G. De Moos, Petitiones de Assumptione corporea B.V. Mariae in caelum definienda ad Sanctam
Sedem delate, propositae secundum ordinem hierarchicum, dogmaticum, geographicum, chronologicum ad consensum
eccleasiae manifestandum [Petitions that the bodily Assumption into heaven of the Blessed Virgin Mary be defined by the

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all over the world, “The doctrine that holds the Blessed Virgin Mary to be assumed body and soul into
heaven is revealed by God, and therefore can be defined as a dogma of divine faith.”218 To this
consensus of the teaching Church can be added that of the learning Church, as do the “plebiscites” in
favor of the Assumption, the solemn celebrations of the Feast, the devotion to the Rosary, and artistic
works depicting the Assumption.219
This complex of testimonies and this consensus of the teaching and learning Church is – according
to Fr. Quadrio – “an indubitable sign not only true and certain, but also divinely revealed, of Mary's
privileges.”220 In fact, this mystery is not known by the senses, because it is a reality intrinsically above
them; nor is it a consequence of seeing an empty tomb or a private revelation or an apocryphal story or
from an historical authority. The logical conclusion then, is:
“The infallible Christian instinct, then, separates the Assumption from pious historical fact, and
places it among the mysteries of Christian faith, invoking no testimony other than the Word of God.”221
The last part is an attempt to theologically qualify this fact of faith, not so much on motives of pure
convenience, but by reason of strict necessity. Reference is made, then, to the victory of Mary over the
devil (Gen 3:15), to the Annunciation (Lk 1:28), and to the relationship between the death and
Resurrection of Christ and the triumph of Mary.222 Further, in the patristic and and liturgical tradition
there is a nexus between her perpetual virginity and her likewise perfect incorruption at death.223
Finally, Fr. Quadrio affirms the fitting nature of the assimilation of Mary into the same destiny as Her
Divine Son.224
The conclusion is made the that Marian dogmas, taken singly or as an organic whole, postulate the
Assumption and are in harmony with it, so that one could affirm that the Assumption is “formally
implicitly revealed in them,”225 and so could be defined as a dogma of faith. A very brief conclusion
consists of the reasons for which the definition of the dogma is fitting.226
The text of the debate throws light onto some formal qualities typical of Fr. Quadrio: his extreme
linearity, clarity and logical coherence. Great attention also is given to historical research and to
liturgical sources from East and West. We should not forget, then, that we are dealing with a document
of only nine pages by a 25-year old author, tackling a historical and dogmatic theme considered so
thorny and controversial at the time. In the light of later refinements in theological method, some
limitations could be pointed out. For example, the methodology is still essentially deductive: the
Assumption is derived and founded starting from other Marian dogmas. Recourse to Scripture is only
made in the third step, and that by the fragmentary and partial method of “proof texts”.227 Obviously,
there is no trace of today's modern hermeneutical method conducted with the same refinement of
Scriptural interpretation. More, there is no mention, at least in this debate, of the Holy Spirit, as a Spirit
of continual illumination of the history of our comprehension of the mystery of Christ, of the Church,
of humanity, of Mary. That is, no mention is made of what we would now call the “pneumatic
Holy See, a proposition manifest in the hierarchical, dogmatic, geographical and chronological orders of the Church], Typis
Polyglottis Vaticanis, Romae 1942, 2 volumes [= Petitiones]
218 D p. 4. Fr. Quadrio cites Petitions t. II, p. 837. Latin original: doctrinam quae tenet Beatam Virginem anima et corpore
in coelum esse assumptam, esse a Deo revelatam ideoque tamquarm dogma fidei divinae definiri posse.”
219 Ibid.
220 D p. 5. Translator's note: Latin original goes “doctrinam quae tenet Beatam Mariam Virginem anima et corpore in
coelum esse assumptam, esse a Deo revelatam ideoque tamquam dogma fidei divinae definiri posse.”
221 Ibid. Translator's note: the Latin original has it, “Infallibilis enim instinctus christianus Assumptionem a piis factis
historicis seiungit, eamque inter mysteria fidei christianae reponit, nec aliud testimonium invocat nisi Dei verbum”.
222 D p. 7.
223 D pp. 7-8.
224 D p. 8.
225 Ibid. Translator's note: quoted phrase is Latin in the original: “formaliter implicite in illis revelata.”
226 D p. 9.
227 Latin phrase in the original: “dicta probantia”.

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understanding" of the mystery of Mary in the history and life of the Church. Finally, the problem of the
development of Marian dogma is not so much a question of a priori theological truth -- formally
revealed, explicitly or implicitly, etc. -- as much as a question of models of conscious faith, and their
adequate and soundly based expression by the Church in history.
3. The “Sitz im Leben”228 of Fr. Quadrio's theological formation: the “Assumptionist”
theology of the '40s and '50s and the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary (1950)
The first half of the 20th century was a passionately Marian epoch: from the apparitions at Fatima
in 1917 to the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption in 1950, there was a crescendo of fervor,
of Marian initiatives and devotion which resulted in chapter VIII of the 1964 Vatican II dogmatic
constitution on the Church.229 Congar talks about “galloping Mariology”, meaning development of
Marian theological discourse bordering on the pathological.230
In reality, conditioned as we are by the masterful Marian synthesis of the Council, it is perhaps
difficult today to properly assess the pre-Conciliar mariological scene, which is not a wholly dark and
culturally naive trench, but is instead a gradual rise toward the Conciliar fulfillment through the
innovative push of the biblical, liturgical, patristic, ecumenical, and kerygmatic movements. Suffice it
to mention the works of O. Semmelroth,231 H. Rahner232 and H. de Lubac,233 which, in the early '50s,
represent some of the more significant bases of the Conciliar mariological renewal.
Anyway, we could say that the proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption in 1950 represented
the height of pre-Conciliar mariology with the triumph of the so-called Assumptionist movement. Even
here, perhaps we should investigate and better coordinate the causes of the sudden rise and emergence
of the Assumptionist current during and immediately after the disastrous World War II. Are we facing a
movement exquisitely theological in the sense that it would be an inevitable maturation of the
consciousness of the faith of the universal church made towards the Assumption of Mary? Or is it
instead a historical contingency substantially united to a psychological need, in the sense that one
would wish away permanently the horrors of war to turn the gaze towards a model of humanity made
glorious and calm as the Blessed Virgin? Or is it, rather, of a providential coincidence of consensus
from the top and from the bottom to a Marian dimension, which finds in the '40s a positive attention to
motivate its theological foundation? It is probably all these and other factors. Here we will try to
reconstruct the concrete elements that constituted the de facto "Sitz im Leben" in which the
proclamation of the dogma of the Assumption developed. This was, in fact, the cultural context of Fr.
Quadrio's theological formation.
3.1. A diffuse opinion shift
Right after the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in 1854, an opinion shift
started – not so much, or at least not principally, of study – in favor of declaring the Assumption a
dogma.234 One of the first petitions was sent by Queen Elizabeth II of Spain to Pius IX on December
27, 1863, at the suggestion of Archbishop Antonio Maria Claret y Clara, founder of Claretians.235 This
228 Translator's note: German phrase meaning, in general, “Life situation”. It's a technical phrase in Biblical theology,
meaning the life situation of the Biblical writer and the audience receiving the writing.
229 For an overview of pre-Conciliar mariology, see S. De Fiores, Maria nella teologia contemporanea, Centro di cultura
mariana “Mater Ecclesiae” [Mary in contemporary theology], Rome 1987, pp. 19-107.
230 Y.-M. Congar, Conversazioni d'autunno, Queriniana, Brescia 1987, p. 83.
231 O. Semmelroth, Urbild der Kirche. Organischer Aufbau des Mariengeheimnisses [Model of the Church. Organic
Structure of the Marian Mysteries], Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1950.
232 H. Rahner, Maria und die Kirche [Mary and the Church], Marianischer Verlag, Innsbruck 1951.
233 H. de Lubac, Méditation sur l'Église, Aubier, Paris 1952.
234 For an historical summary, cf. Petitiones, vol. II, pp. 880-881.
235 Cf. Petitiones.. vol. II, pp. 882-884.

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current seems to have been also present at Vatican I (1868-69), as shown in some postulates by Council
fathers. The Council, however, did not address the issue because of the Council's indefinite suspension
and also the opposition of many other Council fathers.236
The Assumption movement continued, however, to act either by sending petitions to the Holy See,
or by promoting initiatives, including that of a universal plebiscite among Catholics. The Holy See,
through the Holy Office, responded with extreme caution, explicitly forbidding - with a decree of
February 19, 1880 - the global movement initiated by the Benedictine abbot Luigi Vaccari.237 In fact,
the International Marian Conventions of 1902 in Freiburg and of 1904 in Rome refrained from sending
petitions,238 but that resumed, however, in a big way after the First World War.
It should be noted, at this point, that the analysis of the theological Petitiones contain no historical
and doctrinal elements of particular significance. Very often these are just forms with lots of names
filled in. They are, however, a concrete example of the living faith of many bishops and faithful.
3.2. The decisive push by Pius XII
In 1942, the Pope permitted Wilhelm Hentrich and Rudolf Walter De Moos to collect and publish
the oft-cited Petitiones. The two large volumes contained petitions coming to the Holy Office from 113
cardinals,239 18 patriarchs, 2,505 archbishops and bishops, 23,291 priests and brothers, 50,975 sisters,
and 8,086,396 faithful, all asking for the definition of the dogma of the Assumption.240 These concluded
that there was a moral unanimity among all the bishops of the world. They themselves, as authentic
teachers, not only taught the doctrine of the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but also
asked for its dogmatic definition, and underlined the opportunity of doing so.241 Pius XII went ahead
and prepared the doctrinal ground for an eventual solemn definition by publishing some doctrinal
documents, which constituted in fact a new theological-doctrinal frame of reference after the
disbanding of modernism, after some confusion and discomfort in the face of new historical-critical
methods, and after the tragic vicissitudes of war. And so now came the great encyclicals Mystici
Corporis on the church (29 June 1943); Divino afflante Spiritu on Sacred Scripture (30 September
1943); Mediator Dei on the Eucharistic Sacrifice (November 20, 1947); Humani Generis (12 August
1950) with criticism of the new philosophical and theological trends, and important statements on the
authority of the papal magisterium,242 just three months before the proclamation of the dogma of the
Assumption, made on 1 November 1950. And in fact, it belongs to the Magisterium of the Church –
says Pius XII – “confidently to preserve and teach and interpret all the deposit of faith in Christ the
Lord, whether in Sacred Writings or divine tradition”.243
The Pope went on to send out on May 1 1949 the encyclical Deiparae Virginis to all the bishops of
the world, asking their opinion on the correctness and the advisability of defining the doctrine of the
236 Cf. G. Soll, Cf. Petitiones vol. I, p. 94, vol. II, p. 880ff. Cf. also G. Soll, Storia dei dogmi mariani [History of Marian
Dogmas], LAS, Roma 1981, pp. 355-356.
237 Cf. Soll, op. cit., p. 356.
238 The compilers of the Petitiones attributed that to the machinations of the modernists from 1902 to 1906 (vol. II, p 881).
239 The translator doubts this figure. There were only 62 cardinals at the Conclave of 1939, which elected Pius XII. No new
cardinals were named by him until 1948.
240 Cf. Petitiones vol. I, p. XXIII.
241 Cf. Petitiones vol. II, p. 837.
242 Cf. DS n. 3885 on the ordinary magisterium exercised by the Pope, for example with encyclicals. Translator's note: DS
is Joseph Denziger and Adolf Schönmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum [Handbook of Creeds], Rome and Friburg. It has
summaries of all Catholic teaching of ordinary magisterium, was first published in 1854, and is regularly updated.
243 DS n. 3884. Translator's note: original Latin says “Christus Dominus totum depositum fidei - Sacras nempe Litteras ac
divinam "traditionem" et custodiendum et tuendum et interpretandum concrederit.”

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Assumption.244 The answer was almost unanimously positive to both questions.
Pius XII capped off this long journey of the Assumptionist movement with the promulgation of the
Apostolic Constitution and Dogmatic Bull Munificentissimus Deus of November 1, 1950, in which the
dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was proclaimed as adequately founded and
motivated.245
3.3. Contributions by theologians
The affirmation of the theology of the Assumption was also brought about by monumental studies
and research on the subject. Recall, for example, the voluminous work of Father Martin Jugie
(1878-1954) on the death and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, published in 1944.246 This is an
impressive collection of historical and dogmatic data on the issue of the death and
resurrection-glorification of Mary in liturgical and theological tradition, East and West. It is still
considered an essential reference for students of this subject.
Equally important and complementary to the previous one was the work of Father Charles Balic,
who in 1948-1950 published two volumes containing historical evidence of the doctrine of the
assumption of Mary since the early centuries.247 Theological reflection was joined to this historical
research. The journal Marianum dedicated an extraordinary entire issue for the whole year of 1945
which stared from one affirmation of Pius XII's Mystici corporis, on the presence of Mary in heaven as
body and spirit, and went on to studies and theological considerations favorable to the definability of
the dogma of the Assumption.248 It had only 82 pages, understandable due to wartime conditions still
prevailing. Favorable also were theologians, biblical scholars and liturgists like R.
Garrigou-Lagrange,249 G. Filograssi,250 C. Boyer,251 C. Balic,252 G. Roschini,253 B. Capelle,254 A. Bea.255
Authors unfavorable to the dogmatic definition were, however, not lacking. Already in the 19th
century there remained the famous cases of the Church historian Ignazio Döllinger and the patrologist
244 Cf. AAS 42 (1950), pp. 753-771; DS n. 3900, 3904. Translator's note: AAS is the official gazette Acta Apostolicae Sedes
[Acts of the Holy See].
245 Cf. AAS 42 (1950), pp. 753-771; DS n. 3900, 3904.
246 M. Jugie, La mort et l'assomption de la Sainte Vierge. Étude historico-doctrinale [The Death and Assumption of the
Holy Virgin], Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Città del Vaticano 1944, pp. VIII-747.
247 Cf. C. Balic, Testimonia de assumptione Beatae Virginis Mariae ex omnibus saeculis. Pars prior: ex aetate ante
concilium tridentinum [Testimonies of the Assumtion of the Blessed Virgin Mary from all centuries. Part 1: before the
Council of Trent], Academia Mariana, Romae 1948, 416 pages; Pars altera: ex aetate post concilium tridentinum [Part 2:
After the Council of Trent], Romae 1950, 533 pages.
248 Cf. the studies by G. Roschini, “L'assunzione nella teologia contemporanea” [The Assumption in Contemporary
Theology], in Marianum 8 (1945), pp. 1-34; Enrico di S. Teresa, “Il movimento mariologio per la definizione dogmatica
dell'Assuzione corporea di Maria” [The Mariological Movement for the Dogmatic Definition of the Bodily Assumption of
Mary], ibid. pp. 35-58; L. Carli, La definibilità dogmatica dell'assunzione di Maria [Definability of the Assumption of
Mary], ibid. pp. 59-77. Fr. Quadrio makes mention of Roschini in a letter to Fr. Luigi Castano (L 051).
249 R. Garrigou-Lagrange, “L'Assomption est-elle formellement révélée de facon implicite?” [Is the Assumption formally
revealed implicitly?], in Doctor Communis (1948), pp. 28-63.
250 G. Filograssi, “De definibilitate Assumptionis B. Maria V” [On the definability of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary], in Gregorianum 29 (1948), pp. 7-41; Traditio divino-apostolica et Assumptio B.M.V., ibid. 30 (1949), pp. 443- 489;
Theologia catholica et Assumptio B.M.V, ibid. 31 (1950), pp. 323-360.
251 See his treatises on Mariology below.
252 C Balic, De definibilitate Assumptionis B.M.V in caelum [On the Definability of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
Mary into Heaven], Officium Libri Catholici, Romae 1945.
253 See note 45. [248, if all chapters together]
254 B. Capelle, “La fête de l'Assomption dans l'histoire liturgique”, in Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 3 (1926), pp.
33-45.
255 A. Bea, “La Sacra Scrittura 'ultimo fondamento' del dogma dell'Assunta” [Is Holy Scripture the 'ultimate foundation' of
the Dogma of the Assumption?], in La Civiltà Cattolica 101 (1950), IV, pp. 547-561.

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Giovanni Ernst.256 Shortly before the definition the patrologist Berthold Altaner, among others,
expressed doubts about the definability of the dogma of the Assumption.257 Referring to this period,
even Congar recently affirmed, “I was not fully in favor of this definition.”258
4. The scholarly contribution of Fr. Quadrio to the definability of the dogma of the
Assumption
4.1. The Mariology of the “Roman School”
To better understand the “Mariological climate” of the Gregorian University in the '40s and '50s – a
decisive period for the theological formation of Fr. Quadrio – some quick remarks about the remote
context traceable in the authors and works of the so-called “Roman school” are perhaps useful.259
Having at that time contributed greatly to the dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception, it had
an indirect but metodologically effective influence in preparing the dogma of the Assumption, and in
the first attempts at biblical and patristic renewal of the '50s. In the last two Marian dogmas, in fact, we
are faced with a new model of development of the history of dogma. These were not the expression of
the conscience of the Catholic faith on the part of an ecumenical council, against heretical errors, but it
were an authoritative decisions of the Pope based primarily on arguments from tradition.260
It was the rediscovery and appreciation of the patristic tradition, one of the main features of the
Roman school of theology, which had been alive at the Gregorian University in the 19th century. It is
illustrated by theologians such as Giovanni B. Perrone (1876 +), Carlo Passaglia (+ 1887), Clemens
Schrader (+ 1875) and Johannes Baptist Franzelin (+ 1886) .261 One can consider Heinrich Denzinger
(+ 1883), Matthias Joseph Scheeben (+ 1888) Joseph Hergenröther (+ 1890), Hugo Hurter (+ 1914) as
their followers in Germany.
Passaglia, who taught dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University from 1844 to 1857 and left
the Society of Jesus in 1859, and Schrader, were the most significant exponents of this school. Their
program was the recovery of patristic theology. They were inspired by the method of the Jesuit
Dionysius Petavius (+ 1652) and the Oratorian Louis de Thomassin (+ 1695), who had been very
attentive to the development of dogma, trying to insert Mariology into the framework of all theology.262
The fundamental principles of the theology of the Roman school were not substantially from
reference to philosophy and scholastic theology, but to Scripture, the Fathers and tradition. The use of
the Fathers, especially the Greeks and especially to Cyril of Alexandria, necessarily included the focus
on Mariology and the influence of the Holy Spirit in an ever deeper and more mature understanding of
the truths of faith over the centuries. More than the enlightenment of philosophy on revealed truth,
these authors undertook to grasp the organic development of revelation in history. Alongside the
historical-positive method, then, they posed not a purely philosophical speculation, but an inherently
theological one, all intended to insert Mariology into the analogy of faith. The appeal to the Fathers and
256 Cf. Soll, Storia, p. 358-363.
257 Cf. E. Altaner, Zur der Definibilität der Assumptio B.M.V, in Theologische Revue 45 (1949), coll. 129-142; 46 (1950),
coll. 5-20. The editors of the review dissociated themselves from the thesis of Prof. Altaner [cf. Ibid., 46 (1950), col. 106],
which held the doctrine of the Assumption neither seriously demonstrable nor opportune.
258 Congar, Conversations, p. 86.
259 Cf. G. Filograssi, “Teologia e Filosofia nel Collegio Romano dal 1824 ad oggi (Nete e ricordi)” [Theology and
Philosophy in the Roman College from 1824 to today] in Gregorianum 35 (1954), pp. 512-540; W. Kasper, Die Lehre von
der Tradition in der Römischen Schule (Giovanni Perrone, Carlo Passaglia, Clemens Shrader), Herder, Freiburg Basel
Vienna 1962.
260 Cf. Soll, Storia, p. 354.
261 Cf. Kasper, Die Lehre, pp. 9-26.
262 J. Schumacher, Das Mariologische Konzept in der Theologie der Römischen Schule, in Trierer Theologische Zeitschrift
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tradition was the method used, for example, by Perrone in his famous volume sull'Immacolata,263
which, together with other works by these authors contributed so much to the definition of the dogma
of the Immaculate Conception.264
Passaglia's masterpiece was the monumental work De conceptu immaculate Deiparae semper
Virginis, published in Naples in 1855 and unanimously considered an eminent product of the theology
of the nineteenth century, still hard to beat today.265 The first part contains data from Scripture and
tradition. The patristic tradition is abundant in the detailed sections on the many adjectives that relate to
the Immaculate, such as “pure”, “untouched”, “undefiled”, “sinless”, “unaltered”, “uncorrupted”,
“unspotted”, “unblemished”, “clean”266 ... or titles such as “Light”, “Flower”, “Lamb”, “Dove”,
“Temple”, “Tabernacle”, “Altar”, “Victim”, “Ark”, “Lampstand” ... This and other works of the Roman
school largely inspired by the advocates of the return to the fathers in Mariology in the mid-twentieth
century.
We note the Tractatus de divine traditione et Scriptura, by Johannes B. Franzelin, as still one of the
most important writings of the authors of the Roman school.267 It has close relationship, albeit indirect,
with Mariology, once the doctrine on tradition was applied to the definition of the dogma of the
Immaculate Conception. The Roman school also produced excellent treatises on Mariology, based on
sources, balanced, without deductive-theoretical aggravations, with well-chosen references to
Christology and ecclesiology.268 Unfortunately, neo-scholasticism squandered the methodological
innovations of this school, a true forerunner. Not completely, however, since the aforementioned
studies of Jugie and Balic and, as we shall see, the treatises by Boyer and Lennerz seem to be inspired
in Mariology more by the principles of the Roman school than by those of Neo-scholasticism.
4.2. The Mariology of Charles Boyer and Heinrich Lennerz
From a letter to Fr. Renato Ziggiotti of August 11 1948, Fr. Quadrio tells us that Fr. H. Lennerz had
ideas opposed to those of his thesis adviser, Fr. C. Boyer, adding that not all the professors at the
Gregorian University shared that much enthusiasm for a topic like that of the definability of the dogma
of the Assumption.269 Limiting ourselves to Boyer and Lennerz, we can say that they both taught at the
Gregorian University for many years and had published well-known and widely-treated handouts – in
Latin "ad usum auditorum” -- on grace, the mystery of the Trinity, on Christology, on the sacraments.
Both had also texts of Mariology. The common feature of their Mariological treatments was in their
substantial reference to Scripture, and especially the patristic and theological tradition of the Church. In
this they seem to continue, albeit from different perspectives and not always with the same results, the
methodology of the Roman school.
Father Boyer, in his 1946 Synopsis Praelectionum de B. Maria Virgine, 1946, posed the question
"Whether Mary was assumed into Heaven". He responds positively with the thesis: "The Blessed
Virgin Mary, after her death, in imitation of that of her Son, was soon resurrected, with her glorified
263 G. Perrone, De Immaculato Beatae Virginis Mariae conceptu. An dogmatico decreto definiri possit? Disquisitio
theologica [On the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Can it be defined by dogmatic decree? A theological
inquiry], Speirani and Tonone, Taurini [Turin] 1854 (the first edition came out in Rome, 1847). Translator's note: the
dogmatic definition was actually done by Pius IX in 1854.
264 Filograssi affirmed about this work: “It can still be read with fruit even today, and has rendered real service, in the
discussion about the definability of the Assumption.” Cf. his Filosofia e Teologia, p. 526.
265 C. Passaglia, De Immaculato Deiparae semper Virginis conceptu [On the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Mother of
God], I. Dura, Naples 1855 (one volume in three bindings, 1375 pages all together).
266 Translator's note: intemerata, intacta, impolluta, inculpata, illaesa, incorrupta, illibata, integra, munda in the original
Latin.
267 J. B. Franzelin, Tractatus de divina Traditione et Scriptura. Polyglot Press, Sacred Congregation for Propagation of the
Faith, Rome 1879.
268 Cf. Schumacher, Das Mariologische Konzept, pp. 223ff.
269 Cf. Valentini, Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, p. 118. Cf. L 054 and L 058.

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body was assumed into Heaven, where she stands as Queen of angels and men at the right hand of
Christ triumphant."270
Boyer then offers a short list of authors on both sides of the question. Among the favorable he notes
a certain "Pseudo-Augustinus", and simply adds "whose work can be seen to have an effective
influence on later writers."271
Father Quadrio's study will start from this statement of his teacher to check the influence of the
Pseudo-Augustine on the Latin theology. In its expanded 1952 edition, Boyer's Synopsis offers a long
discussion on the Assumption. Dealing with Pseudo-Augustine and his work De Assumptione Beatae
Mariae Virginis, he refers to two studies: that of Henry Barré (1949),272 and the thesis of his disciple
Quadrio (1951)273 which in the meantime had already been published. Boyer notes that although there
are divergent views on the dating of the work - Barré leaned to the twelfth century, while Fr. Quadrio is
for the ninth or tenth - however, he agreed in praising the theological method of Pseudo-Augustine and
his great influence on later theology.274
Father Heinrich Lennerz, in the third edition of his treatise De Beata Virgine (1939), summarizes
his position on the Assumption:
Neither from the fact that the Blessed Virgin is the Mother of God, nor from her perpetual virginity,
nor from her Immaculate Conception, does it necessarily follow that she should be resurrected soon after
death, such that God could not have done otherwise. Neither could the bodily Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin be known from these truths alone. Therefore, one could rightly say: it seems probable that the
bodily Assumption of the Virgin is true, depending on God's free will to the extent that it may be known
only by formal revelation.275
Instead, in the 1957 edition, Lennerz holds: “The bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is
defined to be a dogma divinely revealed.”276
In regards to Pseudo-Augustine, Boyer cites the work of Fr. Quadrio, and offers a fine synthesis of
the anonymous author's theological reasoning.277
270 Cf C. Boyer, Synopsis Praelectionum de B. Maria Virgine [Pre-lecture reading: overview on the Blessed Virgin Mary],
Apud Aedos Universitatis Gregorianae [Gregorian University], Roma 1946, pp. 29-30. Translator's note: the question and
answer in Latin run "Utrum Maria fuerit assumpta in caelum?" Yes, "Beata Virgo Maria, postquam ad imitationem mortis
filii suæ mortua fuerit, mox resurrexit et cum corpore glorificato assumpta est in caelum, ubi adstat Regina angelorum et
hominum ad dexteram Christi triumphantis."
271 Ibid., p. 33. Translator's note: “quod opus in Posteriores scriptores influxum efficacem exercuisse videtur” is the
original Latin.
272 H. Barré., La croyance à l'Assomption corporelle en Occident de 750 à 1150 environ [Belief in the bodily Assumption
in the West from 750 to about 1150], in Bulletin de la Société française d'études mariales [Bulletin of the French Society for
Marian Studies] 7 (1949), pp. 63-123.
273 G. Quadrio, Il Trattato “De Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis” e il suo iinflusso nella teolgia assunzionista latina,
Apud Aedes Universitatis Gregoriana, Romae 1951 [The treatise of Pseudo-Augustine “On the Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary”, and its influence on Latin theology of the Assumption. Gregorian University, Rome 1951]
274 C. Boyer, Synopsis Praelectionum de B. Maria Virgine [Pre-lecture reading: overview on the Blessed Virgin Mary],
Apud Aedos Universitatis Gregorianae [Gregorian University], Roma 1952, pp. 51-52, note 38.
275 H. Lennerz, De Beata Virgine, Apud Aedes Universitatis Gregorianae, Romae 1939 [On the Blessed Virgin, Gregorian
University, Rome 1939], p. 108, n° 149. Translator's note: original Latin is “Neque ex eo quod B. Virgo est Mater Dei,
neque ex eius perpetua virginitate, neque ex Immaculata eius Conceptione cum necessitate sequitur, ut brevi post mortem
resuscitari debuerit, ita ut Deus aliter statuere non potuisset, hinc neque ex his veritatibus solis cum certitudine corporea
assumptio B. Virginis videtur cognosci posse. Ergo iure dici potest: videtur probabile corpoream assumptionem B. Virginis
esse veritatem, quae adeo pendet a libera voluntate Dei, ut solum per formalem revelationem cum certitudine cognosci
possit.”
276 H. Lennerz, De Beata Virgine tractatus dogmaticus, Apud Aedes Universitatis Gregorianae, Romae 1957 [On the
Blessed Virgin: a Dogmatic Treatise, Gregorian University, Rome 1957], p. 131. Translator's note: “Definitum est,
Assumptionem corpoream B. Virginis esse dogma divinitus revelatum,” in the original Latin.
277 Cf. ibid., pp. 147-148.

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4.3. Giuseppe Quadrio: Treatise “On the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” of
Pseudo-Augustine and its Influence on Latin Theology of the Assumption” (1951)
Fr. Quadrio's doctoral dissertation is part of the movement in the '40s and '50s to theologically
ground the definability of the dogma of the Assumption. Since this truth is not explicitly present in
Scripture, patristic and liturgical tradition become the principal sources to examine in depth. Without
explicit [Scriptural] support, essentially, the method of the Roman school used in the 19th century for
the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is used.
If the 1946 debate was of a generally theological character and notably based on the scholastic
method, the thesis is instead historical-dogmatic. It does not use the deductive method but is attentive
to the historical development of dogma. It is the study of a medieval author who supported the
Assumption, which had a great influence on later Latin theology.
The publication of the thesis came a year after the solemn proclamation of the dogma. Its
conclusions, however, were already noted by Fr. Quadrio's teachers and were partly anticipated in the
address of October 1950,278 some weeks before the proclamation.
The declared scope of the study is to “indicate what reason may be found by which the Living
Magisterium teaches it, in Scripture and divine tradition, whether explicitly or implicitly.”279 Applied to
the Assumption, this means that theologians first must prove how the doctrine of the bodily Assumption
is implicitly contained in other revealed truths. For Fr. Quadrio, the “fundamental aspect of the question
lies in seeing how and in what revealed truths the Christian consciousness, illuminated by faith and
guided by the Holy Spirit, had from the first a diffuse intuition of the bodily Assumption, then in an
always clearer and more systematic certitude of the fact, and finally also the proof of its revelation and
defiinability.”280
In this regard, he holds that two steps must be taken: 1) ascertaining the consciousness of Church
faith in the Assumption of Mary; 2) the foundation of such traditional consciousness in Biblical truth.
And in the Introduction, he affirms having found in the treatise of Pseudo-Augustine “the first and
deepest elaboration of the method and theological reasoning in favor of the Assumption.”281
His study is divided into two parts, six chapters in all. In the first, he talks about the origin and
transmission of the treatise, and about its liturgical and theological setting. He attributes it to the
Carolingian age and context of of the 9th century and sees in Alcuin of York (+ 804) its probable
author.282
Then he underlines the originality of Pseudo-Augustine's method. The lex orandi,283 and so the
liturgical tradition of the Church, affirmed with sufficient clarity the heavenly glorification of Mary's
body, by force of her divine maternity, purity and holiness. Many have tried to base this faith
conciousness on readings fom the Apocrypha. Other theologians, on the other hand, either don't talk
about it or consider it a pious sentiment, due to the lack of explicit Scriptural reference. The merit of
Pseudo-Augustine was to frame the problem differently.
1. Before all else, he holds that the bodily Assumption, before being an historical event, was a truth
theologically connected with revealed truths and distinct from her death, even if joined to it.
278 Cf. G. Quadrio, “La definizione dommatica dell'assunzione di Maria SS. alla luce della tradizione” [“The dogmatic
definition of the Assumption of Mary Most Holy in the light of Tradition”], in Salesianum 12 (1950), pp. 463-496.
279 Cf. Quadrio, Trattato, p. VII. Translator's note: “indicare qua ratione ea quae a Vivo Magisterio docentur, in Sacra
Litteris et in divina traditione, sive esplicite sive implicite inveniantur” in the original Latin.
280 Ibid., pp. VII-VIII.
281 Ibid., p. VIII.
282 Cf. Ibid, pp. 46, 409. We already know that Barré attributes it to the 12th century, to the time of St. Anselm of
Canterbury (+ 1109) and thus to the monastic theological movement of the 12th century and to Peter the Venerable (+ ll56).
Cf. Barré, La croyance, p. 89.
283 Translator's note: an ancient Latin theological formula is “lex orandi lex credendi”, roughly meaning “We believe what
we pray”.

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2. He then researched the foundations of the Assumption not in purely historical tradition, nor in
legend, nor in a more or less arbitrary accommodation to certain Scripture passages. He looked
instead into the deposit of revelation itself (in this case in the truths of Mary's divine maternity,
purity and holiness), penetrated with reason illumined with faith and checked against Christian
sensibility. Pseudo-Augustine does not have recourse to non-existent Biblical proof texts, nor to the
Apocrypha, nor to an empty tomb. He turns instead to the central truth of the mystery of Mary, and
with dogmatic method, arrives at a deeper understanding of Mary as Mother of God, of her purity
and excellent holiness. It is on these truths that he sets a solid foundation for the bodily Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin.
3. Thus Pseudo-Augustine can conclude the aptness, possibility and reality of the bodily Assumption of
Mary.284
In the second part, Fr. Quadrio treats of the influence of this theology of the Assumption beginning
with the 9th century, showing a substantial agreement between Pseudo-Augustine's theological
reasoning and that of the bull Munificentissimus Deus.
The conclusions show his acute historical-dogmatic sensibility when he takes note of the transition
from simply noting liturgical and devotional celebrations of the Feast of the Assumption to its
theological foundation:
The Christian sensibility, which with ever growing clarity, had fully intuited the Assumption in the
concept of the very high dignity of the Mother of God, had in Pseudo-Augustine a faithful interpreter and a
vigorous proponent.. He is the bridge between Christian sensibility and Latin theology of the Assumption, so that
Christian sensibility became theological science in him.285
It was in fact in the ever more penetrating comprehension of the revealed privileges of the Most
Holy ever Virgin Mother of God, that Christian sensibility, sustained by the Holy Spirit, had the first
inkling of the bodily Assumption, and later a secure and systematic certainty of the fact, and finally the
proof of its revelation and definability.”286
5.
A first evaluation of Fr. Quadrio’s Study
The research done by Fr. Quadrio constitutes a fundamental point of reference for the theological
justification of the dogma of the Assumption. In fact, it gives us a sufficiently complete and organic
picture of the evolution of the “seeds of the Assumption”287 contained in the liturgical traditions of the
East and West, and in theological reflection, primarily in Latin. This is why Mariologists, beginning
with Fr. Quadrio's teachers and thesis advisers, cite him. In fact, through the dogmatic method of
Pseudo-Augustine, he brings clearly to light the theological reasons for the truth and origin of the
dogma of the Assumption.
In his thesis, differently from the 1946 debate, Fr. Quadrio kept before him the pneumatological
component in the historical development of the dogma, and of the ever deeper and explicit
comprehension of revelation. So, he overcame the objection contained in the axiom, “from silence to
dogma”. He upholds, instead, the thesis of investigation and historical-theoretical explicitation of the
truths of faith by the light of the Holy Spirit in the Church. So, he compares the doctrine of the
Assumption to a fertile seed:
284 Cf. Quadrio, Il Trattato, p. 116. On page 169, Fr. Quardrio translates the theological categories of Pseudo-Augustine
into those of the first half of the 20th century, affirming: “So if we have to express his thought according to modern terms
and preoccupation, we could say that in his treatise the Assumption appears 'implicitly revealed' with revelation, so that not
a few theologians today would call 'formally implicit'”. Translator's note: aptness, possibility and reality anticipate (in
different order) the 12th century argument, attributed to St. Anselm of Canterbury, in favor of the Immaculate Conception:
“potuit, decuit, ergo fecit.” That means “God could do it, it was fitting that he do it, so He did it.”
285 Ibid., p. 412.
286 Ibid., p. 413.
287 Cf. ibid., p. 47, 70, 95.

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And thus the fertile seeds, deposited in the treasure of Revelation, lay dormant for several centuries
in the faith and doctrine of the Fathers, sprouting here and there in liturgical and theological formulas of
the 7th to 9th centuries, but squeezed and choked by excessive concerns of a purely historical method,
had their vigorous flowering in the West due to Pseudo-Augustine's method. This followed by a century
a similar process in the East, thanks to the great Byzantine orators.288
He used the metaphor of the "seed" which, although in the deposit of revelation, only over centuries
reaches full maturity. He adds a likening of the truth of the Assumption of Mary to a "new star" while
shining in the sky since the beginning of creation, we are only now discovering.289 With remarkable
historical rigor he examines the Eastern and Western lex orandi, placing it in harmony and at the base
of the lex credendi, the lex intelligendi and the lex definiendi.290 In addition, he shows how the
devotional experience of the faithful and their consensus from below corresponds with the magisterium
from above in motivation and confirmation.
A look at Munficentissimus Deus of Pius XII (1950) cannot fail to show a harmony between Fr.
Quadrio's investigation and the historical-theological panorama in the papal document. The bull, in
fact, starts from the consensus of the faithful,291 as witnessed by the Petitiones and by the responses to
Deiparae Virginis Mariiae of 1946, referring to expressions of Marian piety (churches, cities, religious
institutions, the Rosary, art), the liturgy (Feast of the Assumption in East and West) and to the
consensus of the Fathers and theologians (quoting St. John Damascene, St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure,
St. Robert Bellarmine); founding finally, this awareness of faith on the dogmatic realities of the divine
motherhood of Mary, her grace and holiness, and her virginity.
Certainly the monumental historical-dogmatic researches by Jugie and Balic, in addition to the
theological reflection of the great Assumption supporters of the '40s, were indispensable support for the
definition of the dogma. Nevertheless, although published some months after the solemn proclamation,
Fr. Quadrio's thesis – already known in substance by his teachers – cannot be neglected as excellent
historical and dogmatic support for the truth just defined.292
Anyway, in him are found the methodological guidelines of the Roman school of the 1800s, that is,
attention to research and above all in the essential reference to the Fathers and to the liturgical and
theological tradition. More than an exaggerated theoretical deductivism, there is a more respectful
attitude toward the historical data in all its manifestations and articulations. And this, at the beginning
of the '50s, constitutes an innovative tendency of great modernity, which will have wider recognition
and development at Vatican II and in the following period.
It is evident that Fr. Quadrio's hermeneutical palette is still pre-Conciliar. Thus, his interpretation,
exposition and evaluation of Pseudo-Augustine has certain limitations common to that time. For
example, in his research he still sticks with – and so with no divergence from the author he writes about
– a certain “passive” preconception, a “matter of privilege” of the figure of Mary, while, for example,
the Council would have considered the Assumption principally as an essential consequence of the
burden of Mary's faith, hope and charity (see Lumen Gentium 59).
There is lacking, also, a wider ecclesial consideration of Mary Assumed as an image and principle
288 Ibid., pp. 411ff.
289 Cf. D p. 1; cf. also Quadrio, Le ragioni teologiche, pp. 18ss.
290 Translator's note: see note above on lex orandi. The two other phrases, lex intelligendi and lex definiendi came much
later.
291 Translator's note: in the original, the author uses another old Latin formula, sensus fidelium.
292 In a March 23, 1950 letter to Don Eugenio Magni, Father Quadrio writes, "The work cost me a lot, and I really sweated
over it without holding back: now I'm happy, especially because it was judged to be a contribution to the preparation of the
coming [dogmatic] definition" (L 061). About the debate of 12 December 1946, he wrote to Don Ricaldone, Rector Major
of the Salesian Congregation, December 29: "The Holy Father was graciously interested in the debate and sent a request a
few days ago for a copy of the address and answers to the difficulties." (L 041)

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of the Church of the age to come and as an eschatological sign of hope for humanity (see Lumen
Gentium 68).
Fr. Quadrio did not notice the danger of the strict parallelism between Jesus and Mary developed by
Pseudo-Augustine.293
This notwithstanding, Fr. Quadrio's thesis repudiates in large part the affirmations of pathologically
galloping Mariology of the pre-Conciliar years. Partly removed was the prejudice that the Mariology of
the time was entirely based on deduction, far from the inspiration of Patristic sources. The accurate
investigation made by the young Salesian scholar is not in fact accidental. It is the fruit of a mind
sensitive to the historical dimension, and thus ready to accept the epochal change of direction of the
Council, which he already had seen in a nutshell.
293 Cf. Quadrio, Il Trattato, pp. 135-137.

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THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
IN THE WRITINGS OF FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO294
Enrico dal Covolo
In this contribution I propose to review the citations from the Fathers of the Church contained in the
published and unpublished writings of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, except for his letters. I will evaluate how
and to what extent he accepted and interpreted the doctrine of the Fathers in his theological research
and in his pastoral ministry.
This is a question not without interest, if one considers that the two decades of the '40s and '50s --
in which Fr. Quadrio was formed to study and exercised his teaching -- coincided with the pre-conciliar
renewal of patristic, research characterized by a progressive claim of autonomy with respect to the
dogmatic and other theological disciplines: a truly slow and difficult path, especially in Italy, even if
even as late as 1952 - that is, a year after the publication of Fr. Quadrio's fundamental monograph --
Michele Pellegrino complained that research in the theology of the Fathers was "lacking an adequate
basis for a solid philological and historical setting", which is often substituted by "a more comfortable
doctrinal schematism", "suggested by later development of theological thought", often foreign to the
mentality of the Fathers.295
The question that emerges is somewhat inescapable: in what measure did Father Quadrio, although
not a patrologist, participate – as professor of dogma and as a pastor of souls – in the renewal climate
of patristic studies? Or to what extent was he tied down to hopelessly dated concepts and
methods?
To answer these questions, I will first proceed analytically, gradually
taking into consideration Father Quadrio's monographs, his manuscript
course notes, his book reviews, his still unpublished material like sermons,
meditations, lectures and retreats, to which I will add his answers to readers'
questions in Meridiano 12,296 and then, in a brief conclusion , I will launch a
comparison of the data obtained from the analysis and the situation of
patristic studies at the Gregorian University while Fr. Quadrio was there. I
will try to discern the elements of past and future in the quality of his
recourse to the Fathers of the Church.
294 This article appeared previously in Ricerche Storiche Salesiane [Salesian Historical Research] 9 (1990), pp. 443 – 455.
295 M. Pellegrino, “Un cinquantennio di studi patristici in Italia” [50 years of patristic studies in Italy], in La scuola
cattolica [The Catholic School] 80 (1952), pp. 424-452, republished as id.., Ricerche patristiche [Patristic Research], 2,
Turin 1982, pp. 45-73.
296 Translator's note: a popular Italian Catholic magazine, successor to Don Bosco's Letture Cattoliche [Catholic
Readings]. The title translates approximately to “High Noon”.

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1. The monographs
1.1. The treatise “De Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis" of
Pseudo-Augustine and his influence in Latin theology of the
Assumption (Analecta Gregoriana, 52), Romae 1951, pp.3 428.297
Contrary to what one might expect at first glance, the fundamental monograph of Father Quadrio
remains somewhat extrinsic to my proposed investigation.
First, because of chronological order. In fact, the Pseudo-Augustine in question does not belong,
strictly speaking, to the patristic age: Fr. Quadrio tended to identify him as “Alcuin of York (+ 804), the
most eminent personality in the theological circles of the Court of Charlemagne”.298 “From an
examination of the internal elements," Fr. Quadrio wrote about this, "everything suggests that the
Treatise [of Pseudo-Augustine] originated in the Carolingian age and territory. As for the author, among
possible hypotheses, the one more common today seems solidly plausible, naming him Alcuin ".299
Actually, Fr. Quadrio's hypothesis was contradicted by Fr. Barré in a study published the year
before:300 but Fr. Quadrio had been only able to see it while his thesis was in galley proofs, and at first
glance it seemed to him that Fr. Barré did not reach results very different from his own.301 In fact,
criticism did not fail to point out that the conclusions of the two scholars at least partially agreed.302
Contrary to Father Quadrio, in fact, Fr. Barré held that we could not attribute the De Assumptione to the
Carolingian period without running into obvious anachronisms: in his opinion, it was quite reasonable
to hypothesize the Sitz im Leben being the monastic theological movement of the twelfth century; as to
the author - if you really had to name somebody - Peter the Venerable (+ 1156) appeared to be the most
likely.303
In fact, the question of date and authorship of the little treatise was not resolved by Fr. Quadrio's
researches, and it remains without a sure answer to this day.304
I will draw two conclusions from this discussion.
1. Already in Fr. Quadrio's hypothesis, and all the more in Fr. Barré's, the monograph on the
treatise De Asumptione goes beyond the time traditionally considered patristic, and therefore
does not respond directly to our present discussion.
297 The proposed observations also apply to two articles, which are declared to depend (see their initial asterisk and
footnotes 11 of their respective contributions) on Fr. Quadrio's fundamental thesis more or less directly: “La definizione
dommatica dell'Assunzione di Maria SS. alla luce della Tradizione” [The dogmatic definition
Assumption of Mary in the light of Tradition], Salesianum 12 (1950), p. 463-486 (speech of October 19, 1950 to open
the school year, in the presence of card. M. Fossati, Archbishop of Turin, and Fr. P. Ricaldone, Rector Major of the
Salesians); “Le ragioni teologiche addotte dalla Costituzione «Munificentissimus Deus» alla luce della Tradizione fino al
Concilio Vaticano” [The theological reasons adopted by the Constitution Munificentissimus Deus in the light of Tradition up
to the Vatican Council]," La Scuola Cattolica [The Catholic School ", 79 (1951), p. 18-51 (paper presented at the
International Congress Mariological Rome, also in October 1950).
298 G. Quadrio, Il trattato... p. 40.
299 Ibid., p. 45.
300 H. Barré, “La croyance à l'Assomption corporelle en Occident de 750 à 1150 environ”, [Belief in the bodily
Assumption in the West from 750 to about 1150], in Bulletin de la Société française d'études mariales [Bulletin of the
French Society for Marian Studies] 7 (1949), pp. 63-123.]
301 G. Quadrio, Il trattato..., p. IX, note 13.
302 I refer especially to the reviews appearing in Bulletin de Thèologie ancienne et médievale [Bulletin of Ancient
Theology] 6 (1952), pp. 411'412; «Angelicum» 30 (1953), pp. 91'92; Revue de Sciences Religieuses [Religious Sciences
Review] 27 (1953), pp. 154-156; Euntes Docete [Go and Teach] 6 (1953), pp. 263-265.
303 H. Barré ,La croyance à l'Assomption..., p. 99: “Très probablement, il faut renoncer à voit dans Pierre le Vénérable
l’auteur du De Assumptione, et, avec lui, disparaît le prétendant le mieux accrédité.»
304 M. De Kroon, “Pseudo-Augustin im Mittelalter“ [Pseudo-Augustine in the Middle Ages], Augustinium 22 (1972), pp.
511-530.

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2. The fact that Fr. Quadrio had not resolved the question of dating and authorship of the little
treatise should not be considered as much a "bump in the road", but rather reveals a key feature
of his theological work. In truth he was interested in the development of dogma far more than
the identity of the author or editing of the text.
He reserves some forty pages in all to literary-critical problems like these, out of more than 400 in
all. There is no detailed analysis of the manuscript tradition, as we might legitimately expect, nor an
evolutionary tree nor a critical edition of the text of Pseudo-Augustine's treatise. Consequently, the
whole objective weight of Fr. Quadrio's dissertation rests on the theological study of the text.
It can be said, in conclusion, that Pseudo-Augustine's short work held little interest for him, except
as “an very suitable observatory for measuring the slow progress of clarification in Latin theology
about the bodily Assumption.”305 This critical choice can be properly connected with the concept of
patristics in the service of theology, widely used in Italy in the years of Fr. Quadrio, and with the
objective situation of patristic studies in seminaries and universities in Rome before the Council.306
1.2. Mary and the Church. The Social Mediation of Mary Most Holy in the Teaching of
the Popes from Gregory XVI to Pius XII (Accademia Mariana Salesiana, 5) Turin 1962,
299 pages307
A curious proof of Fr. Quadrio's distance from an autonomous consideration of the patristic writings
and patristic study methodology is given by his second monograph devoted to the investigation of the
relationship between Mary and the Church in the teaching of the popes from Gregory XVI to PioXII. I
refer - just to illustrate - to a passage in which Fr. Quadrio says that in Adiutricem populi Leo XIII308
“refers to and makes his own” the testimonies of Tradition: the Pontiff "refers first of all to the fervent
cries of St. Germanus of Constantinople [...] then mentions the praise that St. Cyril of Alexandria
addresses to Mary [...] and finally collects in an anthology as 'no less true that these beautiful
expressions' addressed by the Church and the Fathers to Mary," and so includes some texts taken from
the hymn Akatistos, from John Damascene, and again Germanus of Constantinople.309 Fr. Quadrio is
looking at the 15th volume of the Acta Leonis, wherein the patristic texts are cited without any mention
of their respective editions.310 Well, only for John Damascene's Sermon on the Annunciation does he
feel the need to expand the citations in the Acta, and in brackets indicates the abbreviation for Migne's
Patrologia Graeca with the volume and the corresponding column:311 except that - completely isolated
in the apparatus of footnotes and lacking a justifying criterion - the quotation of Migne ends up looking
like an inconsistent methodological choice, while attesting to the author's rigor and his need for a direct
305 G. Quadrio, Il Trattato..., p. VIII.
306 Cf. M. Pellegrino, Un cinquantennio di studi patristici..., pp. 449-452.
307 The same observations are evidently valid also for the various articles which Fr. Quadrio put together for this
monograph. Among them, the more important are: “La mediazione sociale di Maria SS. nel magistero di San Pio X” [The
Social Mediation of Mary Most Holy in the Magisterium of St. Pius X], in Problemi scelti di Teologia contemporanea”
[Selected problems in Contemporary Theology](= Analecta Gregoriana, 68), Rome 1954, pp. 361-381 (re-published in
L'Immacolata Ausiliatrice [The Immaculate Help of Christians] [= Accademia Mariana Salesiana, 3], Turin 1955, pp.
81-202); “La mediazione sociale di Maria Santissima nel Magistero di Pio XI” [The Social Mediation of Mary Most Holy in
the Magisterium of Pius XI], in Salesianum 17 (1955), pp. 472-493; “L'insegnamento mariano del Papa Gregorio XVI
(1831-1846)” [The Marian Teaching of Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846)], in Salesianum 20 (1958), pp. 542-561; “Le
relazioni tra Maria e la Chiesa nell'insegnamento di Leone XIII” [The Relations between Mary and the Church in the
Teaching of Leo XIII], in Maria et Ecclesia. Acta Congressus Mariologici-Mariani in civitate Lourdes anno 1958 celebrati
[Mary and the Church. Acts of the 1958 Mariological Congress Celebrated at Lourdes], 3, Romae 1959, pp. 611-641.
308 Translator's note: Sept. 5, 1895 Encyclical of Leo XIII on the Rosary. See §§9-11 for St. Germanus and St. Cyril, §14
for Akatistos, John Damascene and the other reference to St. Germanus. Leo wrote a whole series of these, coming out each
year just before October, the month of the Rosary.
309 G. Quadrio, Maria e la Chiesa..., p. 63.
310 Leonis XIII P.M. Acta [Acts of Pope Leo XIII], 15, Romae 1986, pp. 303-305.
311 PG 96, col. 655.

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approach to the magisterial patristic citations.312
2. Lecture notes
I will briefly consider his lecture notes for the treatise on the Sacrament of Penance, and those for
the treatise on the theological virtues. I will also make some reference, suggested by the affinity of the
expository method used by Fr. Quadrio, for a non-academic handout entitled The Greatness of Chrisian
Marriage, which collects some “family conversations on the dignity of marriage”. On the other hand, it
is difficult to trace out elements directly pertinent to our investigation in Problems of Today: Marginal
Notes on the Treatise on God the Creator.313
It is known that Father Quadrio's lecture notes meet specific teaching criteria, especially clarity,
brevity314 and adherence to the teaching of a master, and critical investigation of a disciple.315 The rigor
with which Fr Quadrio pursues these criteria gives his lecture notes an original character, which
distinguishes them from similar work.
With regard to recourse to the Fathers, he essentially follows the traditional method, considering
patristic writings as theology, and pulling out of them long and thick tables of arguments in support of
dogmatic assertions. This methodological approach in the lecture notes depends, in turn, on the
character of theological studies of the particular year in which Father Quadrio was learning or teaching.
Patristic research, as I mentioned earlier, did not enjoy its own autonomy and was not a discipline in its
own right: in fact, dogmatics ended up absorbing patristics.316 From this point of view the lecture notes
of Fr. Quadrio appear clearly dated.
On the other hand, the author's diligence and commitment to combine brevity and completeness
give the discussion of the Fathers some element of originality and wider autonomic space than other
handouts and manuals of that time. In other words, it seems we can also apply to the "Patristic data"
what Fr. Quadrio himself wrote in the introduction to his Greatness of Christian Marriage about the
Scriptural and liturgical data: “What we say here," he acknowledged, "is contained (at least
substantially and fundamentally) in Fr. Charles Boyer's little Synopsis praelectionum Sacramento
Matrimonii [Course reader: synopsis of the Sacrament of Marriage]. But we will proceed with more
312 It should be recalled that two 1950's contributions on the issue of Mary - Church relations appeared, which are still
fundamental and then represented an important step at the time for progress in patristics no less then for Mariology. These
are precisely the thesis of Father H. Coathalem, Le parallélisme entre la Sainte Vierge et l'Eglise dans la pensée patristique
[Parallelism between the Holy Virgin and the Church in Patristic Thought], defended in 1937, but only published in 1954 in
those same Analecta Gregoriana that in 1951 were hosting Fr. Quadrio's dissertation (= Analecta Gregoriana. 74); and Fr
A. Müller, Ecclesia Maria. Die Einheit Marias und der Kirche [Church and Mary. The Unity of Mary and the Church].
Freiburg nd., also 1951 (= Paradosis. Beiträge zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur und Theologie [Paradox.
Contributions to the history of early Christian literature and theology], 5). It turns out that Fr. Quadrio never cited these two
volumes, which he probably knew. Translator's note should be Analecta 52 instead of 74 (1954) See title of 1.1 above.
Moebius (library of University of Missouri) has them both.
313 G. Quadrio, Subsidia in Tractatum de Paenitentia Pars I: positiva. Monumenta Paenitentialia Antiquiora. Pars II.
Summa lineamenta [Lecture notes for the Treatis on Penance. Part I: positive. Ancient Sources of Penitential Practice. Part
II: Main Features], Turin [no date], 193 + 267 pp.; Id., Subsidia in Tractatum de Virtutibus Theologicis. I. Summa
Lineamenta, editio altera emendata et aucta [Lecture notes for the Treatis on the Theological Virtues. Main Features.
Expanded and Revised Edition], Turin [no date], 305 pp.; Id., Problemi d'oggi in margine al trattato de Deo Creante
[Problems of Today: Marginal Notes to the Treatise on God Creator], Turin 1963, 161 pp.; Id., Grandezza del matrimonio
cristiano [Greatness of Christian Marriage], Turin 1964, 65 pp.
314 “Breviter ac dilucide” [Briefly and clearly] is the programmatic motto of Fr. Quadrio's lecture notes, adapted from the
prologue of the Summa: cf. E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quaddo modello di
spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, model of priestly spirit] (= Spirito e Vita, 6) Roma 1980, p. 263.
315 See the preface of his Subsidia in Tractatum de Virtutibus...., p. 3.
316 See notes 2 and 13 above, and context. Nonetheless, M. Pellegrino, Un cinquantennio di studi patristici..., p. 450 points
out that among the symptoms of renewal the fact that already around 1950 the teaching of patristics was introduced as
“autonomous courses in some Seminaries.”

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adherence to the scriptural and liturgical data.”317
Indeed, it is possible to find an objective commitment to “more adherence to the patristic data,”
especially comparing Lecture notes for the Treatise on Penance with the Fr. Boyer's Treatise on the
Sacrament of Penance, or with another manual enjoying success at the Gregorian Universality during
Fr. Quadrio's years there, namely, Fr. Galtier's De Paenitentia [On Penance].318
However it would be rather simplistic to consider the "greater adherence to patristic data" as merely
a successful result of teaching criteria properly identified and rigorously applied.
Rather, we need to recognize in Fr. Quadrio an attitude of strong interest in the Fathers, as bearers
of the living Christian tradition and guarantors of an authentic renewal of theological sciences: to them
therefore it is necessary to have frequent recourse, otherwise research becomes sterile.319 It is certainly
no coincidence that both the Lecture notes on Penance and the Lecture Notes on the Virtues would open
with the quotation of that still famous passage in Humani Generis (one of the Encyclicals most familiar
to Fr. Quadrio, on which depend, we might say, his marginal notes to the Treatise on God Creator),320
where Pius XII indicated in "Return to the sources" the way to “restore youth to the sacred
disciplines”321 The cultural sensitivity of which Fr. Quadrio was endowed, according to the agreed
testimony of colleagues and students, the concrete experience of classroom dialogue and diligent
exercise of pastoral ministry, allowed him to validate in an original manner relevant indications of the
Magisterium322 and fruitful decades of teaching, and with that to intuit the dawn of a new era for
theological studies.323
Ultimately, on the one hand, an explicitly stated commitment to “more adherence to scriptural and
liturgical data”, and - undeclared but effective - to a more careful use of the Fathers, free Fr. Quadrio's
lecture notes from the risk of an overly conceptual processing of the mysteries of faith. On the other
hand, they allow us to find some unmistakable notes of renewal in the dogmatic treatises characteristic
of post-war Italy.324
317 Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Greatness of Matrimony..., p. 6.
318 C. Boyer, Tractatus de Sacramento Paenitentiae et de Extrema Unctione [Treatise on the Sacraments of Penance and
Extreme Unction], Rome: 1942 (new edition, after the one of 1928); P. Galtier, De Paenitentia: Tractatus
Dogmatico-Historicus, Rome 1950 (new edition, following those of 1923 and 1931). But the real manual was only that of
Fr. Boyer; the others are still useful for consultation.
319 See below, note 329 [34 in the original] and context.
320 Cf. G. Quadrio, Problemi d'oggi...., where he cites the encyclical of Pius XII no less than six times.
321 Pius XII, Humani Generis, «Acta Apostolicae Sedis» 42 (1950), pp. 565-569.
322 I say “in an original manner”, if it be true – as M. Pesce recently affirmed again – that Humani Generis in reality helped
to widen the gap between the historical-critical exegetes and the allegorical and spiritual commentators, siding strongly in
favor of the former with respect to a "new" exegetical and theological practice, more sensitive to patristic models. But there
is no trace of this debate in the writings of Fr. Quadrio, which instead seem to incorporate in general the need, perhaps
mediated in Humani Generis by the contribution of A. Bea, for a recovery of history in exegesis and theology. Cf M. Pesce,
“Esegesi storica ed esegesi spirituale nell'ermeneutica biblica cattolica dal pontificato di Leone XIII a quello di Pio XII”
[Historical Exegesis and Spiritual Exegesis in Catholic Biblical Hermeneutics from Pope Leo XIII to Pius XII], in Annali di
Storia dell'Esegesi [Annals of the History of Esegesis] 6 (1989), p. 261-291.
323 Cf. S. Palumbieri, “Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Un uomo veramente credente. Un credente veramente umano” [Fr.
Giuseppe Quadrio. A man Truly a Believer, and a Believer truly a Man], in Don Quadrio a 25 anni dalla morte [Fr.
Quadrio at 25 years after his Death (= Spirito e Vita, 17), Roma 1989, p. 42: “At the watershed between two eras, Father
Quadrio appears as an intelligent mediator between the richness of tradition and the disruptive energy of innovation [...]. He
saw the coming noon, when it was just before dawn. A few hours before his death he spoke of the Council with clear hints,
warm and prophetic, as one who had followed with lucidity the preparatory stages and meeting hassles, and had seen
through many tangled debates and ferments, the symmetries of a new Church for a new world.”
324 Cf. A. Marranzini, “La teologia italiana dal Vaticano I al Vaticano II” [Italian Theology from Vatican I to Vatican II], in
Bilancio della teologia del XX secolo, 2. La teologia del XX secolo, [Appraising 20th Century Theology. 2. Theology in the
20th Century] Rome 1972, p. 104: “Progress of biblical and patristic studies after the Second World War affected the
dogmatic Treatises, still written mostly in Latin, but not much different from prewar versionns.” Marranzini identifies the
characteristics of renewal in the “better knowledge of exegesis, of patristic and historical method” and “the greatest concern
to emphasize the vital value of dogma and to point out the relationship between perennial Christian truth and spiritual

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3. Book reviews
Very little is gleaned by our investigation of forty-nine book reviews by Fr. Quadrio appearing in
Salesianum between 1951 and 1963. They cover publications often linked to issues of Mariology,
theological anthropology and eschatology. It can be said, in a very general way, that they confirm his
familiarity with the Fathers, even in relation to such complex and sometimes contradictory matters as
patristic eschatology.325
4. Unpublished writings
Regarding his unpublished material for sermons, meditations, conferences and retreats),326 the
analysis shows that in the rich tapestry of quotations there are also the Fathers of the Church, but we
cannot say they merit a special place. As befits the characteristics of the sermon genre, in Father
Quadrio there is a systematic reference to the authors of the Old and especially the New Testament,
while the other citations - including Fathers - appear somewhat rhapsodic. Unless I'm mistaken, in
addition to the generic allusion to the "Fathers of the Church" - repeatedly attested - and a few
references to ancient liturgical sources and martyrologies, we can trace a specific mention of Ignatius,
one of Tertullian, one of Ambrose, one of Leo the Great, one of the Benedictine Rule, and nine citations
of Augustine. To these data can be add an excerpt his spiritual conference on the Church and culture:
“Already in the first propagation [of the Faith] in the second century,” it says there, “there arose in
Smyrna, in Rome, Alexandria and Edessa famous centers of learning and Christian wisdom. Between
the second and third century flourished the famous didascalei (or higher schools) of Alexandria,
Caesarea, Antioch, from which drew their knowledge, to mention only the greatest: Clement of
Alexandria, Origen, St. Dionysius the Great, Eusebius of Caesarea, Athanasius, Didymus the Blind, St.
Basil the Great, St. John Chrysostom ... These Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, along with St. Hilary,
St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine and countless other doctors and teachers of the Church were all
considered as leaders of science and culture. Who around the third century spoke Latin like the incisive
and caustic Tertullian? Who in the fourth century surpassed St. Basil, or Augustine in the fifth
century?”
Overall, the data seem to confirm the constant interest of Fr. Quadrio for the writings of the Fathers,
his familiarity with the Augustinian corpus,327 and especially in his sermons to transmit the deposit of
Tradition.
I believe that this concern is supported, rather than contradicted, by a conference on modern
preaching, given to clerics some day or other.328 Fr. Quadrio warned them that one of the most
unpleasant defects of the preacher is being not understood, and in the list of elements needed for
effective popularization he put the heading “Fathers of the Church.” This is simply a little note,
followed by three dots of continuation. Very likely Fr. Quadrio wanted to suggest to the clerics that
sermons to the people - rather than repeating the stereotyped formula "Fathers of the Church" or
dazzling the audience with brilliant quotes - should popularize the teaching of the Fathers, when it has
been assimilated in depth. In fact, it should be recognized that the Father Quadrio was first himself
attitudes of men.” There is no denying that these characteristics were present, more or less clearly, in the theological
teaching of Fr Quadrio.”
325 See Salesianum» 19 (1957), pp. 520-521.
326 In truth, I could see only the material typed up so far, which fills two large folders in the Fr. Quadrio Archives: so some
of the homilies have escaped examination. In the edition now available (Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Homilie (= Spirito e Vita,
21), edited by R. Bracchi, Rome 1993) I found some quotes, sometimes only loosely detailed in the minutes. Often they
appear mediated by the liturgy (texts for celebrations, breviary).
327 Among the resolutions in his diary for November 2, 1944, is one to join “the study of the treatise On the One God with
a meditative reading... of St. Augustine's Soliloquies.” (Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Documenti di vita spirituale, ed. Fr. E.
Valentini, Turin 1964, pp. 54-55.
328 Fr. Giuseppe Qudrio, Sermons, ed. R. Bracchi, Rome 1993, in the appendix.

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implementing that rule, because - beyond the very limited number of explicit patristic citations - the
content of his preaching appears solidly fed by the doctrine of the Fathers.
Both in pastoral ministry and in teaching theology he adhered closely to the strong warning -
mentioned above – in Humani Generis, neither did he tire of urging its observance in formation
conferences for priests and clerics: “Theologians must always return to the sources of divine
revelation,” warned the magisterial text of Pius XII, referring explicitly to the Scriptures and the
Fathers. “The sacred sciences with the study of the sources of Revelation always rejuvenate, while on
the contrary, as we know from experience, speculation which neglects the search for the Holy Deposit
of Faith becomes sterile.”329
5.
Answers in Meriidiano 12330
Something similar to that above on Fr. Quadrio's unpublished preaching material is also true for his
answers to the readers of Meridiano 12. It is true that they lack explicit reference to the Fathers of the
Church, except for a reference to the Augustinian doctrine of original sin331 and an allusion to the Creed
of Epiphanius about the Second Coming.332
But it is equally true that the doctrine of the Fathers completely substantiates some of the answers.
The most interesting case has to do with this reader's question: “Too often people tell me that
outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation.” In his answer333 Fr. Quadrio does not refer explicitly
to any Father: but it is evident that he presupposes Augustine's re-reading of Ciprian's aphorism334 and
the articulated ecclesiology developed by the Bishop of Hippo during the Donatist controversy.335
Finally see the Fr. Quadrio's notes on the diaconate in the sacramental discipline of the primitive
329 Pius XII, Humani Generis, p. 565-569. The passage in question is quoted by G. Quadrio, “Teologia dogmatica e
catechesi” [Dogmatic Theology and Catechesis], in Bibbia, liturgia e Dogma nella preparazione dottinale del sacerdote
catechista , [Bible, liturgy and dogma in the doctrinal preparation of the priest catechist], Turin 1959, p. 53 (This was a
memorable lecture by Fr Quadrio at the university during a Salesian Catechetical Congress held in February 1959, “on the
initiative of the clerics, who in the Sodalities had undertaken to discuss practical problems for their future apostolate”: E.
Valentini Don Giuseppe Quadrio ..., p. 239), but we find that already, as we have said, in the prefaces of lecture notes
Subsidia in Tractatum de Paenitentia ... 1, p. 3 and of Subsidia in Tractatum de Virtutibus ... 1, p. 3.
330 Translator's note: A popular Catholic monthly magazine published from 1955 to 1971, like Reader's Digest or Catholic
Digest. It is the successor to Letture Cattoliche [Catholic Readings] (1853-1955), founded by Don Bosco. The name roughly
translates to “High Noon”. Another interpretation, “Prime Meridian”, does not quite fit: Turin is one time zone east of
Greenwich.
331 G. Quadrio, “Spiritual deformities of the human race”, in Meridiano 12 4/9 (1958), p. 6-7. Responses by Fr. Quadrio in
Meridiano 12 were collected and published by R. Bracchi in Don Giuseppe Quadrio, Risposte[Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio,
Answers] (= Spirito e Vita [Spirit and Life], 20), Rome 1992. For the reader's convenience we will indicate in parentheses
after the symbol 'R', the sequence number with which the editor has the marked. With regard to the answer cited above, cf.
R 017.
332 Id., “Stramberie ereticali” [Antics of the Heretics], Meridiano 12 5/6 (1959), pp. 7-8 (cf. R 027). Translator's note:
Epiphanius of Salamis (315 – 403) was a Jewish Christian, Bishop of Salamis and polemical writer against heresies. At the
end of his Ancoratus are two creeds expanding and explaining the Nicene Creed.
333 Id., “C'è salvezza fuori della Chiesa cattolica?” [Is there salvation outside the Catholic Church], in Meridiano 12 4/11
(1958), pp. 6-7 (cf. R 019)
334 “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus” [Outside the Church there is no salvation]: cf. Ciprian, Epist. 4,4,3, ed. L. Bayard 1, CUF,
Paris 1945, p. 12; Id., Epist. 73,21,2, ed. L. Bayard 2, CUF, Paris 1961 (2), p. 275.
335 Already several times we pointed out Fr. Quadrio's familiarity with
Augustine's body of work. As for Augustine's ecclesiology, he probably knew the contribution of A. Pincherle,
“L'ecclesiologia nella controversia donatista” [Ecclesiology in the Donatist controversy], in Ricerche religiose [Religious
Research] 1 (1925), p. 35-55, still fundamental today. Translator's note: Donatists (4th-7th c in North Africa) were moral
rigorists, denying the possibility of reconciliation to any who had escaped the persecution of Diocletian by renouncing
Christianity. Donatists also denied the validity of sacraments administered by any such.

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Church336 and on the Offertory in the ancient Roman liturgy.337
6. Conclusion
Everyone is aware that the issue of appeal to the Fathers draws from the very substance of “doing
theology”, if it is true that the hermeneutic of tradition lies at the crossroads of theological research.338
Therefore, the analysis carried out so far on patristic references in the writings in question is of no
secondary importance.
But to get from them some indications on the methodological orientation of Father Quadrio
between traditional models of theology and innovative stimuli, we need to return to the consideration of
theological and patristic studies in Italy around 1950, and in particular, to the rapport between
dogmatics and patristics, as it played out in the formation curriculum of the Gregorian University.339
I've already talked about this "ancillarity" of patristics in regard to theology. The objective finding
is corroborated by the fact that during the basic curriculum the Theology Department at the Gregorian
University did not provide for the teaching of the Fathers as a separate discipline, but as an integral part
of dogma, to which were reserved a total of ten hours per week. In this way a wide exhibition of
patristic doctrine was ensured, but always in strict dependence on dogmatic treatises in question. Very
rarely ecclesiastical writers might appear to the student as real people, set in their own historical and
cultural context, characterized by spiritual stories and unrepeatable insights of thought. The obvious
risk was that of a “historical flattening” of theological reflection and undue absolutization of the
underlying model of the dogmatic theology treatises: in this model – as on a “Procrustean bed” - the
reading of the Fathers was fitted for theology.
There are cases – it must be recognized - of dogma of teachers who were also talented patrologists.
One could mention Fr. Quadrio's mentor, Fr. Charles Boyer, author of many valuable publications on
St. Augustine. Fr. Quadrio's particular attention to the Augustinian corpus certainly stems from Boyer's
teaching. But the character of Boyer's patristic research clearly confirms our judgment. Overall he
seems overly concerned to reconcile instances of Augustinian thought with that of Thomas, sometimes
at the expense of proper historical setting of the investigation.340
The situation in textbooks, too, is indicative. Altaner's text, which reached its third Italian edition in
1944, remained in fact a volume for consultation. More used were Manucci's Instituzioni di Patrologia
[Institutions of Patrology], updated several times since by Fr. Casamassa, and coming out in sixth
edition between 1948 and 1950. But the real “manual” was only Fr. Rouët de Journel's Enchiridion
Patristicum [Patrology Handbook] (fourteenth edition in 1946), which better met the needs of treatise
compilers and students.
We should still make clear that at least the framework of patristic studies was recovered in a
systematic way in the teaching of Church History. In this discipline Fr. Quadrio found a skilful master
336 G. Quadrio, “Padri di famiglia diventeranno diaconi?” [Will fathers of families become deacons?], in Meridiano 12 5/7
(1959), pp. 9-10 (cf. R 029).
337 Id., “Soldi durante la Messa” [Money during the Mass], in Meridiano 12 9/11 (1963), pp. 11-12 (cf. R 078).
338 Cf. for example Z. Alseghy - M. Flick, Come si fa la Teologia [How to do Theology] (= Teologia, 1), Alba 1974, pp.
61-80; T. Citrini, “Tradizione”, in Dizionario Teologico Interdisciplinare [Interdisciplinary Theological Dictionary] 3, Turin
1975, pp. 448-463.
339 I cite once and for all my sources in this regard: in general, the above mentioned articles of M. Pellegrino, Un
cinquantennio di studi patristici...[A half-century of patristic studies] ... and A. Marranzini, La teologia italiana {Italian
Theology ...], to which I add E. Bellini, “Gli studi patristici in Italia negli ultimi vent'anni (1951-1970)”[patristic studies in
Italy in the last twenty years (1951-1970)], in La Scuola Cattolica [The Catholic School] 101 (1973), p. 107-139; in
particular, the Gregorian's annual course catalogs between 1943-44 and 1948-49, as well as the living testimony of some
students and teachers of the same University, including especially Fr. Zoltan Alszeghy.
340 See, for example, the conclusion of C. Boyer, “De fundamento moralitatis secundum S. Augustinum [On the foundation
of morality according to St. Augustine”, in Acta Hebdomadae Augustinianae-Thomisticae [Augustinian-Thomistic
Weekly]..., Romae 1931, p. 109: “Et nos sane de Augustino et de S. Thoma in hoc praecipue eius discipulo, illud dicamas...”
[And we, of course, say this of St. Augustine and of his chief disciple, St. Thomas, in this matter...]

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in the Fr. Ludwig von Hertling, who in 1949 published the famous Geschichte der katholischen Kirche
[History of the Catholic Church], translated into Italian much later, in 1967. It then went through
several reprintings.341 While teaching Fr. Quadrio, however , Fr. Hertling did not use books or
handouts; students wrote up their notes from the teacher's spoken word.
Overall, it should be recognized that the educational setup at the Gregorian faithfully reflected the
deeply privileged place accorded by the Magisterium, during and after the modernist crisis, to
scholastic philosophy and Thomistic and post-Thomistic conceptualizations of theology. The “return to
the Fathers” and the recovery of the historical dimension in theological work - emerging in France
around Fr. de Lubac and Fr. Danielou in the '40s and '50s - remained largely foreign to Roman
academia.
From this context, the stated commitment of Father Quadrio for a “better fit to the scriptural and
liturgical data,” precisely with respect to the treatises of his revered master Charles Boyer, could not
but take on the value of a prophetic signal. It was the intuition - how conscious, is hard to say - that
scholastic conceptualizations were somehow being re-cast through the “return to the sources” and a
more careful consideration of the lessons of history.
This is clearly not to inflate at all costs the scope of a simple statement by Fr. Quadrio, in order to
show off a pioneer of theological renewal according to a canvas imposed by postmortem medals of
honor. We have seen already that his fundamental monograph, since the time of publication, was
vulnerable to criticism for a clear disproportion between the historical-philological investigations and
systematic dogma.342
More generally, the recovered data on Fr. Quadrio's recourse to the Fathers of the Church and their
way to “do theology” appear undeniable. We have captured them several times in the course of this
analysis, and we can justify considering the context in which he did his teacher training – from which
he did not want to free himself, but continued to depend on the Gregorian environment of the '40s.
But we cannot underestimate the convinced application by Fr. Quadrio - borrowed in an original
way from Humani Generis – of a rejuvenation of the theological sciences through the use of Scripture
and Tradition, and the actual commitment to a “better fit” to the patristic data found in several of his
writings. At least from this point of view he seems to fit more or less consciously into the fervent
atmosphere of pre-conciliar theological renewal.
And perhaps the historian will have to lay aside less nuanced assessments, taking into account that
Fr. Quadrio's more mature scientific production, in relation to his age and the change in direction of
post-conciliar theology, was cut short ineluctably by his illness and death.
341 According to F. Molinari, Fr. Hertling, “who for decades held the chair of Ancient Church History and auxiliary
disciplines (archeology and patristics) at the Pontifical Gregorian University, has poured into this manual,” reaching its fifth
edition in 1988, “the nectar of his expertise and his proverbial clarity and communication, of which he gave evidence in his
daily teaching.” (cf. the corresponding testimony in Civiltà Cattolica [Catholic Civilization] 140 [1989], p. 303).
342 Note 302 [8 in original] above.

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THE RESPONSES OF FR. QUADRIO
TO READERS OF MERIDIANO 12
Raimondo Frattalone
1. Overview
1.1. Meridiano 12 and its experts
Meridiano 12343 was a monthly magazine which, in new clothing, inherited the purpose of Letture
Cattoliche,344 and reached a vast number of readers.
Like the monthly Selections from Reader's Digest, also Meridiano 12 wove together topical issues,
science, literature and art. But its mark was the Christian and Catholic vision of life and messages:
Meridiano 12 is, in fact, what's going on in Rome! The section “Ask Our Experts”, which took between
4 and 8 pages of the magazine, as well as soliciting the interests of readers, was one effective tool for
cultural, religious and moral reflection.
1.2. Fr. Quadrio, collaborator on Meridiano 12
Among the experts recruited among academics and other specialists in the various disciplines,
Father Quadrio was one of the most valuable and enthusiastic collaborators. His collaboration is
documented in almost all issues of Meridiano 12 appearing from October 1956 to March 1964.345
It should not be forgotten that, in those years, his poor health was affected by various ailments.
Instead of slowing down his work pace, he intensified his commitment to the Kingdom of God,
convinced that time is short! A precious page of his diary shows the resolutions taken, when he learned
of the serious illness definitely diagnosed in him:
April 8, 1957 - Turin. Ulcer found: Deo gratias. Alleluia.
To do now:
1) Pray, pray, pray.
2) Work, work, work.
3) Hush, hush, hush.346
343 Meridiano 12 [High Noon] (Letture Cattoliche [Catholic Readings]) was published in Turin from 1955 to 1971. This
contribution has already been inserted as an introduction to the volume Don Giuseppe Quadrio, Risposte (= Spirito e Vita,
20), edited by R. Bracchi, Rome, 1992, PP. 29-48. See translator's note 296 of the preceding chapter.
344 Letture Cattoliche [Catholic Readings] (founded by St. John Bosco), Turin 1852-1954.
345 In our opinion, the answers given then to readers still keep the freshness and often the relevance to the moment when
they saw the light. For ease of reference the original text of Father Quadrio, from now on we will mention in the notes
Responses to Meridiano 12 (to which we add his five in Voci Fraterne due to their affinity of structure and content)
prefixing consecutive numbering adopted in the aforementioned edition (for. ex.: R. 029, in Meridiano 12, July 1959, p.
9-10). Translator's not: Voci Fraterne is the magazine of the Italian Salesian alumni/alumnae.
346 E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Model of Priestly Spirit]
(Rome 1980), p.145.

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His work during these years was orientated almost exclusively by theology. He was Chairman of
the Theology Department of the Pontifical Salesian University (PAS) from 1954 to 1959, and professor
of dogmatic theology from 1949 to his death.
The intertwining of his life as a professor of theology and the various diseases culminating in 1960,
when “they found in him a malignant lymphogranuloma, which cut short a teaching career, but opened
the way for a fruitful apostolate, consisting of example, of sacrifice and apostolic activity according to
the circumstances and his remaining strength.”347
It is clear that Fr. Quadrio's collaboration in Meridiano 12 represents a secondary activity in his life
and personality. But we hold that, as happens with great artists, even in this activity that we could
compare to a minor work is revealed, in a clear and original manner, the seal of his Salesian and
priestly personality.
2. The personality of Fr. Quadrio in his replies to readers of Meriidiano 12
2.1. Index of topics
The replies done by Fr. Quadrio (excluding the brief, schematic first 6 in October and November
1956), touch primarily on topics of dogmatic theology, the subject he was teaching at the PAS, but they
extend also to other theological disciplines and to current problems in the Church. Let us look at a rapid
synthesis:
1. De Deo creante et elevante (creation, original sin, primitive peoples, etc.): 15 replies.
2. Marriage (the Sacrament, divorce, purity, celibacy): 10 replies.
3. Evil and pain (sin, temptation): 10 replies.
4. The Last Things (death, judgment, heaven, hell, limbo): 10 replies.
5. The Sacrament of Penance: 4 replies.
6. Vatican II: 6 replies.
7. Ecumenism: 7 replies.
8. The Bible: 2 replies.
9. Priesthood: 2 replies.
10. Various topics in theology (modernism, superstition, indulgences, work, prayer, Church
history): 7 replies.
11. Current affairs (bizarre heresies, the Mazzarino Friars,348 Catholics in Italy): 3 replies.
In all, Fr. Quadrio's interventions in Meridiano 12 and Voci Fraterne add up to 85.349
2.2. Analysis of the principal topics
2.2.1 Vatican II
Fr. Quadrio lived the preparations and beginning of Vatican II with great interest. Recall that the
solemn opening of the Council took place on October 11, 1962, about a year before Fr. Quadrio died
(October 23, 1963). Between the first and the second sessions of the Council the death of John XXIII
(June 3, 1963) had occurred. Fr. Quadrio died during the second session of the Council, which
coincides with the beginning of the pontificate of Paul VI (September 2, 1963 - December 4, 1963). Fr.
Giuseppe, who followed closely the evolution of the work of the Council and the processing of various
documents, did not live to see the approval of first two Council fruits, the Constitution on the Sacred
347 E. Valentini, ed. Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Documenti di vita spirituale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio. Documents of Spiritual
Life], Turin, 2nd ed. 1968, p. 6.
348 Translator's note: 4 Capuchins accused in 1960, three convicted in 1963 of murder and extortion in Sicily.
349 Adding three pages of volume AA.VV., La Bibbia sfida l'uomo [The Bible challenges Man] (Turin, SEI 1968), 1313.
the number of longer responses would rise to 86. We note, however, that in this multi-author book R 073 is exactly
reproduced (except for two minor variations), appearing in Meridiano 12 (August 1963), p. 13-14.

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Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium) and the Decree on the Means of Social Communication (Inter
Mirifica), approved December 4, 1963.
Fr. Giuseppe's intuition, almost prophetic, is impressive. He describes in 1960 the most important
topics that the Ecumenical Council would address:
Many believe that the Second Vatican Council will complete the exposition initiated by
Vatican Council I about the nature and mission of the Church, considered especially in light of
the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ. Connected with the doctrine of the Mystical Body
is the very serious problem of the union of all Christians in the one true Church and of what
stance Catholics should take in various unity movements.
Another issue related to the nature of the Church is that of a more intense participation of
the people in the liturgy, the apostolate, the life of the Church. The mission of the Church in
today's world seems to require also a courageous and wise review of the methods and tools of
the apostolate of evangelization, missionary conquest, the care of souls, training of clergy in
view of an effective adaptation to the demands and needs of our time.350
The ecumenical sensitivity of Fr. Quadrio is entirely revealed, joined to the clarity of his theological
approach. When a reader, who asked if the Council would also have representatives of the separated
Churches of the East and of the Protestants, replies in 1960:
Besides the Bishops and Catholic prelates, will representatives of the Protestant and Eastern
separated Churches be invited? ... The possibility that non-Catholics could speak to the Council
as observers is not excluded.
We know that, at Vatican I, Pius IX had invited the Orthodox Patriarchs and Bishops to the
Council to intervene in perfect equality with the Catholic bishops. But nobody came ...
Now it's been almost a century, times have changed, understandings and exchanges of views
have multiplied, and dialogue has been interwoven; the ground seems ready for a start on
solving this great problem.351
Writing in 1962, Father Quadrio, after stating that “the Council will be able to prepare the way for a
future meeting of the baptized"352 as an occasion for meeting and doctinal comparison among the
various Christian denominations, does not hide the difficulties that precede the goal of union among
Christians; he compares it to a Via Crucis.353
With the Council drawing nearer, in 1962, the language of Father Quadrio on participation of the
laity in its sessions becomes more pervasive and passionate, and highlights the image of the Church,
the family of God:
The Council has been compared to a “family council” under the direction of the father, to make
some serious decision together for the good of the whole family team... Well, the Church is our spiritual
family, and since we are all “family”, we have the right and duty to be concerned and to work together
for the success of this most crucial event for the life of the Church in this century ... We must all feel
committed and responsible ... The Council is like a living synthesis of the whole Church: each member
in the Council exercises the same function as they practice in the Church.354
350 R. 036, in Meridiano 12, May 1960, p. 12.
351 R. 037, in Meridiano 12, June 1960, pp. 10-11.
352 R. 063, in Meridiano 12, August 1962, p. 8.
353 “But the way promises to be long, and everything seems to preview not a triumphal advance, but a long and fatiguing
Via Crucis [Way of the Cross]. Unity won't happen without a general contribution of prayer, suffering and action.” (R. 063,
Meridiano 12, August 1962, p. 9)
354 R. 061, in Meridiano 12, July 1962, pp. 9-11.

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Spiritually sensitive to the dynamism of the life and soul of the Church, Father Quadrio in 1959
already foresaw the possibility of restoration of the permanent diaconate in the Church,355 which would
take some years later, November 21, 1964, with the approval of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen
Gentium.356
2.2.2 Christian matrimony
The theology students who had Fr. Quadrio as a teacher of the dogmatic treatise on the sacrament of
marriage remember those lessons for the elevation of the theological message that reached the
threshold of contemplation. And as it happened during the lectures, also when describing the beauty of
Christian marriage, he spoke in lyrical tones that became a hymn to the love between Christ and the
Church, his Bride.
To a Salesian past pupil who asked for a clarification on the phrase: “The union of man and woman
is a symbol of the union of Christ with the Church,” Father Quadrio, after stating that the affirmation is
from St. Paul's letter to the Christians of Ephesus, analyzes its Christological and ecclesial meaning n
these terms:
Speaking of the duties of Christian spouses, [St. Paul] says that their marriage is a “sacred sign”, a
living image of the union between Christ and the Church. To understand these words, we must
remember that Jesus is the Bridegroom of the Church. Here, “Church” means the union of all the
faithful, who are all together as one person, that is the Mystical Body of Christ ...
Well, this very union of Christ with the Church, his Bride, according to St. Paul, is made present and
active again whenever two baptized persons unite in marriage. An example, perhaps, may serve to
clarify this truth: as every Mass represents and renews sacramentally the one sacrifice of the cross, of
which it extends and applies the fruit, so in a similar (but not exactly the same) way, every Christian
marriage is a living, sacramentally renewed and perpetual marriage of Jesus Christ and his Church,
extending and applying its fruits ...
In imitation of Jesus' love and sustained by his grace, conjugal love becomes pure, strong, tender,
sacrificial, unfailing and eternal.357
A chance to describe the key elements of the spirituality of marriage was offered to Father Quadrio
by a provocative question from a reader of Meridiano 12: “I have read the exaltation of virginity and
celibacy several times, but never a word about the greatness of marriage. Are you by any chance also
one of those who consider the married as poor devils, doomed to mediocrity and incapable of any
spiritual aspiration to Christian holiness?”358
Fr. Quadrio responds by accepting the challenge and developing a four-point theory of the
spirituality of marriage:
No, ma'am, we're not one of those. If so far we haven't spoken of the divine greatness of marriage, it
was only because there was no opportunity. We appreciate the chance you now give us to present some
fundamental principles of married 'spirituality' and especially the holiness to which Christian spouses
can and should aspire.
Christian marriage is a vocation to holiness.
The love of spouses is an irradiation of God, Who is Love.
The Sacrament of Matrimony is a perennial generator of holiness.
355 He wrote prophetically: “The supreme authority of the Church, and it alone, can decide whether the diaconate could
also be conferred on married men not destined to become priests ... We have to wait, in faithful docility and fervent prayer,
the solution that the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit and her own bi-millennial experience, will give "(R, 029, in
Meridiano 12, July 1959, p. 10).
356 Cf. LG, n. 29.
357 R. 082, in Voci fraterne 43/13 (July 1962), pp. 11-12.
358 R. 075, in Meridiano 12, June 1963, p. 13.

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The spouses are architects of each other's holiness.
By virtue of the marriage bond, each of the two becomes spiritually responsible for the other, taking
on the task of bringing the other to holiness; agreeing to be guide and ladder to climb to God .. Spouses
tend to holiness not as two isolated hermits, but in perfect communion and collaboration. It should be
holiness “for two.”359
Fr. Quadrio uses equally lyrical and exalting expressions to describe the beauty of clerical celibacy
and consecrated virginity.360
In addressing the issue of divorce, one can admire the scientific seriousness and clarity of when,
responding to the question of a gentleman, addressing the exegesis of the Matthean clause "except for
reason of fornication" (Mt 19.9; 5, 32):
“The concerns of Mr. P. C [alabrese] are perfectly understandable. Before him, Fathers and Doctors
of the Church, theologians and Bible scholars, have ventured to seek a satisfactory explanation of this
riddle. And they've proposed more than one explanation. The words of Jesus he refers to are still
considered as the 'cross of the interpreters'.”361
One of the most moving pages written by Fr Quadrio in Meridiano 12 is one in which he answers
the question of why the Church should not grant the dissolution of marriage when one spouse has been
sentenced to life in prison. In those pages the love of truth is joined with extreme empathy for the
spouse forced to solitude:
Why does the Church insist on denying these innocent victims the opportunity to rebuild their
happiness with another marriage? ...
I'll use a paradoxical expression, I would say that the Church would be more than happy to give
these poor innocent spouses the opportunity to rebuild a life with a new marriage. If it does not, it is only
because she cannot.
And why not? Because, in matters of divorce, the Church is no arbitrary mistress, but only
custodian and guardian of divine and natural law. How can she ever allow murder or theft or blasphemy
...
But what purpose can the marriage of a lifer still have? Think, [esteemed] sir, of the noble mission
of a wife heroically faithful to her unhappy husband convicted, rightly or wrongly, to life
imprisonment ... Who better than she can start him onto redemption and moral rehabilitation? ... Some
might say that this fidelity requires heroism. It's true. But as a condition of life doesn't often require
heroism? The God who prescribes it as an obligation, makes it possible and even sweet with his help.362
359 R. 075, in Meridiano 12, June 1963, p. 13-16. Fr. Quadrio was able to express his thoughts about education to purity in
three replies. The first one is about sex education to be given to children, and the other two are on the spiritual path a young
man who seeks the joy of purity must take (cf. R. 071, in Meridiano 12, March 1963, p. 7-9; R. 074, in Meridiano 12, May
1963, p. 30-32; R. 081, in Voci Fraterne 43/9, May 1962, p. 8-10).
360 “Jesus Christ ... distinguished clearly between virginity forced or without love, and virginity voluntary or for love ...
This virginity without love is really the saddest, most failed condition in which a human being can be .
But then, what is true Christian virginity? It is a kind of spiritual marriage, perpetual and exclusive, of a soul with the
divine person of Christ. The virgin is not a bachelor or a loner who has renounced love. He or she is, on the contrary, a lover
who chose a happier marriage and a more inebriating love ... Not squeezed or eliminated this energy, but it is sublimated
and strengthened, expanding it joyfully into a higher plane.” (R. 057, in Meridiano 12, February 1962, p. 9-10).
361 R. 038, in Meridiano 12, August 1960, p. 8.
362 R. 070, in Meridiano 12, February 1963, pp. 19-20.

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2.2.3 The problem of evil and pain
Responding to various readers who asked for light on the thorny problem of evil and suffering, Fr.
Quadrio, depending on the questions, addresses the issue from different angles, now in reference to
God's goodness, now more directly in relation to human suffering and the premature death of innocent
children. When asked, “Why doesn't God prevent us from falling into certain errors ... thus, letting
some die badly, that is, in a state of sin?”363 Fr. Quadrio responded comforting the other person and
giving some principles that illuminate the mystery of evil:
The first law of Divine Providence towards us is full respect for our freedom ... Just to safeguard this
supreme dignity of his intelligent creatures, God runs the risk of seeing His love despised, His law
broken, his Son killed, his favorites eternally damned ...
A second law of Divine Providence is to provide everyone with unlimited space and abundance of
graces necessary to avoid sin and eternal damnation ...
A third law of God's will for us is always and only our good; to want it even without our knowledge
and against our short-range human view... Since God can draw from any evil a greater good, even our
sins in His merciful designs become a lure to His love, a factor of holiness, a stimulus to rise again, a
glorification of His goodness.364
To a Meridiano 12 reader who wrote: “The sight of so much evil in the world makes me doubt the
existence of God...”,365 Fr Quadrio responded with determination that evil is like the shadow which
proves the existence of light.366
In reply to the anguished question if hunger is not an argument against the goodness of God, Fr.
Quadrio, after reporting some staggering statistics that show how his love for the poor was real and
documented, he expresses with clarity the doctrine of Church:
There are more than 800 million people today struggling against starvation under conditions of tragic
want. 10% of humanity controls 81% of the total income: the rest is distributed unevenly among the
other 90% of the Earth's population.
There are three things to say about this.
First. God is not responsible for this terrible disorder, but human wickedness ...
Second. In this tremendous imbalance, God is not on the side of the exploiters, but of the oppressed
and the poor ...
Third. But ... waiting for justice to come, the men in this life are starving; what does God do for
them? The first thing he did - the King of heaven and earth - was to become a man ..., he wanted to like
us in all the poorest, most oppressed and trampled-down by human injustice ...
Also .. has willed that his Church teach that every man has the fundamental right to live with dignity,
and that to this right to the right of property is subject.367
Fr. Quadrio fully reveals his father's heart by universal dimensions when he exhibited his
reflections on the mystery of the suffering of innocent children:
363 R. 012, in Meridiano 12, October 1957, p. 3.
364 R. 012, in Meridiano 12, October 1957, p. 3-4. In response to readers published posthumously Father Quadrio address
the issue of small clutter that appears to our eyes and big order which reigns in the universe and reveals the existence of God
(cf. R. 080, in "Meridian 12" March 1964, pp. 9-10).
365 R. 016, in Meridiano 12, August 1958, p. 6.
366 “There is evil, therefore God does not exist.” To this difficulty, as old as man and tormenting like few others, must
oppose this absolutely certain statement: There is evil, therefore God exists! Evil is not only evidence, but is rather an
argument for the existence of God, as the shadow is a proof that there is light.” (R. 016, in Meridiano 12, August 1958, p.
6.7). Very subtle, even from the theological point of view, is the answer Fr. Quadrio gives to those who asked if a sinner can
offer his suffering to God (cf. R. 018, in Meridiano 12, September 1958, p. 7 - 8).
367 R. 024, in Meridiano 12, April 1959, pp. 13-14.

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Your letter, my dear doctor, contains many interesting and challenging questions ... I will limit
myself to the first. It brings up the fearful spectacle of countless children, perished in the bombings, torn
apart by weapons of war, tortured in the concentration camps, murdered for racial hatred.
I think, as I write, the thousands of children who at this moment lie motionless in hospital wards or
on operating rooms tables, struggling with illness and death ...
In this long line of suffering little ones you add less well known but no less lamentable, cynically
killed innocent people before they see the light. It is a daily slaughter of the innocents, even more
barbarous than that of Herod ...
I'll tell you frankly now that this problem is a mystery even to those who believe in God. For an
unbeliever, then, it is a cruel absurdity. Faith does not completely eliminate the darkness, but wraps it in
a light soothing and confident.
There are two main certainties with which the Christian faith softens our pain confronting the pain
and death of children.
The first is that not everything ends here. It seems that God wanted to put the problems here and ...
the solutions there. Death sets everything right, forever. This life is like a musical dissonance, which it
resolves into a final harmony forever ...
Another Christian certainty, no less comforting .. the first is that children do not suffer in vain, are
not constrained by a cruel fate to pay for the wicked. On the contrary, their suffering is part of a wise
and loving plan of universal salvation, of which those very children are not only builders, but also the
first and main beneficiaries.368
Overflowing with delicacy, respect for pain and with intense inner light is his answer, like a
personal letter, Fr, Quadrio writes to a lady who told Meridiano 12 that for six months she and her
husband stopped going to church after the death of the child:369
In these sad months, madame, you will certainly have heard many words of human comfort. But
those are not enough to soothe your pain. And in fact, in front of his [unspeakable] agony, every word is
likely to sound toneless and trivial. Besides, what polite phrase could fill the immense void left in you
by the loss of your child?
[And that's why we bow in reverent silence] before your suffering. It would be presumptuous to try
to teach something to a mother in mourning, or to consider us worthy and able to dry your tears. [There
is] one [that] can do all this ... Jesus holds in reserve for you, madame, some extremely simple, but
divinely true and comforting words ...
Jesus .. repeats: “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he die, yet shall he
live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
And so ... your baby is alive, more alive than before, in the infinite joy of God. Death has not
annihilated him, but only taken him into a more perfect and happy state... I understand [well]: you yearn
to see and embrace your little angel ... One day you will also see with your own bodily eyes, and you'll
be together forever.
[But] nobody claims that, having this confidence, you can sensibly fill the huge void that death has
carved in your heart. If you want, you can make this vacuum less dark and painful ... Your little one, who
already sees everything clearly in the divine light, thanks and blesses the Lord over what we mourn as a
irreparable misfortune. He is infinitely glad he could help Jesus to save mankind. His boundless joy is to
say yes to God's will.
Try, madame, to do like your child. I will try to comfort. Because the will of God is an enormous
weight, as long we rebel, but if we accept it, it becomes our greatest joy.370
368 R. 053, in Meridiano 12, November 1961, pp. 7-8.
369 R. 072, in Meridiano 12, April 1963, p. 7.
370 R. 072, in Meridiano 12, April 1963, p. 7-8. The language of Father Quadrio, so affectionate in this letter, becomes
cold, aloof, but always attentive to the person, when taking a stand on the acquittal of twenty-four year old Suzanne
Vandeput. She was referred to the court of Liege for killing her seven day old baby Corinne, born with her hands attached to
her shoulders. Fr. Quadrio articulates his reply for Meridiano 12 in four points:
1. Before this unhappy mother ...

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2.2.4 The Sacrament of Penance
Those who had Fr. Quadrio as a teacher of dogmatic theology remember his lectures on the
Sacrament of Penance with admiration, esteem and a certain nostalgia. They were clear, profound and
updated. In some replies to readers of Meridiano 12 he has left evidence of his pastoral sensitivity,
joined to has his theological competency.
To someone who asked about the Scriptural foundation of Confession, and particularly about John
20:19-23, Fr. Quadrio gives an exposition of dogmatic exegesis at the popular level, a help to
understand the difference between the institution of the Sacrament and the various forms it has assumed
over the centuries.371
The thematic of Penance returns in two other responses by Fr. Quadrio, which present the figures of
Peter and Judas and their different relationship with the forgiving love of Christ:
Why does Peter get everything Judas nothing? Didn't they both commit a grave sin? ... Conceit,
ingratitude, perjury, betrayal of friendship, cowardice, this is the sin of Peter.
But here is Jesus, immediately after, chained and tortured by the guards. He passes, and looks at
Peter for a long time with heartfelt sadness. Peter reads in that look the regret of his denied Friend, but
also a call to repentance and the assurance of forgiveness. And he went out and wept bitterly...
And Jesus, who was never able to resist in front of repentance and Who rehabilitated every every
repentant sinner, not only forgave Peter, but confirmed him in the office of supreme pastor of his flock.
One condition only He asked him: who, having denied because he was supposedly better than the others,
now is humbly committed to love Him more than these...
And now, why is Judas was not given the same treatment? His sin was certainly more severe than
that of Peter, also because it was long premeditated. But this is not why it has not been forgiven... Even
in the garden, just at the moment when Judas consummated his betrayal with the sweet sign of
friendship, Jesus makes a last-ditch effort to save him. He receives the kiss; calls Judas “friend”, calls
him tenderly by name... In these acts of compassion can we not see an intention of mercy, a tacit promise
of pardon, if the traitor would repent? But Judah rejected the saving hand that his betrayed Friend
offered him to the last. The most serious wrong that he did to Jesus, was not that he betrayed Him, but
he had not believed Him able to forgive that betrayal...372
2. Considering her act, viewed objectively ...
3. Considering the full acquittal ...
4. Considering a crowd delirious with enthusiasm ... (R. 068, in "Meridiano 12", December 1962, p. 8-9).
371 Fr. Quadrio's reply:
“Jesus Christ, in the mentioned passage in St. John, has expressly granted to the Apostles the mission of continuing his work
of redemption, and in particular has communicated His divine power to forgive and retain sins, on behalf of God Himself,
without limitation, any sin...
And Confession? If Mr. A. V. would be so kind to grant that neither I nor any Catholic theologian said that in the above
passage Jesus speaks explicitly of the Confession of sins. I just said, and I repeat, that the power to forgive and retain sins,
which was granted by Christ to his Church, cannot be exercised in accordance with justice and charity, if those who have to
pronounce the judgment do not know the sins and dispositions of the penitent.. . Therefore I say that, although Christ has
not spoken explicitly in the passage about Confession, He however has talked about a power that necessarily presupposes
and includes it...
The substance is always the same and is maintained in every time and circumstance, but the particular modes are
determined by the Church, to whom Christ has entrusted the administration of the Sacraments.” (R. 011, in Meridiano 12,
September 1957, pp. 1-2). In the same reply to readers Fr. Quadrio has a long list of theological texts as tools to study the
issues of the Sacrament of Penance and confession of sins among primitive tribes.
372 R. 034, in Meridian 12, March 1960, p. 5-6. Fr. Quadrio continues reflecting on the mystery of the role of Judas in the
history of salvation, replying to a letter asking: “If Judas were not there betray Jesus Christ, how could Jesus redeem
mankind?” (R. 052, in Meridian 12, October 1961, p. 15). The answer moves between the affirmation that even without the
person of Judas, Christ certainly would have redeemed mankind, and recognition that Judas, although guilty of his sin of
betrayal, was an instrument to bring about the plan of salvation provided for by God (ibid. , p. 15-16).

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2.2.5 Arguments of Protology
As a teacher of the dogmatic treatises on God the Creator and Redeemer, Father Quadrio was
tasked by Meridiano 12 to respond to readers asking for explanations of the first human beings,
original sin, the creation of the soul, etc.. We mentioned above that Fr. Quadrio dealt with these
subjects a good 15 times in the pages of Meridiano 12.
An issue at the boundary between science and biblical revelation is the inquiry into the extent to
which early humans are connected or descended from the Adam of Genesis. For every discovery of
paleontology or ethnology, one wonders whether, finally, we've found the link between the data of
science and affirmations of faith. Fr. Quadrio stated with his usual clarity:
How can we reconcile these statements of Catholic doctrine with data from prehistoric and
ethnographic science about the primitive state of the oldest known human beings today? The
reconciliation is possible if one considers that the cultural level of Adam was not the result of effort and
personal achievement, but a free and extraordinary gift of God. It was therefore not proportionate to the
level of material civilization that existed in the world, but from the singular dignity and mission of the
first human, raised to the rank of a son and a friend of God; it was not to be transmitted to posterity by
way of generation, like other gifts, but it was a endowment exclusive to our progenitor ...
We still have to explain how our first parents, if they were not [morally and intellectually] primitive
beings, were liable to give in to the lure of the devil. Suffice it to recall that neither the highest degree of
civilization, of science, of holiness, nor grace and its associated gifts, deprive man of the sublime and
risky gift of freedom, and therefore the tragic possibility to rebel against God.373
Regarding the nature of original sin, that is, whether it was a sin of pride or a some sexual fault, Fr.
Quadrio responds by reaffirming the traditional Catholic doctrine and letting his deep theological
culture shine through.374
We find a page of exceptional value in Meridiano 12, where Fr. Quadrio translates the difficult
thought of St. Thomas into terms accessible to the general public. St. Thomas attempts to penetrate the
mystery of how original sin is transmitted from father to son, since the soul, created directly by God,
cannot be created in a state of sin.375
One of the problems associated with the treatise on "God the Creator" is the possibility of creating
life in the laboratory. Facting the enthusiastic and superficial statements of newspapers, Fr. Quadrio
373 R. 007, in Meridiano 12, January 1957, p. 5-6. Cf. also R. 015, in Meridiano 12, February 1959, p. 7-8 (where Fr.
Quadrio responds to a teacher who asked him about the discoveries of Tertiary man in Italy), R. 022, in Meridiano 12,
March 1959, p. 8-10 (where Fr. Quadrio responds to a question on pre-Adamites), and R. 030, in Meridiano 12, August
1959, p. 7-9 (on the thorny issue “if man evolved from the ape”). Translator's note: the Tertiary period was the first part of
the Cenozoic era, and began 65 million years ago with the demise of the dinosaurs. It lasted to about 1.8 million years ago.
Human-like species are known to have evolved in the last few million years of the Tertiary. It was in 1959 that Mary Leaky
found fossils of new, late Tertiary species of Australopithecus in Africa's Olduvai Gorge. Fossils of Oreopithecus bamboli,
an extinct ape from around 8 million years ago, have been found in Italy. In the 1950's, when some were found,
Oreopithecus was thought to be in the human evolutionary line, but now few paleontologists hold this view.
374 Cf. R. 008, in Meridiano 12, January 1957, p. 7.
375 “Here is the solution proposed by St. Thomas ... Original sin has a very special structure, very different from that of
personal sins. These directly affect individuals and reside first place in the soul of the individual, and so are not transmitted
from father to son, just because ... the individual soul is created directly by God and not passed on from parents.
Original sin, on the contrary, is a stain or hereditary defect, which relates directly to human nature taken globally …
God, Creator of the soul, is not the author of original sin, because the soul is contaminated only by virtue of its infusion
into the body. Neither the parents, properly speaking, are the authors of original sin in children, because they do nothing but
pass on human nature as they received it. The real author of original sin in us is Adam, to whom sanctifying grace was given
not as a personal gift, but as a gift of human nature, to be transmitted to his descendants.” (R. 017, in Meridiano 12,
September 1958 pp. 7-8; cf. R. 047 as well, in Meridiano 12, July 1961, pp. 15-16, where Father Quadrio explains how the
human soul, created directly by God, has reference to a person who inherits many hereditary characteristics of a psychic
nature).

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explained, with serenity and scientific seriousness, the very limited results, of science and Church
doctrine, which present some truths that go beyond the efforts and achievements of science:
Newspapers and magazines sometimes set the world astir with the sensational announcement that in
such and such a laboratory, life has finally been manufactured. The news is often accompanied by
comments, which lead one to believe that now the old Catholic doctrine on creation has had its day.
Science – they repeat – has given the coup de grace, demonstrating that life on earth did not originate in
God's creation, but by simple evolution of inorganic matter ...
Two fundamental considerations.
First, a fact, recognized by scientists all over the world. It is this: despite the amazing successes
achieved recently in the biochemical labs, nobody has yet succeeded in making artificial life.
And here's the second consideration, more important for us. Suppose the chemists perfect their
research and some day artificially produce a real living being. Would the Catholic doctrine on the origin
of life then collapse?
Here is the answer: not only did would it not collapse, but would not in any way be undermined. Let
me explain briefly, making two observations.
The first is this: on the day we can produce life by chemical processes, it will not be proven that the
first life on earth came about spontaneously from pure matter left to itself ...
Which brings us to another point. Let us suppose that one day science will be able to demonstrate
the emergence of the first life on earth evolving from inorganic matter. Even in this case, the Catholic
faith would remain intact, which puts God at the beginning of life. In fact: science, noting
experimentally the emergence of life from matter, could not exclude the intervention of God, Who
initially created the germinal matter having the capacity to evolve into living substance, when the
circumstances were favorable ... 376
2.2.6 The Mystery of Death
Two contributions by Fr. Quadrio in Meridiano 12 that deal with death came in October and
December 1963; so they coincide with the last days of his life. For him, death was the good sister who
was preparing to open for him the doors of the Father's House.
When asked “whether it is appropriate or not to make known to a seriously ill the truth about his
situation”,377 Fr. Quadrio, who had experienced firsthand what it meant crudely to learn that he has
been affected by an incurable disease, wrote with lucidity and deep psychological insight:378
To be clear, I would like to distinguish two questions in this one question.
1. Should we warn the patient that he or she is in danger of death?
2. Should we tell that person that he or she is suffering from an incurable disease? ...
My answer to the first question ... yes. Each patient has the sacred right to know that his life is in
danger, so that he or she can provide in time for eternal salvation and settle any important pending
business. There is therefore a serious obligation to inform him or her...
The second question is no less delicate and difficult than the first. It is well known that doctors tend
to hide from the patient the fact that he or she is suffering from an incurable disease. And this is to
prevent the poor patient falling into a state of anguish and despair, which would aggravate the situation
and undermine the effectiveness of any treatment ... I therefore consider that, in most cases, this attitude
of prudent reserve should be followed by all those who approach the sick ... Let the truth be told in the
376 R 049, in Meridiano 12, August 1961, p. 15-17, where Fr. Quadrio presents the non-contradiction between science and
faith in relation to the hypothesis that the origin of the universe should be attributed, as the great Belgian physicist George
Lemaitre sees it, to a “primitive atom.” Translator's note: the “Big Bang”.
377 Cf. R. 079, in Meridiano 12, December 1963, p. 4.
378 When news got around in the Salesian community of Crocetta that the medical tests showed that Fr. Quadrio was
suffering from lymphogranuloma, a cleric rushed to the hospital where the dear professor was. Fr. Quadrio, having read a

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right time and place. In practice, the detection of a serious incurable sickness should only be done if it is
inevitable, or definitely in the interest of the person ...
This obviously does not mean that the patient shouldn't be conveniently helped to accept, with love,
all God wills, and to give Him generously his own life in union with Jesus crucified.379
A woman wrote to Meridiano 12: “I have a terror of death. When I was young and healthy, I
resolved the problem by not thinking about it. Now it's become an obsession. Could you suggest
anything to free me of this torment?”,380 Responding, Fr. Quadrio writes one of the most significant of
his pastoral production; in it he reveals his exceptional intuition in dealing with the psychological
theme of mortal anguish, illuminated further by his own experience of being a cancer patient close to
death. It is almost a spiritual testament in which the dying life becomes a celebration of the Eucharist:
Be consoled: even the bravest men are often afraid of death. Many saints were not exempt. Even
Jesus, on the eve of his earthly end, under the olive trees of Gethsemane, felt fear and anxiety to the
point of sweating blood ... Heroism in the face of death is not to "feel no fear," but in facing up to it with
courage and fortitude, despite the fear ...
To achieve this, we need to identify the causes of this excessive fear and counter with appropriate
remedies.
The plaintive anguish that accompanies the thought of death, may be coming from a vision all too
human and natural of that final step, considered only in its negative and terrifying aspects...
For faith shines on death with gentle light, presenting also the positive and comforting aspects. For a
Christian, death is not an end, but a start, it is the beginning of true life, the door leading into eternity. It's
like, behind the barbed wire of the concentration camp, we heard the longed-for announcement, “We are
going home.”
Dying is opening the door and saying, “My Father, here I am, I've come.” It is, yes, a leap in the
dark, but with the security of falling into the arms of the Heavenly Father ...
The haunting fear of death could also be caused by anxiety over sins and the fear of divine
judgment. In this case, we must fight this terror with a steadfast hope in the infinite mercy of the
heavenly Father. The One Who will judge and decide our eternal fate is not an enemy or a stranger, but
our older brother, who has faced to the torments of Calvary to save us, and Who loves us more than we
love ourselves. St. Francis de Sales said that on the day of judgment he'd rather be judged by God than
by his own mother ...
Finally, the root of the confusion in the face of death may be thought of the pain and anguish that
often embitter.
There is not an infallible remedy, not to suppress, but to control and soften this thought: it is to offer
every day his agony and death, with all the physical and moral suffering that will accompany it,
Heavenly Father in union with the death of Christ, with the same love and the same intentions that had
Jesus
on
the
cross.
What light and comfort stem from early this anticipated, loving celebration of one's own death,
offering to the Father as a little host together with the big Host, which is Jesus slain on Calvary in every
deep disturbance in the face of that cleric, asked if his incurable illness was the cause. The cleric burst into tears. Thus did
Quadrio know that his life was now marked by a malignant tumor. He wrote afterwards, Sept. 6, 1960, to Fr. Eugenio
Magni: "When they told me - by the providential indiscretion of a confrere - that I had only a few days to live, it seemed to
have settled my affairs with faith, hope and charity but I could not, then, stay at that level "(Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Letters,
edited by R. Bracchi, Rome 1991, L. 158, cf. also Articoli di prova testimoniale proposti dal Vice-Postulatore della Causa
Rev.mo don Eugenio Valentini:i per il Processo Cognizionale sulle virtù eroiche e miracoli in genere del Servo di Dio don
Giuseppe Quadrio Sacerdote professo della Società Salesiana (1921-1963) [Articles of testimonial evidence offered by the
Rev. Fr. Eugenio Valentini, Vice-Postulator of the Cause, for the informative process on the heroic virtues and miracles in
general of the Servant of God Fr Giuseppe Quadrio, professed priest of the Salesian Society (1921-1963)], Salesian
Pontifical University, Rome 1985, p. 6).
379 R. 079, in Meridiano 12, December 1963, pp. 4-5.
380 R. 077, in Meridiano 12, October 1963, p. 18.

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Mass! Then our death takes on the meaning and value of a "co-redemption", that is, a cooperation with
Jesus for the glory to the Father, to expiate sins and save the world.
Death, thus made the object of faith, hope and love, maybe would not cease to inspire fear, but fear
will be accepted all the same and loved as precious material for the supreme sacrifice.381
3.
Conclusion: Fr. Quadrio, Theologian and Pastor in His Popular Writings
In the pages we've examined, the human and theological Fr. Quadrio is reflected, even in the
language of a remote dialogue with readers. He was a theologian, entirely priestly in soul. He had a
vivid consciousness of the manifold function confided to a theologian in the Church, and the pages he
wrote for Meridiano 12 highlight the pastoral projection of his theological research.
Wanting to highlight the most striking qualities of the personality of Father Quadrio, a theologian
responsive to pastoral needs in these his popular writings, it seems to us that they are: scientific
seriousness, attention to the reader's personality, and openness to the dynamism of the Church, to
culture and to events in society.
3.1. Scientific seriousness
The philosophical and theological curricula gave him not only the content that he brought into his
teaching and his life, but the “thirst for knowledge” proper of great souls. We have seen above how in
the complex problem of human origins, which often poses a conflict of conscience between the data of
faith and those of science, Fr. Quadrio moved with clarity and care, recognizing the effort of scientific
knowledge, while holding firm to the immutable data points of theology: Scripture, Tradition and
theological research. The same scientific seriousness is shown by his responses in Meridiano 12, where
exegesis of difficult Bible passages, or the assessment of exceptional situations in life, or in the Church,
or in history is required. However, it remains indisputable fact that every page written by him, even that
of a proposal for a bibliography for the reader, bears the seal of his priestly heart.
3.2. Attention to the reader's personality
The second gift of the spirituality of Father Quadrio, which is well documented not only by the
testimony of those who had him as confrere and teacher, but also from the pages we have been looking
at, is that attitude, almost innate, of acceptance of others. It infallibly resulted in attention to the
personality of those who approached him. It was all a “big brother” who had never taken off the clothes
of the Good Shepherd.
The pages he wrote for Meridiano 12 and for Voci Fraterne overflow with humanity, gentleness and
desire to meet, understand and make happy the person concerned. The desire for human contact, to lift
those in need, was the basis of his labors, which certainly had to weigh on him a lot, considering his
poor health and his constantly feverish body. That's how he lived the pastoral outreach of his Salesian
priesthood.
3.3. Openness to Church, Cultural and Societal Dynamics
From the variety of the issues addressed by Fr. Quadrio in his imaginary dialogue with the readers
of Meridiano 12, you can see his openness to the life and dynamism of the Church, flooded by the
Pentecostal wave of the Second Vatican Council. His soul is deeply ecclesial and “Roman”. Fr. Quadrio
saw, and had a foretaste of, the conclusions and riches spiritual, pastoral and ecumenical of Vatican II.
He rejoiced, and he communicated his inner joy to his brothers.
Father Quadrio gave equal attention to the events of society and the evolution of culture. He
carefully documented, when he was asked to explain his thought and that of the Church on these things.
His balanced judgment always bore the imprint of attention and respect for the persons subject to his
381 R. 077, in Meridiano 12, October 1963, pp. 18-21.

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critical evaluation.
Once again it was always the priest-pastor giving shape to his every action. And the Good Shepherd
always loves his sheep, even when they have strayed from the fold, and is confident that only the
pastoral charity can bring them back home to the arms of the Father. As a word of conclusion, I borrow
from Fr. Luigi Ricceri when he presented the booklet of of Father Quadrio's collected writings,
sketching out his personality:382
He was an open soul: he admired human wisdom everywhere, but went beyond it. He was sensitive
to the anguish of our time, but always re-emerging from it in faith. The light that sprang from his heart
(he was essentially a contemplative, a “man of prayer” like Don Bosco), allowed him to enlighten all
situations. His faith, deeply rooted in the Eucharist and in the Word of God, was for him a force to stick
his arrow into the depths of our present age.
His inner world, in all its wondrous variety, was harmoniously unified. Fr. Quadrio was extremely
intelligent, yet had profound humility, like a child. He was sensitive to the most pressing problems, but
with rare balance; lived a supernatural atmosphere, everywhere crossed by flashes of an incisive
spirituality...
Fr. Quadrio had a spirituality - how to call it? - of Holy Saturday. You could see that when he
expected death, when he saw it coming towards him. His was the joyful serenity of one sure of returning
to the Father's house .383
382 E. Valentini (ed.), Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Documenti di vita spirituale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio. Documents of Spiritual
Life] (2nd ed., Turin 1968).
383 Ibid., pp. 4-5.

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THE “FR. QUADRIO SOURCES” IN THE ARCHIVES
OF THE SALESIAN PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITY:
PRELIMINARY ORGANIZATION AND INVENTORY
Cosimo Semeraro
These source documents are part of the Historical Archive of the Salesian Pontifical University. A
Guide to this archive is in an advanced stage of preparation for publication, as is an inventory of all the
documents submitted and collected to date [1989]. They are ready for consultation. Please therefore
refer to these search tools for the origin, storage location,384 sorting criteria and, above all, the role and
significance of such a heritage in an academic institution, and in view of research study.
In this contribution I will only present the inventory of the folders that currently make up this
particular segment of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio (1921-1963) and the actual ordering of the documentation.
As will be easy to see, the basic criterion that has guided the examination system and the placement
of these documents was, above all, the availability and ease of consultation of the same in view of the
canonization process underway.
The intelligent, generous and enthusiastic collaboration of participants in a seminar on the
methodology of scientific work directed by me during the academic year 1986-87 was valuable and
effective for this project.385
Folder 1: CERTIFICATES
1. Family: 2 items
Parish Archive of Vervio (1901-1940) p. 52: Family of Giovanni Quadrio (paternal grandfather of Fr.
Giuseppe Quadrio); p. 188: Family of Agostino Quadrio (father of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio).
Marriage certificate of Agostino Quadrio and Giacomina Robustelli, 12 Jan., 1910: St. Eusebius Parish,
Grosotto (Sondrio), 2 April, 1985.
2. Civil: 9 items
1. Birth Certificate, 28 November 1921, town of Vendo (Sondrio), Civil State Office, 25 April 1936.
2. Certificate of health and absence of contagious diseases, from Dr. Francesco Foppoli, town of
Vendo (Sondrio), September 1933.
3. Another certificate of sound health and robust constitution: Ivrea, 10 June, 1936.
4. Affidavit of Royal Army Infirmarian, fitness for service as health aide. Signed: Medical Officer,
Chieri, Villa Moglia, 1 July 1940.
5. Form for indefinite leave from recruitment and induction; exempted from military service,
384 This archival collection, in particular, is physically located outside of the storage of the Historical Archive. It is in the
office of the vice-postulator, prof. Remo Bracchi, for reasons understandable due to current work on the Cause of
Canonization.
385 I remember with pleasure and appreciation those students currently scattered in different continents: Oscar Cantero, J.
Ariosto Coelhu, Zenon Klawikowski, José Lafuente, Ignacio Lete, Damian O. Moragues, J. Mannel Solano, Maurizio
Spreafico, M. Jean M. Pierre TAFUNGA (now bishop in Africa in 1993), Juan Manuel Tejada.

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having religious vows. Signed: Col. Giuseppe Cagianelli, city of Turin, 15 January 1942.
6. Another certificate of exemption from military service, being a religious with vows. Signed: Lt.
Col. V.M., 41st Military District, Turin, 19 June 1944.
7. Identity card # 35148472, 24 April 1956, issued at Turin.
8. Photocopy of identity card, 1956.
9. Passport, dated 10 July 1950, with photograph.
3. Religious: 27 items
3.1. Sacraments: 3 items
1. Baptismal certificate, 30 November 1921; Confirmation certificate, 15 August 1927. Signed:
Pastor Luigi Settorio, parish of Vervio, 19 September 1933.
2. Confirmation notification, 15 August 1927, administered by Bishop Adolfo Luigi Pagani, Bishop
of Como. signed: Pastor Luigi Sertorio, parish of Vervio, 19 September 1933.
3. Another certificate of Baptism and Confirmation, with annotation of sub-diaconate, 14 July 1946
(by Bishop Luca Pasetto). Signed: Pastor Enrico Tognolini, parish of Vervio, 29 March 1985.
3.2. Salesian formation phase: 10 items
1. Ordinary of the Diocese of Como: no canonical impediments to religious life: Como, 1 May
1936.
2. Application for admission to the novitiate at Cardinal Cagliero Institute: Ivrea, 31 May 1936.
3. Letter of Giuseppe Quadrio to the Provincial, Fr. Giovanni Zolin: accepts remaining in Italy,
instead of going to the missions: Ivrea, 14 June 1936.
4. Provincial document of admission to the novitiate, 28 August 1936. Annotations: began 5
September 1936; clerical vestition, 5 November 1936, from the hands of Fr. Pietro Ricaldone.
5. Application for admission to first religious profession: Chieri, Villa Moglia, 2 July, 1937.
6. Provincial document issued for religious profession in Chieri, Villa Moglia, 30 November 1937.
7. Application for renewal of triennial vows: Chieri, Villa Moglia, 28 September, 1940.
8. Provincial document issued for religious profession in Rome, Sacred Heart, 30 November, 1940.
9. Application for perpetual profession, Foglizzo, 8 September, 1943.
10. Provincial document for perpetual religious profession, issued in Rome, Sacred Heart, 28
November, 1943.
3.3. Priestly formation phase: 14 items
1. Application for admission to the tonsure: Rome, 28 February, 1948 [sic! instead of 1944].
2. Documentation of promotion to tonsure: Given in Rome, at the Lateran, 25 March, 1944.
3. Application for admission to porter and lector: Rome, Sacred Heart, 18 February, 1945.
4. Document of promotion to these minor orders: Rome, 28 March, 1945.
5. Application for admission to exorcist and acolyte: Rome, Sacred Heart, 31 May, 1945.
6. Documentation of promotion to these two minor orders: Rome, 20 July, 1945.
7. Application for admission to the subdiaconate: Rome, Sacred Heart, 24 May, 1946.
8. "Formula iurisiurandi ...".386 Signed: G. Quadrio: Rome, 12 June, 1946.
9. Documentation of promotion to the subdiaconate. Rome, 20 July, 1946.
10. Application to the order of diaconate: Rome, Sacred Heart, 8 January, 1947.
11. Documentation of promotion to the diaconate: Rome, 5 February, 1947.
12. Application for admission to the order of presbyter in Rome, Sacred Heart, 21 February, 1947.
13. Episcopal documentation of promotion to the priesthood in Rome, 18 March, 1947.
386 Translator's note: text of an oath.

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14. Authorization granted by the competent ministry of the Holy See permitting celebration of Mass
while seated because of his illness.
4. Academic: 39 items
4.1. Student: 22 items
1. Elementary school report card, class V, 1932-33, Opera Nazionale Balilla, Mazzo (Sondrio).
2. Letter of Father Giuseppe Rosso to Fr. Eugenio Valentini: Ivrea, March 23, 1979, about the
Cardinal G. Cagliero Institute:
- List of superiors for 1933-34, 1934-35, 1935-36;
- List of pupils in school year 1935-36 III and IV;
- School grades for Giuseppe Quadrio: years 1933-34, 1934-35, 1935-36.
- Notable events in the chronicle for 1933-1936 at Ivrea.
3. List of staff for the novitiate of Chieri, Villa Moglia, 1936-37.
4. List of clerical students at the studentate of philosophy at Foglizzo, 1937-38.
5. Report card for 1937-38 from the studentate at Foglizzo.
6. List of staff in the community at Sacred Heart in Rome for 1938-39.
7. List of students n the community at Sacred Heart in Rome for 1939-40.
8. List of staff in the community at Sacred Heart in Rome for 1940-41.
9. List of staff in the community at Foglizzo for 1941-42.
10. List of staff in the community at Foglizzo for 1942-43.
11. Study curriculum.
12. Report card from the Philosphy Department of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, 30
October 1945.
13. Affidavit of Bachelor in Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, 20 July
1945.
14. Communication to the Director, prize list for the degree of bachelor in theology. Gold medal
awarded to the student Giuseppe Quadrio. By the secretary of the Pontifical Gregorian University in
Rome, 30 October, 1945.
15. List of staff of the community of Sacred Heart of Rome for 1946.
16. List of staff of the community of Sacred Heart of Rome for 1947.
17. Diploma for licentiate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, 20 July,
1947.
8. List of staff of the community of Sacred Heart of Rome of 1948.
19. List of staff of the community of Sacred Heart of Rome of 1949.
20. Letter to the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University, submitting the thesis:
Rome, 3 October, 1949.
21. Certificate of doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 7 December,
1949.
22. Diploma for doctorate in theology, Rome, 12 April 1951 (evaluation: summa cum laude).
4.2. Teacher: 17 items
1. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University about teaching
dogmatic theology: Turin, 1949.
2. Nihil Obstat from the Holy See for promotion to Extraordinary Professor in the Theology
Department of the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, 28 December, 1949.
3. Nihil Obstat of the Grand Chancellor, Fr Peter Ricaldone, for promotion to Extraordinary
Professor in the Theology Department of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, 7 January 1950.

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4. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1950-51.
5. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1952-53.
6. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1954-55.
7. Publishing contract with Morcelliana for the book La Fede [The Faith]: September 18, 1956.
8. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1955-56.
9. Appointment as Ordinary Professor of the Theology Department of the Pontifical Salesian
University. Signed: Fr. Renato Ziggiotti, Grand Chancellor, Turin, November 21, 1956.
10. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1956-57.
11. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1957-58.
12. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1958-59.
13. Letter from the Rector of the Pontifical Lateran University to the Dean of the Pontifical
Salesian University in Rome, 1 July, 1959.
14. Nihil Obstat from the Holy See for the promotion to Ordinary Professor: Rome, February 22,
1960.
15. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
year 1959-60.
16. Information for the Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University in Turin, academic
years 1960-61 and 1961-62.
17. Academic activity from 01/10/1949 until 1959: Department Chairman from 1954 to 1959.
Folder 2: MINUTES
A series of reports or certificates documenting the opinions and assessments of merit given to the
applications submitted by Fr. G. Quadrio during his religious and priestly formation process. These
cover from September 19, 1933 (Certificate of good conduct and signs of a missionary and
ecclesiastical vocation, issued by the pastor of Vervio) to February 27, 1947 (Minutes of the Provincial
Council for admission to the priesthood).
Detailed list:
1. Certification of the parish priest of Vervio (Sondrio), 19 September 1933.
2. Opinion of the House Council of Ivrea for admission to the novitiate, 20 April, 1936.
3. Presentation to the Salesian Provincial, July 16, 1936.
4. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the novitiate: Turin, 28 August, 1936.
5. Minutes of the House Council for admission to three-year religious profession: Chieri, Villa
Moglia, 14 July, 1937.
6. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to three-year religious profession: Turin, 26
July, 1937.
7. Minutes of the House Council for admission to three-year religious profession: Rome, Sacred
Heart, 24 October, 1940.
8. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to three-year religious profession: Rome, 28

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October 1940.
9. Minutes of the House Council for admission to perpetual religious profession: Foglizzo, 10
August, 1943.
10. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to perpetual religious profession: Turin, 23
September 1943.
11. Minutes of the House Council for admission to tonsure: Rome, Sacred Heart, 6 March 1944.
12. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the tonsure: Rome, 9 March 1944.
13. Minutes of the House Council for admission to the first minor orders: Rome, Sacred Heart, 23
February, 1945.
14. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the first minor orders: Rome, 28 February,
1945.
15. Minutes of the House Council for admission to the second minor orders: Rome, Sacred Heart,
22 June, 1945.
16. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the second minor orders, Rome, 30 June
1945
17. Minutes of the House Council for admission to the subdiaconate: Rome, Sacred Heart, June 22,
1946.
18. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the subdiaconate: Rome, Sacred Heart, June
26, 1946.
19. Minutes of the House Council for admission to the diaconate: Rome, Sacred Heart, January 9,
1947.
20. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the diaconate: Rome, January 20, 1947.
21. Minutes of the House Council for admission to the priesthood, Rome, Sacred Heart, February
24, 1947.
22. Minutes of the Provincial Council for admission to the priesthood; Rome, February 27, 1947.
Folder 3: TESTIMONIES
This is an issue of particular importance, preserving the claims of those who directly or indirectly
have known, dealt with or heard of Father Quadrio. This folder of documentation is basically divided as
follows:
1. Official records (i.e., formalized under oath):
- Face to face (by those who have directly met Fr Quadrio);
- Second hand (by those who heard something from eyewitnesses);
2. Unofficial testimonies;
3. Testimony with peculiar characteristics.
We give below the corresponding list of names:
5. Official testimonies
Salesians:
Abbà, Giuseppe
Alossa, Arturo
Bava, Mario
Beltramo, Luigi
Bergamelli, Ferdinando
Bertetto, Domenico

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Brocardo, Pietro
Cadelli, Giuseppe
Castano, Luigi387
Catalanotto, Cristoforo
Ceresa, Pietro
Crespi, Luigi
Curmi, Roberto
Del Mazza, Valentino
Faresin, Camillo, Bishop of Guiratinga (Brazil)
Farina, Raffaele
Franzetti, Gianpaolo
Frattallone, Raimondo
Gamba, Giuseppe Giovanni
García-Verdugo, Alberto
Giannatelli, Roberto
Gonzales Morales, Tomas, Vescovo di Puntarenas (Cile)
Groppo, Giuseppe
Grussu, Mario
Loss, Nicola
Mc Pake, Martin
Mognoni, Santo
Moser, Hilario, now Bishop of Olinda and Recife (Brazil)
Natali, Paolo
Nihoul, Femand
Oberosler, Roberto
Palumbieri, Sabino
Picca, Juan
Puthanangady, Pani
Praduroux, Emilio
Rivera Aroca, Celestino
Sabbe, Albert
Salerno, Rosario
Seita, Giuseppe
Sitia, Carlo
Vallino, Rinaldo
Valentini, Eugenio
Vanzetto, Adone
FMA:
Aretti, Pia
Bigatti, Teresa
Chiesa, Luigia
Dalcerri, Lina
Dalmasso, Carmelina
Dalmoro, Antonia
Franceschi, Maria
387
Translator's note: L. Càstano (with accent) in other places.

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Gribaudo, Domenica
Massa, Giovanna
Roso, Anna
Tamagnone, Anna
Tondo, Maria
Valente, Angela
Non-Salesian priests and religious:
Capello, Carlo
Colombero, Giuseppe
Mattai, Giuseppe
Modenesi, Valerio, nephew of Fr. Quadrio
Ruffino, Giuseppe
Trevisan, Sr. Serafina
Lay persons:
Bardi, Franca
Bardi, Renato
Barra, Antonia, infirmarian for Fr. Quadrio
De Leo, Carmelo
Gianoglio Toja, Pierina
Illarietti, Albina in Quadrio, sister-in-law of Fr. Quadrio
Mezzana, Anna
Pepino, Luigi, physician for Fr. Quadrio
Pigorini, Mario
Quadrio, Augusto, Fr. Quadrio's brother
Quadrio, Elsa in Della Bosca
Quadrio, Gemma
Quadrio, Maria (la Pimpa)
Quadrio, Maria, sister-in-law and cousin of Fr. Quadrio
Quadrio, Marianna (widow: Modenesi), Fr. Quadrio's sister
Ricco, Giuseppe, physician for Fr. Quadrio
Zanin, Agnese, infirmarian for Fr. Quadrio
6. Unofficial testimonies
Salesians:
Bava, Mario
Cagnazzo, Sergio
Camilleri, Nazareno
Castillo Lara, Cardinal Rosalio
Cuva, Armando
Cantini, Juan
Franzini, Clemente
Iacoangeli, Roberto
Maggio, Stefano

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Oliviero, Antimo
Pedrini, Amaldo
Pettenuzzo, Carlo
Quarello, Eraldo
Ricceri Luigi, Rector Major Emeritus of SDB
Rudoni, Antonio
Scampini, Giuseppe
Scrivo, Gaetano
Stefani, Dusan
Vecchi, Juan
Verdecchia, Amedeo
Non-Salesian priests and religious:
Asensio, Felix, SJ
Cristiani, M. Pia, Super. Gen. of the Albertine Sisters
Dezza, Cardinal Paolo
Garrido Bonano, Manuel, OSB
Lebrun, Card. José Alì, Archbishop of Caracas
Marranzini, Alfredo, SJ
Piolanti, Mons. Antonio
Robustelli, Piero, Fr. Quadrio's cousin
Vecchio, Vincenzo
Lay persons:
Canclini, Giuseppe
Emidi, Serafino
Foppoli Crotti, Gina
Odello, Lorenzo
Quadrio, Anna
Visini, Luigi
7. Other testimonies
Inserted and published in the mimeographed Connection Bulletin of priests ordained in 1960, on
the fourth anniversary of their ordination (11 February 1964). It shows the list of authors of the
testimonies, with the dual reference to the mimeographed page and the book page in E. Valentini Don
Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Model of Priestly Spirit],
(Spirito e Vita 6), LAS, Rome 1980:
Name
Mimeographed Valentini
Girardi, Giulio
Piras Giuseppe, infirmarian
Loss, Nicolò
Sobrero, Giuseppe
18-28
29-32
33-35
35-36
373-374

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Galcius, Tony
Alberich, Emilio
Bordogú, Giuseppe
Civilio, Willy
Ferranti, G. Piero
Frattallone, Raimondo
Garda, Gonzalo G.
Gevaert, Joseph
Giannatelli, Roberto
Martinelli, Antonio
Mayoral, Eugenio
Mazzon, Franco
Melesi, Luigi
Milanesi, G. Carlo
Pasquato, Ottorino
Puthenkalam, Pani
Repetti, Enrico
Roels, Abete
Sanchez, Fulgencio
Strba, Stanislao
Zen, Giovanni
37-38
38
39-40
40-43
43-44
44-46
46-47
47-49
49-51
51-52
52-53
62-69
69
70
71
72
73
64-75
75-76
36-37
274-275
275
275-276
276-278
278-279
279-280
280
53-62
281-282
282
282-283
284
Folder 4: unpublished works
8. Diaries
Diaries and intimate writings (from 12 September 1936 to11 June 1962), with a total of 10
documentary items:
1. Spiritual diary written during his novitiate (12 September 12 1936 – 30 June 1937).
2. Sheets reserved for his spiritual director in the novitiate (1936 -1937).
3. Notebook of novitiate conferences (26 September 1936 – 3 March 1937).
4. Summary of a conference by Fr. Renato Ziggiotti (April 20, 1937).
5. Personal retreat resolutions (3 August 3 1942).
6. Spiritual Diary (28 October 1943 – 16 July 1958).
7. Sheet with plan of life (22 March 1946).
8. Notes during a retreat (Ivrea, 4 to 10 August 1949).
9. Diary of spiritual agenda (2 January to 11 June 1962).
10. Sheet of resolutions [no date].

11 Pages 101-110

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11.1 Page 101

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9. Academic writings
Writings on academic and religious-spiritual themes, of various types and not exactly in
cronological order.:
1. Two talks at Vervio, 20 July 1947 (First Mass in home town).
2. Talks in preparation for or in connection with priestly ordinations.
3. On the occasion of the canonization of Pius X.
4. Talks on Pius XII.
5. In the first evening of the triduum to start the school year.
6. On the last day of the year 1952.
7. Conversation about death.
8. Writings on Judgment.
9. Writings on Christian marriage.
10. Comments on various parts of the Mass.
11. An examination of conscience formulated with questions.
12. Folder with a warning for a confrere.
13. Draft of the manuscript for the debate on the definability of the dogma of the Assumption.
14. Typed draft of the previous document.
15. The Thomistic doctrine of the self-perception of the soul compared to modern thought.
16. Program for II Congress of the “Friends of Catechesis” held in Assisi, 12-16 September 1960.
17. Miscellaneous writings.
18. Typed manuscript of 324 pages (dated: Rome, 1949), and entitled: “The treatise 'De
Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis' of Pseudo-Augustine and its influence in Latin theology of the
Assumption."
10. Homilies
This unit of the archive has undergone the following phases of organization:
1. At first (1985), it was decided to put together the countless sheets, scattered in various boxes in
which the “Quadrio material” had been haphazardly dumped. The recognition of these sheets, as
homily notes or not, as lecture notes or otherwise, took the most care and time. Many of these sheets
had been used, but without any special mention, for Fr. E. Valentini's publications on Father Quadrio.
He also had part of the original manuscripts typed up (unfortunately on rice paper, now barely readable
and usable), a good 459 pages. Part of the original manuscripts, which, once typed up, were
unfortunately destroyed or lost somehow. I had confirmation of this from Fr. Valentini himself, for what
he could still remember after more than 20 years.
The best result at first, then, was the following double series:
- Series I of homilies, 459 pages. Put together in no particular sorting order, by Fr. E. Valentini and
typed up.
- Series II of homilies, 212 pages. Handwritten, which I ordered thematically as follows:
1. Homilies for Advent and Christmas.
2. Homilies for Lent and Easter.
3. Homilies for Ordinary Time.
4. Homilies on Our Lady.
5. Homilies on the Saints.
6. Homilies on St. Joseph.
7. Various homilies commenting on the Gospels.
8. Homilies in notebooks.

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9. Homily at a wedding (his brother Augusto).
10. Homily at the conclusion of the spiritual retreat.
11. Homily at the Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress (Turin, September 6, 1953).
12. Homilies on the topic "Holy Mass ".
13. Two similar homilies with variations.
14. Two other similar homilies with variations.
2. The second phase (1992-1993) of organizing this material coincides with the time of its
preparation with a view to publication. For this purpose, the curator of the same, Remo Bracchi,
modified the previous order, and arranged it according to an index based not on where the papers came
from, but, basically, the cycle of the liturgical year. That decision is more functional for its publication
as a pastoral aid, but taking care at the same time to preserve the internal units of the corpus and keep
each to a chronological order.388
Folder 5: published works
11. Published writings by Fr. Quadrio
1. Books
1.1. Il trattato «De Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis» dello Pseudo-Agostino e il suo influsso
nella teologia assunzionista latina [The treatise 'De Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis' of
Pseudo-Augustine and its influence in Latin theology of the Assumption], PUG, Rome 1951, XV-428
pp.
1.2. O comunismo apresentado pelos seus mentores [Communism as Presented by its Mentors, tr.
Giuseppe Abbà], Edit. Salesiana, Lisboa 1959, 98 pp.
1.3. Maria e la Chiesa. La mediazione sociale di Maria SS. nell'insegnamento dei papi; da
Gregorio XVI a Pio XII [Mary and the Church: The Social Mediation of Mary Most Holy in Papal
Teaching, from Gregory XVI to Pius XII] (Accademia Mariana Salesiana 5), SEI, Turin 1962, VIII-291
pp.
2. Articles and dictionary entries
2.1. “La definizione dogmatica dell'Assunzione di Maria SS. alla luce della Tradizione” [The
Dogmatic Defnition of the Assumption of Mary Most Holy in the Light of Tradition], in Salesianum 12
(1950) 463-486.
2.2. “Le ragioni teologiche addotte dalla Costituzione «Munificentissimus Deus» alla luce della
Tradizione fino al Concilio Vaticano [I]” [The Theological Reasoning Adopted by the Constitution
Munificentissimus Deus], in La Scuola Cattolica [The Catholic School] 79 (1951) 18-51.
2.3. [unsigned], “Maria Ausiliatrice lo vuole” [Mary Help of Christians Wants It], in Il Bollettino
Salesiano [Salesian Bulletin = BS] 76/9 (1952) 161-163.
2.4. “La fede. La perdita della fede nei cattolici” [Loss of Faith by Catholics], in Dizionario
Ecclesiastico [Ecclesiastical Dictionary, = DE], I, UTET, Turin 1953, pp. 1076-1078.
2.5. “La mediazione sociale di Maria nel magistero di Pio XII” [The Social Mediation of Mary in
the Magisterium of Pius XII], in L'Ausiliatrice della Chiesa e del papa [Mary Help of the Church and
of the Pope] (Accademia Mariana Salesiana 2), SEI, Turin 1953, pp. 91-125.
2.6. “La mediazione sociale di Maria SS. nel magistero di Pio X” [The Social Mediation of Mary
in the Magisterium of Pius X], in Problemi scelti di teologia contemporanea [Select Problems in
388 See, for this section, Don Giuseppe Quadrio, Omelie [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio's Homilies], ed. R. Bracchi, LAS, Rome
1993.

11.3 Page 103

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Contemporary Theology] (Analecta Gregoriana), PUG, Rome 1954, pp. 361-381.389
2.7. “L'Immacolata e la Chiesa nell'insegnamento di Pio IX” [Mary Immaculate and the Church in
the Teaching of Pius IX, in L'Immacolata Ausiliatrice [The Immaculate Help of Christians]
(Accademia Mariana Salesiana 3), SEI, Turin 1955, pp. 41-64.390
2.8. “La mediazione sociale di Maria SS. nel magistero di Pio XI” [The Social Mediation of Mary
Most Holy in the Magisterium of Pius XI], in Salesianum 17 (1955) 472-493.
2.9. “Monogenismo e poligenismo. Dottrina cattolica” [Monogenism and Polygenism: Catholic
Doctrine], in DE, II, UTET, Turin 1955, p. 1041.
2.10. [unsigned], “Pio IX e Maria Ausiliatrice” [Pius IX and Mary Help of Christians], in BS 79/9
(1955) 161-163.
2.11. [unsigned], “Pio XII e Maria Ausiliatrice” [Pius XII and Mary Help of Christians], in BS 80/9
(1956) 161-163.
2.12. [unsigned], “Modellatrice del carattere” [Character Model], in BS 81/9 (1957) 161-162.
2.13. “La comunione dei santi” [The Communion of Saints], in Salesianum 20 (1958) 129-135.
2.14. “L'insegnamento mariano del papa Gregorio XVI (1831-1846)” [The Marian Teaching of
Pope Gregory XVI], in AA. VV., Relazioni commemorative del Centenario Lourdiano
[Commemorative Contributions for the Lourdes Centenary = CLC] (Accademia Mariana Salesiana 6),
SEI, Turin 1958, pp. 55-74 [also published in Salesianum 20 (1958) 542-561].
2.15. “Maria Mediatrice e la Chiesa nell'insegnamento del papa Benedetto XV” [Mary Mediatrix
and the Church in the Teaching of Pope Benedict XV], in CLC pp. 75-108 [also published in
Salesianum 20 (1958) 562-595].
2.16. “Pluralità dei mondi abitati” [Plurality of Inhabited Worlds], in DE, III, UTET, Turin 1958,
pp. 247-248.
2.17. “Preadamitici” [People Before Adam], in DE, III, UTET, Turin 1958, p. 307.
2.18. “Teilhard de Chardin”, in DE, III, UTET, Turin 1958, pp. 1056-1057.
2.19. “Origine, antichità dell'uomo” [Origin and Antiquity of Man, in the entry “Uomo” (Man)], in
DE, III, UTET, Turin 1958, pp. 1239-1242.
2.20. [unsiged], “La Vittoriosa” [Victorious Lady], in BS 82/9 (1958) 161-162.
2.21. [unsigned], “Perché l'Italia si consacra a Maria” [Why is Italy Consecrated to Mary], in BS
83/17 (1959) 345-347.
2.22. “Le relazioni tra Maria e la Chiesa nell'insegnamento di Leone XIII” [The Relations Between
Mary and the Church in the Teaching of Leo XIII], in Maria et Ecclesia. Acta Congressus Mariologici
Mariani, vol. III, Lourdes 1958 (Academia Mariana Internationalis), AMI, Rome 1959, pp. 611-641.
2.23. “Teologia dogmatica e catechesi” [Dogmatic Theology and Catechesis], in Bibbia liturgia e
dogma nella preparazione dottrinale del sacerdote catechista [Bible, Liturgy and Dogma in the
Doctrinal Preparation of the Catechist Priest] (Studi di catechesi [Catechist Studies] 2), LDC, Turin
1959, pp. 39-53.
2.24. [unsigned], “La Patrona e Maestra del Concilio Ecumenico” [Patron and Teacher of the
Ecumenical Council], in BS 84/9 (1960) 177-178.
2.25. [unsigned], “Don Bosco e le vocazioni” [Don Bosco and Vocations], in BS 84/9 (1960)
180-182.
2.26. “S. Tommaso e le origini del lavoro nella Bibbia” [St. Thomas and the Origins of Work in the
Bible], in Thomistica morum principia. Communicationes Congressus Thomistici Internationalis
[Proceedings of the International Congress on Thomistic Morality], Rome 13-17 September 1960 (Bibl.
389 This article was also inserted in the collaborative work L'Immacolata Ausiliatrice. Relazioni commemorative dell'anno
mariano 1954 [The Immaculate Help of Christians. Commemorative Contributions for the Marian Year 1954] (Accademia
Mariana Salesiana 3), SEI Turin 1955, pp.. 181-202. Authenticity is not established for unsigned pieces.
390 Also reproduced in Virgo Immaculata. Acta Congressus Mariologici-Mariani, vol. XIII (Academia Mariana
Internationalis), AMI, Rome 1957, pp. 1-24.

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Pontif. Academiae Romanae Officium Libri Catholici, Rome 1960, pp. 481-496.
2.27. [unsigned], “La Chiesa guida morale della società” [The Church, Moral Guide for Society], in
BS 85/11 (1961) 181-183.
2.28. [unsigned], “Prurito di riforma” [Itching for Reform], in Atti del Capitolo Superiore [Acts of
the Superior Chapter = ACS] 8/223 (1962) 1275-1277.
2.29. [unsigned], “Le colonne della Chiesa” [The Columns of the Church], in BS 86/5 (1962)
145-147.
2.30.[unsigned], “Chiesa una, santa, cattolica, apostolica” [One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic
Church], in ACS 8/227 (1962) 1372-1376.
2.31.[unsigned], “Maria SS. e la Chiesa” [Mary Most Holy and the Church], in BS 87/9 (1963)
145-147.
Posthumous articles published in Maria Ausiliatrice / Sussidi [Mary Help of Christians / Aids]
2.32. “Vergine del silenzio” [Virgin of Silence], ibid. 5 (1981) 22-23.
2.33. “La prima parola di Maria” [The First Word from Mary], ibid 7 (1981) 22-24.
2.34. “La seconda parola di Maria,[The Second Word from Mary] ibid 9 (1981) 22-24.
2.35. “La terza parola di Maria,[The Third Word from Mary] ibid 2 (1982) 22-24.
2.36. “La quarta parola di Maria,[The Fourth Word from Mary] ibid 4 (1982) 22-24.
2.37. “La quinta e sesta parola di Maria” ,[The Fifth and Sixth Words from Mary] ibid 8 (1982)
22-24.
3. Reviews published in:
3.1
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
3.5.
3.6.
3.7.
3.8.
3.9.
3.10.
3.11.
3.12.
3.13.
3.14.
3.15.
3.16.
3.17.
3.18.
13 (1951) 605
15 (1953) 693s.
15 (1953) 694
16 (1954) 167s.
17 (1955) 168
19 (1957) 144s.
19 (1957) 145s.
19 (1957) 339
19 (1957) 339s
19 (1957) 340-342
19 (1957) 355s.
19 (1957) 512s.
19 (1957) 520
19 (1957) 520s.
19 (1957) 523s.
19 (1957) 524s.
19 (1957) 525s.
19 (1957) 526s.
Bertetto, Maria Corredentrice [Mary, Co-Redemptrix]
Hesbert-Bertrand (ed.), L'Assomption [The Assumption]
Bardy etc., L'inferno [Hell]
Bertetto, Maria Immacolata [Mary Immaculate]
Peterson, Le livre [The Book]
Bertetto (ed.), Il magistero mariano [Marian Teaching]
Marin (cur.), Doctrina pontificia [Pontifical Doctrine]
Marcozzi, Le origini [The Origins]
Grison, Problèmes [Problems]
Aa.Vv., El evolucionismo [Evolutionism]
Van Roo, Grace
Thibon, Crisi moderna [Modern Crisis]
Thivolier, L'uomo [Man]
Vecchi, Il rovesciamento [The Overthrow]
Acqua, Quo vadis [Where Are You Going?]
Corte, Satan
Bartmann, Manuale [Manual]
Verriele, Il soprannaturale [The Supernatural]

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3.19.
3.20.
3.21.
3.22.
3.23.
3.24.
3.25.
3.26.
3.27.
3.28.
3.29.
3.30.
3.31.
3.32.
3.33.
3.34.
3.35.
3.36.
3.37.
3.38.
3.39.
3.40.
3.41.
3.42.
3.43.
3.44.
3.45.
3.46.
3.47.
3.48.
3.49.
19 (1957) 669s.
19 (1957) 670
19 (1957) 670s.
19 (1957) 672s.
19 (1957) 675
19 (1957) 677
19 (1957) 689
19 (1957) 693s.
20 (1958) 278
20 (1958) 450s.
20 (1958) 451
20 (1958) 475
21 (1959) 182s.
21 (1959) 183s.
21 (1959) 184s.
21 (1959) 693s
21 (1959) 695-697
21 (1959) 697-699
21 (1959) 699
21 (1959) 700s.
21 (1959) 702-704
21 (1959) 704s.
21 (1959) 735
21 (1959) 741s.
22 (1960) 152s.
22 (1960) 475s.
22 (1960) 496
25 (1963) 189
25 (1963) 189
25 (1963) 189s.
25 (1963) 665s.
1. Other minor works
in Meridiano 12:
Brunhes, La ragionevolezza [Reasonableness]
Morano, Religio [Religion]
Joly, Qu'est-ce que croire? [What to Believe?]
Bertetto, Sacerdozio [Priesthood]
Bertetto, Maria e i protestanti [Mary and the Protestants]
Bertetto (cur.), Il magistero [The Magisterium]
Hohm, Il ponte [The Bridge]
Berti, Methodologiae [Methodology]
Gianotti, Verso l'altare [Towards the Altar]
Van der Meer, Diario [Diary]
Barra, Presenza [Presence]
Piolanti, Natura [Nature]
Rideau, Paganesimo [Paganism]
Schaller, Secours [Help]
Wilson, Perdono [Pardon]
Schmaus, Essenza [Essence]
Flick-Alszeghy, Il Creatore [The Creator]
Wright, The Order
Riaza, El comienzo [The Beginning]
Daniel, Doctrina [Doctrine]
D'Avanzo, L'Unzione [Anointing]
D'Arcy, Comunismo [Communism]
Marcozzi, Il problema [The Problem]
Kouznietsoff, L'étoile [The Star]
Piolantí (cur.), I sacramenti [The Sacraments]
Piolanti, Dio nel mondo [God in the World]
Calò etc., L'odio [Hate]
Bertetto, Gesù Redentore [Jesus, Redeemer]
Flick-Alszeghy, Il Creatore [The Creator]
Peder, L'atto di fede [The Act of Faith]
Jenny, La santa messa [The Holy Mass]
4.1. 1 (1957) 5s.
Adamo ed Eva erano... uomini primitivi? [Were Adam and Eve …

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4.2 25 (1963) 665s.
4.3. 3 (1957) 2s.
4.4. 6 (1957) ls.
4.5. 9 (1957) 1-3
4.6. 10 (1957) 3s.
4.7. 5 (1958) 8s.
4.8. 7 (1958) 5
4.9. 7 (1958) 6s.
4.10. 8 (1958) 6s.
4.11. 9 (1958) 6s.
4.12. 9 (1958) 7s.
4.13. 11 (1958) 6s.
4.14.
4.15.
4.16.
4.17.
4.18.
4.19.
4.20.
4.21.
4.22.
4.23.
11 (1958) 7-9
2 (1959) 7s.
3 (1959) 7s.
3(1959) 8-10
4 (1959) 13
5 (1959) 7-9
5 (1959) 12s.
6 (1959) 7s.
7 (1959) 5-7.
7 (1959) 9s.
4.24.
4.25.
4.26.
4.27.
4.28.
4.29.
4.30.
8 (1959) 7-9
10 (1959) 7-9
11 (1959) 7s.
1 (1960) 8s.
3 (1960) 55.
5 (1960) 95.
5 (1960) 11s.
primitive humans?]
Il peccato di Adamo fu peccato di superbia o sessuale? [Was Adam's sin
pride or sexual?]
La Sacra Romana Rota [The Sacred Roman Rota]
Confessione auricolare [Aural Confession]
Intorno alla confessione [About Confession]
Sfiducia nella preghiera [Lack of Confidence in Prayer]
Perché il modernismo fu condannato «in blocco»? [Why was
Modernism totally condemned?]
Giudizio e inferno [Judgment and Hell]
Un solo peccato mortale merita l'inferno? [Just One Mortal Sin Deserves
Hell?]
Perché il male? perché il dolore? {Why Evil? Why Suffering]
Deformità spirituale della razza umana [Spiritual Deformities of the
Human Race]
Quando si soffre in peccato [When One Suffers in Sin]
C'è salvezza fuori della Chiesa Cattolica? [Is There Salvation Outside
the Catholic Church?]
Cristianesimo in espansione [Expanding Christianity]
Uomo Terziario? [Tertiary Humans?]
Uomini prima di Adamo? [Humans before Adam?]
L'anima non muore [The Soul Does Not Die]
Fame e miseria [Famine and Misery]
Questa smania degli oroscopi [This Mania for Horoscopes]
Cattolico e italiano [Catholic and Italian]
Stramberie ereticali [Heretical Craziness]
Donne al sacerdozio? [Women Priests?]
Padri di famiglia diventeranno diaconi? [Will Fathers of Families
Become Deacons?]
Spieghiamoci chiaro [Explain to Us Clearly]
Che cosa avverrà nel 1960? [What Will Happen in 1960?]
Esiste il limbo? [Does Limbo Exist?]
Un tesoro di grazie [A Treasury of Graces]
Pietro e Giuda [Peter and Judas]
Il mistero della predestinazione [The Mystery of Predestination]
Quali argomenti tratterà il Concilio? [What Will the Council Deal
With?]

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4.31. 6 (1960) 10s.
4.32. 8 (1960) 8-10
4.33.
4.34.
4.35.
4.36.
4.37.
4.38.
4.39.
11 (1960) 11-13
12 (1960) 4s.
1 (1961) 8s.
3 (1961) 13s.
5 (1961) 8-10.
7 (1961) 10-12
9 (1961) 9s.
4.40.
4.41.
4.42.
4.43.
4.44.
4.45.
11 (1961) 11-13
13 (1961) 15s.
15 (1961) 10-12
15 (1961) 15-17
17 (1961) 11s.
19 (1961) 95.
4.46.
4.47.
4.48.
19 (1961) 15s.
21 (1961) 6-8.
23 (1961) 7s.
4.49. 23 (1961) 15s.
4.50.
4.51.
4.52.
1 (1962) 9s.
2 (1962) 14s.
4 (1962) 14s.
4.53. 5 (1962) 7-9
4.54. 6 (1962) 12-14
4.55. 7 (1962) 9-11
4.56. 7 (1962) 14-16
4.57. 8 (1962) 7-9
4.58. 9 (1962) 10-12
Ci saranno al Concilio anche i protestanti? [Will the Protestants Also Be
at the Council?]
Gesù avrebbe ammesso il divorzio? [Would Jesus Have Permitted
Divorce?]
Evoluzione o creazione? [Evolution or Creation?]
Dal fango della terra [From the Mud of the Earth]
Fabbricazione della vita [Making Life]
Il lavoro è una maledizione o una gioia? [Is Work a Curse or a Joy?]
Le magagne della Chiesa [The Church's Flaws]
Scienziati e razze umane [Science and Races of Humanity]
La Chiesa è contro la libertà di coscienza? [Is the Church Against
Freedom of Conscience?]
Il mio bimbo nato morto [My Baby Was Stillborn]
Anima ed ereditarietà [Soul and Heredity]
Non è una mostruosità [It Is Not a Monstrosity]
L'atomo primitivo e la creazione [The Primordial Atom and Creation]
Le anime sono tutte uguali? [Are All Souls Equal?]
Cosa vuol dire «non c'indurre in tentazione»? [What Does “Lead Us Not
into Temptation” Mean?]
Che pensare di Giuda? [What to Think About Judas?]
Perché i bimbi soffrono? [Why Do Babies Suffer?]
Non c'è preghiera senza risposta [There Is No Prayer Without an
Answer]
Adamo ed Eva erano bianchi o neri? [Were Adam and Eve Black or
White?]
Non so come discutere [I Don't Know How to Discuss]
I sacerdoti sono dei minorati? [Are Priests Handicapped?]
Cosa pensa la Chiesa dell'antisemitismo? [What Does the Church Think
About Anti-Semitism?]
I frati di Mazzarino [The Friars of Mazzarino]
Perché Dio non concede un'amnistia? [Why Doesn't God Grant
Amnesty?]
Noi laici e il Concilio [We the Laity and the Council]
Perché così duri verso gli spretati? [Why So Hard on Defrocked
Priests?]
Che farà il Concilio per l'unione dei cristiani? [What Will the Council
Do for Christian Unity?]
Il Concilio: immobilismo o trasformazione? [The Council: Immobility

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4.59. 10 (1962) 9s.
4.60. 12 (1962) 7-10
4.61. 1 (1963)13-16
4.62.
4.63.
4.64.
4.65.
4.66.
4.67.
4.68.
4.69.
4.70.
3 (1963) 19s.
5 (1963) 7-9
7 (1963) 7s.
9 (1963) 30-32
11 (1963) 13-16
15 (1963) 13s.
19 (1963) 18-21
21 (1963) lls.
23 (1963) 4s.
4.71. 5 (1964) 9s.
in Voci fraterne:
or Transformation?]
Come comportarsi con i non cattolici? [How to Behave With
Non-Catholics?]
No, mamma, non mi dovevi uccidere! [No, Mommy, Don't Kill Me!]
Il Concilio: utopisti, pessimisti e realisti [The Council: Utopians,
Pessimists and Realists]
Ergastolo e divorzio [Prison and Divorce]
Il mio bambino mi fa certe domande [My Child Asks Certain Questions]
Da quel giorno, non più in chiesa [From That Day, No More Church]
Vorrei.., ma non ci riesco! [I'd Like To … But I Can't!]
Elogio e bellezza del matrimonio [Praise and Beauty of Matrimony]
La Bibbia, storia o leggenda? [The Bible: History or Legend?]
Ho paura della morte [I'm Afraid of Death]
Soldi durante la Messa [Money at Mass]
Ai malati gravi conviene dire tutta la verità? [Should We Tell the Whole
Truth to Those Gravely Ill?]
Troppo disordine nel mondo [Too Much Disorder in the World]
4.72 9 (1962) 8-10
4.73 13 (1962) 10-12.
4.74 21 (1962) 15.
4.75 23 (1957) 10s.
Perché devo essere puro? [Why should I be pure?]
Idee chiare sul matrimonio [Clear ideas about matrimony]
Le religioni non sono tutte buone [Not all religions are good]
Omicidio in laboratorio e omicidio al volante [
Murder in the laboratory and murder at the wheel]
inserted into the following books:
4.76. Cassetta delle risposte [Question Box], 1. Dubbi di fede [Faith Doubts], M 12, Turin 1964,
pp. 9- 16; 25-36; 45-51; 53-61; 67-70; 71-90; 94-97; 104-106; 107-110; 131-141; 159-164; 191-198;
204-208; 217-223; 226-236; 256-258; 281-283; 288-291.
4.77. Vorrei.., ma non ci riesco [I'd Like To … But I Can't], in Cassetta delle risposte [Question
Box], 3. Problemi morali [Moral Problems], M 12, Turin 1964, pp. 194-196.
4.78. Cassetta delle risposte [Question Box], 2. Problemi dei giovani [Youth Problems], M 12,
Turin 1965, pp. 75-77; 166-169; 205-208; 210-212; 214-216; 261-270; 297-307.
4.79. La risposta del piccone [The Pickaxe's Answer], in La Bibbia sfida l'uomo [The Bible
Challenges Man], ed. G. D'Alessandro, SEI, Turin 1968, pp. 10-12.
12. Published works about Fr. Quadrio
5. Books

11.9 Page 109

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5.1. Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Documenti di vita spirituale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio: Documents of
Spiritual Life], ed. E. Valentini, PAS, Turin 1964, 240 pp.; 2nd ed. PAS, Turin 1968, 269 pp.
5.2. E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio.
Model of Priestly Spirit] (Spirito e Vita 6), LAS, Rome 1980, 289 pp.
5.3. Articoli di prova testimoniale del servo di Dio don Giuseppe Quadrio, sacerdote professo nella
Società Salesiana [Articles of Testimonial Proof for the Servant of God Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio,
Professed Priest in the Salesian Society] (1921-1963), ed. E. Valentini, Rome 1985, 46 pp.
5.4. Don Giuseppe Quadrio a 25 anni dalla morte [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio at 25 Years Since His
Death] (Spirito e Vita 17), ed. R. Bracchi , LAS, Rome 1989, 168 pp.
5.5. Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Lettere [Letters of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio] (Spirito e Vita 19), ed. R.
Bracchi, LAS, Rome 1991, 380 pp.
5.6. Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Risposte [Answers by Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio] (Spirito e Vita 20), ed. R.
Bracchi, LAS , Rome 1992, 382 pp.
5.7. Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Omelie [Homilies by Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio] (Spirito e Vita 21), ed. R.
Bracchi, LAS, Rome 1993.
6 Printed Articles and Obituaries:
6.1. [no author] “La definibilità dell'Assunzione nella solenne disputa alla Gregoriana”
[Definability of the Assumption in the Solemn Debate at the Gregorian University], in L'Osservatore
Romano (14 December 1946) 2.
6.2. [no author] Intorno all'Assunzione di Maria SS.ma [About the Assumption of Mary Most
Holy], in L'Osservatore Romano (11 December 1949) 5.
6.3. Elena [pseud.?], “Il dialogo è un'arte. L'arte di conversare con chi non è delle nostre idee”
[Dialogue is an Art. The Art of Conversing with Someone of Different Ideas], in L'Eco della stampa
[Echo of the Press] (13 aprile 1962) 5.
6.4. Valentini E., Lettera mortuaria di don Giuseppe Quadrio [Mortuary Letter of Fr. Giuseppe
Quadrio], 24 October 1963, 6 pp.
6.5. [no author] “Solenne ufficiatura funebre a Vervio in suffragio del prof don Giuseppe Quadrio”
[Solemn Funeral Services at Vervio in Suffrage for Prof. Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio], in L'Ordine (2
November 1963) 2.
6.6. [no author] “Le estreme onoranze a Vervio del prof don Giuseppe Quadrio” [Last Honors at
Vervio for Prof. Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio], in L'Ordine (9 November 1963) 2.
6.7. [no author] “Il salesiano don Giuseppe Quadrio, sacerdote di eroiche virtù” [The Salesian Fr.
Giuseppe Quadrio, a Priest of Heroic Virtue], in Corriere della Valtellina (30 November 1963) 3.
6.8. [no author] “Due maestri” [Two Teachers], in BS 23 (1963) 410-412.
6.9. Bertetto D., “In memoriam. Sac. Josephus Quadrio” [In Memory of Fr. Joseph Quadrio], in
Salesianum 25 (1963) 633-637.
6.10. Bertetto D., “In pace Christi Sac. Giuseppe Quadrio, sdb” [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio in the Peace
of Christ], in Marianum 26 (1964) 262-263.
6.11. Valentini E., entry “Quadrio Giuseppe, in: Dizionario biografico dei Salesiani [Biographical
Dictionary of Salesians], Turin 1969, p. 229.
6.12. [no author] “Vervio ricorda don Quadrio a dieci anni dalla morte” [Vervio Remembers Fr.
Quadrio Ten Years After His Death], in Corriere della Valtellina (October 1973).
6.13. Valentini, “Don Giuseppe Quadrio. Un giovane sacerdote salesiano che ogni anno, a maggio,
scriveva una lettera alla sua 'dolcissima Mamma del cielo'” [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio. A Young Salesian
Priest Who Wrote a Letter to His “Sweet Mother in Heaven” Every Year], in Maria Ausiliatrice Sussidi
[Helps from Mary Our Help] 3 (1981) 22-23.
6.14, Garrido M., “Ejemplares de vida sobrenatural. Don José Quadrio” [Exemplars of Supernatural
Life: Fr. Joseph Quadrio], in La Vida sobrenatural 109 (1983) 370-378.

11.10 Page 110

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6.15. Pedrini A., “Sacerdote salesiano testimone fedele del Vangelo. Giuseppe Quadrio condivise la
croce con gli ammalati” [A Salesian Priest, Witness to the Faith of the Gospel. Giuseppe Quadrio
Shared the Cross With the Sick], in L'Osservatore Romano (27 October 1983) 4.
6.16. Palumbieri S., “Don Quadrio: un maestro, un amico” [Fr. Quadrio: a Teacher, a Friend], in
Bollettino della Facoltà di Teologia della Pont. Università Salesiana [Bulletin of the Theology
Department at the Salesian Pontifical University] n. 16 (1985) 13-14.
6.17. [no author] “La profondità del sapere teologico in un cuore di fanciullo. Don Giuseppe
Quadrio, salesiano” [Depth of Theological Knowledge in the Heart of a Boy. Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, a
Salesian], in Il Settimanale [The Weekly] (2 August 1986) 14.
6.18. [Loss R.,] “Causa della beatificazione di don Giuseppe Quadrio” [The Cause for Beatification
of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio], in Agenzia Notizie Salesiane [Salesian News Agency = ANS] 1 (1988) 4.
7 Reviews:
a) of Fr. Quadrio's published thesis Il trattato «De Assumptione B. Mariae V...., PUG, Rome 1951,
XV + 428 pp.
7.1. Capelle, in Bulletin de Théologie Ancienne et Médiévale 6 (1950-53) 411-412.
7.2. Bertetto, in Salesianum 14 (1952)158.
7.3. Martin, in Nouvelle Revue Théologique 74 (1952) 881.
7.4. Sericoli, in Antonianum 27 (1952) 389-390.
7.5. [s.a.,] in Theological Studies 13 (1952) 163.
7.6. Weisweiler, in Scholastik 27 (1952) 620-622.
7.7. Aldama, in Estudios Eclesiásticos 27 (1953) 267-268.
7.8. O. C., in Ephemerides Mariologicae 3 (1953) 134-135.
7.9. Geemen, in Angelicum 30 (1953) 91-92.
7.10. Rahner, in Zeitschrift für Katholische Theologie 75 (1953) 234- 235.
7.11. Rondet, in Recherches de Science Religieuse 41 (1953) 154- 156.
7.12. D. V., in Euntes Docete 6 (1953) 263-265.
b) of Fr. Quadrio's book Maria e la Chiesa... [Mary and the Church], SEI, Turin 1962, VIII + 291
pp.
7.13. Bendino, in Ciencia Tomista 90 (1963) 520.
7.14. Bertetto, in Salesianum 25 (1963) 160-161.
7.15. Besutti, in Marianum 25 (1963) 173-174.
7.16. Philips, in Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 39 (1963) 881.
7.17. Regina, in La Civiltà Cattolica 4 (1963) 158.
7.18. Rivera, in Ephemerides Mariologicae 13 (1963) 184.
7.19. Korosak, in Antonianum 39 (1964) 341.
7.20. Solá, in Estudios Eclesiasticos 40 (1965) 374.
8 Course readers by Fr. Quadrio (unpublished):
8.1. Subsidia in tractatum de virtutibus theologicis, I: Summa lineamenta [Class Notes for the
Treatise on Theological Virtues], Turin, academic year 1958, 305 pp.
8.2. Subsidia in tractatum de Poenitentia, pars I: Positiva. Monumenta Poenitentialia antiquiora
collecta notisque illustrata [Class Notes for the Treatise on Confession, Part I: Positive Aspects.
Collection of Known Ancient Penitential Handbooks with Explanations], Turin, academic year 1959,
288 pp.
8.3. Subsidia in tractatum de Poenitentia, pars II: Summa lineamenta [Class Notes for the Treatise

12 Pages 111-120

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12.1 Page 111

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on Confession, Part II: Summary Outline], Turin, academic year 1959, 267 pp.
8.4. Problemi d'oggi. In margine al trattato “De Deo Creante” [Problems of Today: Marginal
Notes for the Treatise “On God the Creator”], Turin, academic year 1963, 162 pp.
8.5. Grandezza del matrimonio cristiano [Greatness of Christian Matrimony], Turin, academic year
1964, 66 pp.
8.6. Trattato su “le virtù” [Treatise “On the Virtues”], tr. in Italian from Latin by L. Meloni,
Monteortone (Padua) 1966, 174 pp.
9 Mimeographed booklets:
9.1. AA.VV., Ego sum Resurrectio et Vita, «In memoriam» di don Giuseppe Quadrio e di don Ugo
Gallizia [I Am the Resurrection and the Life. In Memory of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio. Turin 1964, 76 pp.
9.2. Valentini E., Don Giuseppe Quadrio, vicario dell'amore di Cristo. Appunti dattiloscritti in
vista di una futura eventuale pubblicazione. [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Vicar of the Love of Christ. Notes
in View of Eventual Publication]. No city or date, 12 pp.
INVENTORY OF CORRESPONDENCE
I.
1. Letters of Fr. G. Quadrio
(from 31 May 1936 to 1 September 1963)
[The first column gives the type of document (o: original, f: photocopy, c: handwritten copy, p:
mimeographed or printed). Next columns: recipient, place, date of sending, content]391
Type Sent to
Place
Date
About
Aspirant at Ivrea (1933-1936)
f. Fr. G. Corso
f. Fr. G. Zolin
Ivrea
Ivrea
31.05.19
14.06.1936
Admission to Novitiate
Coming to Salesian House
Novice at Villa Moglia, Chieri (1936-1937)
f. Fr. G. Vesco
Chieri
02.07.1937 Admission to first profession
Student of Philosophy at Rome (1938-1941)
f. Fr. A. Zappa
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Fr. E. Magni
Chieri
Rome
Rome
28.09.1940
30.12.1940
07.04.1941
Admission to second profession
News
Greetings and news
391 Fr Giuseppe Quadrio, Letters, ed. R. Bracchi, LAS, Rome 1991. Two of those, present in the archive, remained
unpublished because they were found after publication of the book. They are: the one to Fr. L. Càstano, written from
Foglizzo on September 1, 1943, letting him know about his coming visit to Rome to start the theology course, and another
to Fr. P. Zerbino of June 23, 1953, responding to a request for thoughts on the Assumption.

12.2 Page 112

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Philosophy teacher at Foglizzo (1941-1943)
o. M. Modenesi
f. Fr. L. Càstano
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. L. Càstano
o. L. Modenesi
o. M. Modenesi
f. Fr. P. Ricaldone
f. Fr. V. Colombara
o. Fr. N. Camillieri
f. Fr. L Càstano
o. Fr. E. Murtas
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Aiasse
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
Foglizzo
04.09.1941
05.10.1941
08.10.1941
21.12.1941
30.06.1942
19.04.1943
23.06.1943
17.07.1943
01.09.1943
01.09.1943
08.09.1943
16.09.1943
Confidences, news
Thanks, news
News
Greetings
Rina's illness
Easter greetings
Dispensation from practical training
Beginning theology
Named department chairman
Various news
Admission to perpetual profession
Coming to Rome
Student of Theology at Rome (1943-1949)
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. L Càstano
f. Fr. R. Fanàra
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Family
f. Fr. P. Berruti
f. Fr. C. Faresin
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. R. Fanàra
f. Fr. R. Fanàra
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. M. Modenesi
f. Fr. P. Tirone
f. Fr. P. Berruti
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Family
o. Family
o. Family
p. Fr. R. Fanàra
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
06.10.1943
14.02.1944
28.02.1944
01.05.1944
28.05.1944
29.06.1944
17.07.1944
10.12.1944
18.02.1945
31.05.1945
10.06.1945
04.07.1945
11.07.1945
11.07.1945
20.10.1945
21.10.1945
17.11.1945
18.11.1945
01.05.1946
News
Pardon for misunderstanding
Admission to tonsure
News
War news
Greetings e confidences
Greetings
News
Admission to minor orders
Admission to minor orders
Commissions
Birth of Marina
Various news
Various news
Various news
News, greetings to dad
News, gold medal
Various news
Gift of life

12.3 Page 113

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f. Fr. R. Fanàra
f. Cousins
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. P. Ricaldone
f. Fr. P. Ricaldone
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. R. Fanàra
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. R Fanàra
o. M. Modenesi
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. P. Berruti
f. Cousin Maria
o. M. Modenesi
f. Fr. L. Càstano
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Fr. E. Magni
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
f. Fr. P. Ricaldone
o. Nephew Valerio
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
f. Fr. A. Gennaro
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Vervio
Rome
Rome
Pescass.
Pescass.
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
Rome
24.05.1946
23.10.1946
17.12.1946
19.12.1946
29.12.1946
End of 1946
08.01.1947
05.02.1947
21.02.1947
01.03.1947
25.09.1947
25.04.1947
27.05.1947
12.06.1947
27.07.1947
14.03.1948
26.03.1948
11.08.1948
11.08.1948
13.04.1949
26.06.1949
26.09.1949
03.10.1949
10.10.1949
Admission to subdiaconate
Greetings for wedding
News of thesis defense
Successful defense
Thanks
Various news
Admission to diaconate
Various news
Admission to priesthood
Preparation for first Mass
Various news
Various news
Death of husband
Preparation for first Mass
Greetings, news
News
Various news
Information on the thesis
Information on his studies
Greetings and news
Coming to the Crocetta
Coming to the Crocetta
Arrival at the Crocetta
“Lectio coram”392
Teacher at the Salesian Pontifical Atheneum in Turin (1949-1960)
o. Fr. E. Magni
Turin
f. Fr. P. Robustelli
Turin
f. Fr. P. Ricaldone
Turin
o. Fr. E. Magni
Turin
f. Fr. P. Ricaldone
Turin
f. Sister-in-law Maria Turin
23.03.1950
05.04.1950
30.06.1950
10.07.1950
30.10.1950
23.04.1951
News, thesis, commissions
News, advice
Printing the thesis
News of the thesis
Thanks for travel to Rome
Death of her mom
392 Translator's note: lectio coram, “reading before”, a usual requirement for the doctorate in theology. The candidate
presented a class-ready lecture, with time for questions and debate, before a board of examiners. This was to demonstrate
teaching ability.

12.4 Page 114

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f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
f. Fr. P. Zerbino
Turin
f. Fr. P. Robustelli
Turin
f Liduina Selva
Turin
f. Fr. P. Robustelli
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Ulzio
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Vervio
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Milan
f. Mom
Turin
f. M. Modenesi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
f. Augusto
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Nephew Valerio
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
o. Nephew Valerio
Turin
f. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Dad
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
o. Fr. E. Magni
Turin
o. Nephew Valerio
Turin
c. Seminarian in philos. Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
18.06.1951
25.12.1951
18.06.1952
23.06.1953
10.02.1954
13.06.1954
26.06.1954
18.07.1954
12.08.1954
17.10.1954
22.10.1954
24.10.1954
26.10.1954
12/01/1955
17/07/1955
20/07/1955
24/07/1955
22/07/1955
25/07/1955
27/08/1955
16/09/1955
29/11/1955
05/01/1955
21/01/1956
09/03/1956
18/06/1956
14/09/1956
29/09/1956
04/11/1956
07/12/1956
12/12/1956
19/12/1956
20/12/1956
? .01.1957
01/02/1957
Greetings, news
Christmas greetings
Greetings, news
News
First Mass of his cousin
First Mass of her son Piero
Felicitations on his first Mass
News, greetings
Congratulations
Mom's illness
Mom's death
Mom's death
Mom's death
Birth of little Alda
Greetings
Greetings
Greetings
Greetings
Greetings
Liturgical information
Living the Passion
Matrimonial advice
Advice on studies
Human maturation
Death of little Alda
Greetings
Invitation declined
Faith, Hope, Charity
70th birthday
Confidences, news
Declining invitation to preach
News
Advice on formation
Advice on formation
News

12.5 Page 115

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o. Fr. L. Crespi
o. Fr. E. Quarello
o. Fr. E. Quarello
o. M. Modenesi
p. Fr. L Mèlesi
p. Fr. L Mèlesi
f. Fr. L Mèlesi
o. Fr. G. Abbà
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Fr. L. Crespi
o. Fr. L. Crespi
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Fr. L. Zavattaro
o. Fr. L. Crespi
o. Fr. L. Crespi
f. Fr. L. Càstano
o. Fr. T. Galofré
o. M. Modenesi
o. L. Modenesi
f. Fr. L Mèlesi
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
o. Eng. Vito M.
o. Fr. L. Mèlesi
o. Eng. Vito M.
o. Eng. Vito M.
f. Fr. G. P. Ferranti
o. M. Modenesi
f. Cousin Rita
o. M. Modenesi
f. Fr. G. Mattai
o. M. Modenesi
o. Fr. L. Crespi
f. Fr. L. Càstano
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
Turin
Turin
Ulzio
Turin
Ulzio
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Ulzio
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
06/04/1957
25/05/1957
22/06/1957
21/07/1957
08/08/1957
06/09/1957
06/10/1957
07/11/1957
07/11/1957
17/01/1958
28/03/1958
22/04/1958
25/04/1958
14/08/1958
26/08/1958
14/10/1958
01/12/1958
27.03.59
22.05.59
17.06.59
15.07.59
18.08.59
24.08.59
31.08.59
09.09.59
17.09.59
21.09.59
03.10.59
07.10.59
08.12.59
09.12.59
08.01.60
11.02.60
13.03.60
25.03.60
Various news
Starting to teach moral theology
Congratulations on his thesis
Greetings, news
Greetings, thanks
Theology of pain
Advice, news
Translation of a book
News
Greetings and request for prayers
A review, advice
Advice on priesthood
News, expectation
Request for study guides
Greetings for “the one counseled”
Information, advice
Coming to Rome
Memories, news
Greetings, prayers
Greetings
On Teilhard de Chardin
News, advice
Theistic evolutionism
Advice for Salesians
Advice for Salesians
Advice for Salesians
Advice on exercise and life
Thanks, news
Participating at wedding
Thanks, recommendations
Greetings, News
50th wedding anniversary of parents
News, advice
Thanks
Otto's wedding

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p. Otto
o. M. Modenesi
p. Otto
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Period of illness (1960-1963)
o. M. Modenesi
f. Fr. L Mèlesi
f. Fr. L Mèlesi
o. M. Modenesi
o. Fr. Valerio
o. Fr. L. Ricceri
f. Sr. M. Ignazia
f. Sr. M. Ignazia
o. Family
f. Sr. M. Ignazia
f. Fr. L Mèlesi
f. Sr. M. Ignazia
o. M. Modenesi
f. Family
o. Fr. Valerio
o. Bishop P. Bèrtoli
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
o. Family
o. Fr. E. Magni
o. Fr. P. Brocardo
o. Family
p. Fr. G. Zen
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
o. Fr. O. Tironi
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
o. Fr. Valerio
f. Fr. A. Pauselli
o. Family
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Milan
Villa
Turin
Turin
Ulzio
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
25.03.60
17.04.60
17.04.60
07.05.60
Marriage advice
Greetings and thanks
Participating in wedding
Marian devotion
27.05.1960 News, health
27.05.1960 To die in love
28.05.1960 God is good
07.06.1960 Success in exams
14.06.1960 News, health
20.06.1960 Greetings
28.06.1960 Things prohibited while in pain
[s.g. e m.]1960 Greetings, religious profession
01.07.1960 Health, house visit
02.07.1960 Thanks for cure
03.07.1960 Greetings
22.07.1960 Advice, religious profession
26.07.1960 Greetings, thanks
26.07.1960 Thanks, trip to Lourdes
09.08.1960 Missionary vocation
19.08.1960 Celebration in the Grotto at Lourdes
25.08.1960 Nostalgia for Lourdes
29.08.1960 News, health, Lourdes
09.06.1960 News, health
06.09.1960 Trip to Rome
13.09.1960 News, advice
20.09.1960 Advice on studies, health
27.09.1960 Advice on priesthood
01.10.1960 Advice on priesthood
03.10.1960 Pray, keep quiet, suffer
19.10.1960 Studying theology
25.10.1960 Always, only, totally a priest
31.10.1960 News, worry about parents

12.7 Page 117

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f. 4th year theol. Turin
students
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
o. Fr. P. Brocardo
Turin
o. Family
Turin
f. Deacons ordained in Turin
November
o. Fr. E. Magni
Turin
f. Fr. S. Palumbieri
Turin
o. Augusto
Turin
o. 1st anniv. priesthood Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
f. Priests ordained in Turin
November
f. Parents
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
f. Mèlesi family
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
o. Fr. L. Bin
Turin
c. Dr. G. Ricco
Turin
o. Fr. E. Magni
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
Turin
p. Fr. A. Martinelli
Turin
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
p. Otto
Turin
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
f. Fr. S. Palumbieri
Turin
o. Dad
Turin
o. Fr. L. Crespi
Turin
f. Fr. S. Palumbieri
Turin
f. Fr. M. Bonatti
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
393 Translator's note: see 2 Tim 1:6.
11.12.1960 Priestly preparation
12.12.1960
12.12.1960
14.12.1960
01.01.1961
Greetings. Priestly formation
Greetings, health
Greetings
Diaconate
05.01.1961
05.01.1961
19.01.1961
26.01.1961
27.01.1961
11.02.1961
News about health
Confidence in God
Birth of Donatella
“Stir up the gift”393
Greetings, priestly preparation
Greetings, priestly consecration
20.02.1961
20.02.1961
20.02.1961
01.03.1961
02.03.1961
02.03.1961
19.03.1961
02.04.1961
02.04.1961
02.04.1961
02.04.1961
10.04.1961
16.04.1961
19.06.1961
22 06.1961
15.08.1961
22.08.1961
10.09.1961
16.09.1961
23.09.1961
05.11.1961
Greetings
Confidences, health
Condolences
News about health, advice
News about health
Various news
Greetings, faith journey
News about health
News about health, advice
“To be His Sacrament”
To be Jesus
Thanks for publications
Wedding anniversary
Greetings
Minor Orders
Pastoral advice
Happy feast day
New obedience
Pastoral advice
Priestly advice
News about health

12.8 Page 118

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o. Fr. L. Crespi
o. Parents
o. Fr. O. Tironi
f. Fr. S. Palumbieri
f. To “Baby Jesus”
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
f. New priests
p. New priests
p. Fr. D. Zucchetti
f. ?
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
o. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
o. Fr. Valerio
f. Fr. S. Palumbieri
o. Fr. E. Magni
p. G. Girardi
f. Family
f. G. Milanesi
f. Fr. P. Ambrosio
o. Fr. Valerio
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
o. Fr. Valerio
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
o. Fr. Valerio
f. Dr. R. Corti
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
f. Family
f. Family
f. Parents
o. Fr. Valerio
o. Fr. L. Crespi
f. Fr. S. Palumbieri
o. Fr. O. Tironi
p. Otto
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Ulzio
Ulzio
Ulzio
Ulzio
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
394 Translator's note: see Heb 13:8.
04.12.1961
10 12 1961
13.12.1961
25.12.1961
25.12.1961
01.01.1962
23.01.1962
27.01.1962
06.02.1962
??.??1962
07.03.1962
12.03.1962
08.04.1962
12.04.1962
22 04.1962
24.04.1962
25.05.1962
25.05.1962
07.06.1962
20.06.1962
21.06.1962
05.07.1962
12.07.1962
31.07.1962
13.07.1962
13.08.1962
14.08.1962
07.09.1962
04.10.1962
18.10.1962
18.10.1962
02.11.1962
05.11.1962
26.11.1962
Greetings
Greetings, news
Greetings, news
Greetings, news
Thanks to Sr. M. Ignazia
Hymn to St. Joseph
Be “Christ, Today”394
Priestly advice
Book of Agnes Chiadò
Advice to nephew
Itching for reform
Itching for reform
Mentality of the Cross
Greetings, prayers
News about health
A bridge to others
Mom's health
Overcoming discouragement
Thanks for prayers
Ordination to subdiaconate
Greetings, news
Psalms of hope
Thanks, membership
Various news
Getting MD
Death of uncle Bishop Selva
Mom's health. News
Greetings
News about health
Gospel
Always a priest
Pray then think
Advice, news
The home, a little Church

12.9 Page 119

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p. Fr. C. Fiore
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
o. Fr. P. Brocardo
Turin
f. Sr. G. Massa
Turin
p. G. Girardi
Turin
f. Fr. L. Mèlesi
Turin
p. Fr. L. Mèlesi
Turin
f. Newlyweds
Turin
p. 3rd anniv. priesthood Turin
f. Sr. M. Ignazia
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
p. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
Turin
f. Sr. G. Massa
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
f. L. Modenesi
Turin
f. Fr. R. Ziggiotti
Turin
o. Fr. Valerio
Turin
f. Fr. L. Càstano
Turin
f. Uncle Bepu
Turin
p. Otto
Turin
o. Fr. P. Brocardo
Turin
f. Fr. S. Maggio
Turin
o. M. Modenesi
Turin
04.12.1962
05.12.1962
10.12.1962
14.12.1962
25.12.1962
25.12.1962
26.12.1962
??.??.1962
03.01.1963
06.01.1963
23.01.1963
01.03.1963
06.03.1963
06.03.1963
13.03.1963
21.03.1963
09.04.1963
30.05.1963
13.06.1963
25.06.1963
25.06.1963
25.06.1963
18.08.1963
01.09.1963
Friendship between teenagers
Preparation for deaconate
Letter about the Council
Thanks and prayers
Bridge of Illness
Baptism-Epiphany
To pray and suffer
Greetings
Priesthood-Incarnation
The Way of the Cross
News
“The Bishop is Christ”
Decline request to write
Thanks, prayers
News about health
News about health
Intercession of Fr. Rua
Imminent priestly ordination
Celebrating Mass while seated
Aunt Rosa's death
Birth of Giacomo
Greetings and news
Returning a book
News about health
II.
Letters to Fr. G. Quadrio
Coming to him in the period 1946-1963:
Date
11.12.1946
22.12.1946
23.12.1946
19.07.1947
Place
Turin
?
Turin
Rome
Sender
Fr. Renato Ziggiotti
Students at the Gregorian University
Fr. A. Gennaro
Bishop G. B. Montini395
395 Translator's note: later, Pope Paul VI.

12.10 Page 120

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13.3.1950
17.03.1953
16.03.1954
21.07.1954
18.08.1954
??.??.1954
09.05.1955
24.04.1956
12.05.1956
28.06.1956
21.09.1956
01.07.1957
04.12.1957
15.07.1959
13.10.1961
25.12.1961
12.01.1962
29.01.1962
01.02.1962
07.02.1962
11.02.1962
11.02.1962
19.03.1962
24.11.1962
25.12.1962
25.12.1962
25.12.1962
21.02.1963
05.03.1963
[undated]
[undated]
[undated]
[undated]
[undated]
[undated]
Rome
Rome
?
?
?
?
Courgné
Rome
Rome
Brescia
Brescia
[s. l.]
Missaglia
Rome
Turin
?
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
Turin
?
?
Rome
?
?
?
Turin
Turin
Turin
?
?
?
?
?
S. Benso
Fr. E. Quarello
G. Crespi
[unsigned]
Enzo
Valerio
Fr. G. Mano
Bishop A. Piolanti
Bishop A. Piolanti
Morcelliana Publishing
Morcelliana Publishing
Fr. D. Bertetto
[unsigned]
[unsigned]
SEI Publishing
Sr. M. Bernardetta
Fr. B. Zucchetti
[unsigned]
[unsigned]
Sr. Margherita B.
Fr. F. Durante
Fr. L. Basilissi
L. Sormani
Fr. P. Brocardo
G. Quadrio
Superior of St. Vitus Hospital
Ravazza family
Fr. R. Kerketta
Fr. R. Zìggiotti
Fr. G. Pérez
Fr. P. Ricaldone
M. Carrieri
Ludovico
Dom P. Renaudin
Viarengo family

13 Pages 121-130

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13.1 Page 121

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[undated]
?
[undated]
?
[undated]
?
[undated]
?
Camerlengo family
Arialdo Mambretti
Fr. E. Quarello
[unsigned]
The Archive also keeps, in an envelope, 13 picture postcards sent to Fr. G. Quadrio.
III.
Letters about Fr. G. Quadrio
They go from 1960 to 1986 (3 undated): most, a good 25 of them, came just after his death, and
after the publications by Fr. E. Valentini. Others were added after the indicated date.
Date
02.07.1960
24.10.1963
24.10.1963
25.10.1963
25.10.1963
25.10.1963
26.10.1963
26.10.1963
26.10.1963
28.10.1963
28.10.1963
29.10.1963
30.10.1963
30.10.1963
01.11.1963
05.11.1963
10.11.1963
10.11.1963
10.11.1963
12.11.1963
25.11.1963
29.11.1963
Place
?
Oulx/Ulzio
Turin
Castellamare
Benediktbeuern
Châtillon
Verona
Turin
Venice
Seville
Sevilla
Rome
Cordoba
Castellamare
Rome
Brussels
Villa di Tirano
Rentéria
Lorena
Ancona
Acqui Terme
Villa Moglia
Sender
His sister
Francesco
Guasto family
Fr. A. Martinelli
Salesian Community
Fr. A. Alossa
[unsigned]
[unsigned]
Fr. S. De Pieri
Fr. E. Alberich
Fr. A. Balló
Bishop A. Piolanti
Fr. M. Bellido
Fr. S. Palumbieri
Fr. S. De Pieri
[unsigned]
Quadrio family
Fr. L. Gomez
Fr. M. Bonatti
[unsigned]
[unsigned]
Fr. A. Baruffa
Recipient
Sr. Maria Ignazia396
Fr. R. Ziggiotti
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. D. Bertetto
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. P. Brocardo
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
396 Written from Villa di Tirano. The second part is autographed by Fr. Quadrio and is reported in the collected Letters.

13.2 Page 122

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08.12.1963
10.12.1963
30.12.1963
??.??.1963
18.02.1964
??.10.1964
29.10.1967
07.02.1969
13.05.1969
03.06.1969
07.06.1969
15.06.1969
09.07.1969
04.08.1969
18.02.1970
01.11.1971
04.02.1972
11.06.1973
03.01.1979
10.01.1979
12.01.1979
13.01.1979
15.01.1979
15.01.1979
15.01.1979
20.01.1979
25.01.1979
30.01.1979
??.10.1979
13.02.1979
03.03.1979
12.03.1979
13.03.1979
15.03.1979
19.03.1979
Stockholm
?
?
Canelli (Asti)
Sondrio
?
Dorgali
Turin
Rome
Argentina
Mato Grosso
Santa Rosa
Goa
Fossano
Punta Arenas
[s. l.]
[s. l.]
[s. l.]
Mataró
Turin
Rome
Catania
Barcelona
Turin
Trento
Estoril
Murcia
Trieste
Naples
Turin
Pordenone
Boston
Rome
Cataño (P. Rico)
Rome
Fr. G. Szöke
P. Beyer, SJ
Sr. A. Ronco
Fr. C. Filippini
Fr. V. Modenesi
R. Mottura
Maria M.
Fr. L. Ricceri
[unsigned]
Fr. J. Vecchi
Bishop C. Faresin
Fr. O. Tironi
Fr. G. Casti
Fr. A. Alossa
Fr. H. Peterson
[unsigned]
Bishop C. Faresin
[unsigned]
Fr. J. Galofré
Fr. T. Bosco
Fr. G. Raineri
Fr. G. Melilli
Fr. R. Colomer
Fr. D. Del Tetto
[unsigned]
Fr. E. Magni
Fr. F. Silvestre
Fr. D. Stefani
Fr. Pietro G[...]
Fr. E. Pettenuzzo
Fr. Benedetto H[...]
Fr. E. Bissonnette
Fr. L. Ricceri
Fr. O. Cejas
Fr. J.L. Arocha
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Director
Fr. D. Bertetto
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. G. Marchisio
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini

13.3 Page 123

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21.03.1979
23.03.1979
28.03.1979
28.03.1979
02.04.1979
15.04.1979
18.04.1979
??.??.1979
11.05.1979
28.05.1979
16.06.1979
16.06.1979
18.06.1979
??.06.1979
03.07.1979
05.07.1979
09.10.1983
10.06.1985
??.07.1985
13.08.1985
29.11.1984
02.01.1986
[undated]
[undated]
[undated]
Turin
Fr. C. Caprioli
Los Teques
Fr. G. De Franceschi
S. Antonio M.
Fr. R. Samotei
S. Antonio M.
Fr. Carlo M. Bozzi
Turin
Fr. A. Alossa
Rivoli
Fr. G. Bonifacio
Turin
Fr. P. Zerbino
Guiratinga
Bishop C. Faresin
Chofu
Fr. A. Crevacore
Cuiabà
Bishop B. Piccinini
Sao Paulo
Fr. H. Moser
Punta Arenas
Bishop T. Gonzáles
Pindomonhangaba Fr. M. Bonatti
Como
Fr. V. Modenesi
Tokyo
Fr. F. Nakagaki
Santiago, Chile Fr. G. Quiroz
Rome
Fr. L. Fiora
Ferrara
Fr. L. Foresti
Como
Bishop T. Ferraroni
Madrid
P. M. Garrido
Rome
Fr. V. Macca
Foggia
Fr. M. de Paolis
?
[unsigned]
[India]
Fr. G. Casti
[India]
A. Olivieri
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. R. Bracchi
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Faresin
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. G. Scrivo
Fr. L. Fiora
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. G. Abbà
Fr. L. Fiora
Fr. E. Valentini
Fr. E. Valentini

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APPENDIX
We think it opportune to add, in the form of an appendix, some memorial contributions on the
Servant of God, particularly apt to shed light on his teaching and his spiritual message. These are
promoted jointly by the Pontifical Salesian University, the Postulation of the Cause, by the Parish of
Vervio, and by the group of “Friends of Father Quadrio” and the Salesian Province of
Lombardy-Emilia and the Central Province.
The first two contributions echo to us the annual commemorations, by now become traditional,
which take place in Valtellina on a date close to that of the death of Fr Quadrio (23 October). The first
of these was held in Tirano in 1990 and the second in Bormio in 1991. Moving them around is part of a
multi-year project, set up to involve more and more widely the main towns of Fr. Giuseppe's native
land. The topics are varied in view to reconstruct a spiritual and scholarly album, gradually more and
more complete.
The third contribution was held on March 19, 1993 at Turin, in the presence of Cardinal Giovanni
Saldarini and other academic and religious personalities, combining the celebration of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of “rebirth” of the Crocetta and the thirtieth of the death of Father Quadrio. He was
certainly one of the most prestigious teachers at the Salesian Pontifical University, whose campus was
in Turin when he taught there.

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THE FIGURE OF THE PRIEST
IN THE LETTERS OF
FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO SDB
APROPOS OF A RECENT BOOK397
Enrico dal Covolo
Whoever reads the Letters of Fr. Quadrio easily notes a thematic thread running through them all,
recurring with particular intensity in the period of his illness (1960 - 1963): the identity and mission of
the priest.
Fr. Quadrio unfolds this theme in his Letters in an occasional manner,398 writing at times to parents
like Fr. Melesi's mother, to individual priests like Fr. Palumbieri, Fr. Crespi, Fr. Melesi himself... He
writes to groups of priests, like those ordained at Turin-Crocetta in 1960; to future priests, among them
his nephew Fr. Valerio Modenesi more than any other.
The most interesting result is that – without meaning to, without even being aware of it – Fr.
Quadrio thus paints a splendid self-portrait. In fact, according to common testimony of whoever knew
him, “the things Fr. Quadrio said and wrote on priesthood 'were his own': what he said was his life!”399
He was “always, everywhere, with everybody, a priest”400, exactly as he recommended with insistence
to his priest friends.
Going over some passages in the Letters of Fr. Quadrio, I'd like to illustrate the high concept of
priestly ministry in them; at the same time that unintentional, unexpected self-portrait left us by Fr.
Quadrio himself will surface, as he speaks of the priesthood.
1. The priest: “a man taken from among men”
Before all else, Fr. Quadrio was aware that the priest – as attested by the Letter to the Hebrews – is
“taken from among men.”401
For him, humanity is an essential component of the priesthood. Unfortunately, as he regrets with
[Crocetta] alumni in 1960 at the third anniversary of their ordination,
Indeed, there can be a disincarnated priesthood, in which divinity has not succeeded in assuming a
true and complete humanity. Today we have some priests who are not authentic men, but mere larvae of
humanity. They are like Martians dropped out of the sky, strange, de-humanized, incapable of
397 See Giuseppe Quadrio, Letters [=QL], edited by R. Bracchi, Rome 1991. This appendix was previously published –
with small variations – in Palestra del Clero 70 (1991), pp. 699-706.
398 “Occasional,” given the fact that we are looking at letters. But the objective centrality of the theme comes through,
whether from abundance of references, or from the fact that other subjects are easily redirected to priesthood. For example,
see the various nods to Mary, mostly seen as the “Mother of the Priest”, in QL pp. 122, 209, 243, 338.
399 For example, so declared Fr. Crespi in his deposition in view of the canonical process [for canonization – Tr.]. See QL
350 ff.
400 Ibid., p. 313. See also the letters to Fr. Pauselli: “Keep on being always a Holy Priest. Always, only, fully a Priest! Even
at the teacher's desk and the courtyard, let your high school students see you and feel you always and everywhere as their
Priest,” (Ibid., p. 241) and to “dearest friends in the fourth year of theology: be only, always, in everything, with everybody,
priests; even at the teacher's desk or in the courtyard.” (Ibid., p. 242)
401 Hebrews 5:1.

13.6 Page 126

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understanding or being understood by people of their own time and surroundings. They forget that
Christ, to save men, “descended … was conceived … was made man.” and “wished to become like them
in all things but sin.” If we are the bridge between men and God, the end of the bridge has to be solidly
supported by the human shore, accessible to all for whom the bridge was constructed.402
To those same priests Fr. Quadrio had written the year before:
The Word was made truly and perfectly human, to be Savior. Not even your priesthood will save
anyone, if not by this genuine incarnation. People, whether they come near or run away, are all without
exception starving for goodness, for understanding, for solidarity, for love: they die of need for Christ,
without knowing it. To every one of you comes a desperate prayer: “We want to see Jesus!” (John
12:21). Don't disappoint the hope of poor people. Know how to understand, feel, seek out, commiserate,
excuse, love. Don't be afraid! They all want only this. Before using learned discourses, preach the
Gospel with simple goodness, welcoming, with serene friendship, with cordial interest, with unselfish
help, adopting the everyday evangelization method. Let it soak into them, one by one, person to person.
Get in by the window of humanity, to get out by the doorway of God. Throw out to everyone the bridge
of friendship, so the grace and light of Christ can cross over it to us.403
From convictions like these spring the pressing recommendation of Fr. Quadrio that priests
carefully cultivate their human formation. No way are gifts of nature made vain by the gifts of grace.
To his nephew Valerio, walking the road to priesthood, he confided:
You are present every day404 at my Mass and in my prayers, because I am too interested in your
priestly formation. You don't know how much at heart I have the definitive maturation of your character
in those human and natural virtues that will make you an authentic man, complete, a conqueror. These
human virtues are generally very modest and dismissed, but fundamental: sincerity, loyalty, amiability,
aiming to please, generosity, absolute self-mastery, eager action, unflappable calm in setbacks,
unbreakably kept faith, constancy in proposals, a force of will that knows how to desire with clarity and
unshakable calm.405
Some years later, he wrote to Valerio again:
I think we priests must know how to throw toward all the bridge of an amiable, polite, warm and
serene personality, generous and simple, rich in humanity and understanding, welcoming and ready to
serve. The Gospel and Grace can only run on arches like those!406
Who does not see, behind these recommendations, the good and welcoming face of Fr. Quadrio, his
exquisite gentleness, his simple and frank loving kindness, his profound respect for persons?
In summary, the rich array of his human gifts, unveiled page after page in his letters, makes Fr.
Quadrio a living testimony of what he himself counseled for his priests.
In this light, some characteristic traits of the Letters can be considered, like the faithful attention to
occasions (patron Saints' days, anniversaries, congratulations, condolences), the capacity to express
recognition (for example, to Fr. Magni and Fr. Castano), the wise alternation between the familiar and
polite forms of “you”407, fantasy in personal attention. There is a funny little letter he wrote to Baby
402 QL, p. 326.
403 Ibid., pp. 286 ff.
404 Some months later he wrote him again: “I feel the need to assure you of my daily remembrance to the Divine Master,
Who is forming His priest.” Ibid., p. 155.
405 Ibid., p. 144.
406 Ibid., p. 258.
407

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Jesus at Christmas 1961. He imitates the wandering scrawl of a young child, brightening the page with
typical kiddie errors, while composing a delightful prayer for Sister Mary Ignatius. She is a hospital
Sister “so gud, always runing and make me jelly samwich ever day.”408
2.
Ordained for men in the things that appertain to God409
The priest, a man “taken from among men”, is consecrated by God for the good of his brothers and
sisters. In the person of the priest, a mysterious encounter of salvation is effected between the human
and the divine.
In this regard, Fr. Quadrio admonishes his friends to guard themselves from
… a worldly priesthood, in which the human has diluted and suffocated the divine. We have now the
tearful spectacle of priests who are maybe good professors and organizers, but no longer “men of God”.
They are not true epiphanies of Christ. They are like certain churches turned into secular museums.
There is an infallible thermometer for measuring the consistency of one's own priesthood: prayer. It
is the first and essential occupation of a priest, be he Director, Councilor, Prefect, or in charge of the
Oratory. All the rest is important, but comes after prayer. Otherwise, we're a bridge where the last arch
has collapsed: the one that reaches God.410
The constant solicitude of Fr. Quadrio for the “contemplative dimension” of a priest is rooted right
here. It is significant that of the famous “five counsels” for a new priest, the first three deal with – in
order – the Mass (“Celebrate your Mass every day, as though it were the first, last and only one of your
life.411 A priest who celebrates Mass every day in a holy manner will never turn out rubbish.”), the
Breviary (“Ordinarily, that's the first thing to get massacred by a lukewarm priest... be assured that you
can change the world with your Breviary, more than with learned conferences and lectures.”), and
Confession (“Remember that in the inevitable dangers of your priestly life, your salvation will be in
having a man who knows everything about you, who can guide you with a firm hand and sustain you
with a fatherly heart.”)412
This is really about those same counsels Fr. Quadrio wrote two years before to Fr. Tirone:
Prepare your Mass carefully, live it intensely, extend it through your day... The whole day becomes a
Mass. Live, love, enjoy your Breviary. Do not forget that you represent the whole Church and prolong
the praying Christ with it. Be faithful to your weekly confession and daily examination of conscience.413
To his “dearest friends in 4th year theology”, up for priestly ordination the coming February 11,
1961, he writes: “Do not be afraid! Prayer can do it all! A priest who prays will never turn out
rubbish.” To Fr. Bin he recommends: “Offer yourself, abandon yourself to Christ without reserve. Do
Translator's note: in Italian, as in Spanish and German, there are separate forms for the pronoun “you”. Lei is used for
honorific address of a noble or eminent person, tu for a family member or friend.
408 Ibid., p. 284.
409 Heb 5:1.
410 QL, pp. 326 ff.
411 This expression first appears, added to the left side of the sheet, in a letter to priests dated January 26, 1961, on the first
anniversary of their ordination. In the same letter, Fr. Quadrio wrote: “Understand and live your own Mass. Fall in love with
it; be jealous. Let it be the light, the joy, the soul of your life, your all. And let your life be a prolongation, a realization of
your Mass: that is, an effective preaching of the Gospel, a generous Offertory, a total Consecration, an intimate Communion
is Christ with the Father and with the Brothers. Safeguard your Mass from any profanation by lack of preparation: the most
fruitful Mass is generally the best prepared.” (Ibid. p. 252) And, again to the new priests of 1961: “Celebrate every Mass as
though it were the first, last and only one of your life. Love the Mass as the soul of your existence. Defend it from the usury
of habit; make of it the shield of your chastity and the force of your apostolate.” (Ibid., p. 254)
412 Ibid., pp. 288 ff.
413 Ibid., p. 236.

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not be afraid: it is He Who does it... Fall in love with your Mass: there is the secret to everything!”414
To his nephew Valerio:
Let us pray together: meditating, loving, tasting the inexhaustible treasures of our Breviary. Love
and enjoy this, our divine office, which daily connects us with the heart of the Church, at the vertex of
the world, our miserable humanity person to person with the Divine Majesty, as mediators between God
and the world.415
Again, to Fr. Valerio, some weeks later, he asks:
Take the Gospel. Doesn't our ignorance and carelessness about it seem sacrilegious? A priest should
vow to read at least a page of it every day. Aside from the Eucharist, there is nothing more sanctifying
and nourishing than the Word of God incarnate in his Gospel.416
And to Fr. Melesi: “Your first duty is to pray. All else comes after.”417
3. “A true and authentic priest, complete, always, and only a priest, while still a
perfect man”418
According to Fr. Quadrio, finally, the two components of priesthood – human and divine, which we
have delineated up to here – cannot remain simply juxtaposed, but ought to find in the priest a deep and
harmonious synthesis.
In the above-cited letter of January 3, 1963 he writes
There can be the deformation of a lacerated priesthood, in which the divine and the human coexist
without harmony. Priests on the altar, but they act like lay folk in at the teacher's desk, in the courtyard,
among men. They are like a bridge with the two ends in good shape, but with a fallen central arch that
should have connected them.
A true and authentic priest is the one in whom the man is completely, always, and only a priest, even
while remaining perfectly human, not excluding any field or sector. The man and the priest have to
expand and mutually penetrate in a harmonic synthesis which imitates the union of God and man in
Christ.
Even the most secular occupations must be animated by an acute, un-eclipsed priestly
consciousness.419
In other words, the priest is called to be the incarnation of Christ – true God and true man – in the
midst of the people to whom he is sent.
To those same priests ordained in 1960, Fr. Quadrio wrote a year earlier:
Be always, everywhere and with all a living and sensible incarnation of Christ's merciful goodness...
Be really and practically the “Christ today” of your surroundings; an authentic Christ, in Whom the
divine and the human are integral, and harmoniously united. Let the divine and the eternal, which is in
your priesthood, be incarnated (not diluted) in a rich and complete humanity like that of Jesus. Let it
have the style, the face, and the sensibility of your surroundings and your time.420
414 Ibid., p. 243. In the letter sent to Fr. Crespi on 27 August 1955, he writes: “There is only one way to save our priesthood
from sterility, from sloppy and superficial routine, from disillusion and failure, and it is that of effectively and seriously
willing to become saints... And the holiness of a priest is measured in the way he says Mass and the Breviary.” (Ibid., 140)
415 Ibid., p. 260.
416 Ibid., p. 303.
417 Ibid., p. 305.
418 Ibid., p. 235.
419 Ibid., p. 327.
420 Ibid., p. 286.

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To Fr. Crespi he confides: “I think of you often, that is, about the 'Christ of Courgne'. You need to
be the living and visible Sacrament of the Goodness of Jesus for your confreres and children.”421 He
recommends to Fr. Palumbieri: “Be truly the Christ of your boys!”422 He wrote the same thing to Fr.
Melesi: “Dear Louis, do not fear the thought that you should be the Christ of Arese, the Good, Patient,
Crucified, Agonized, Dead and Risen Christ of your boys.”423 To Fr. Martinelli, he repeats: “Fear not
the thought that you must be the Christ of Torre Annunziata: the Good, Lovable, Patient, Courageous,
Crucified, Agonized, Abandoned, Dead and Risen Christ of your boys.”424
In the last years of his life, marked with sickness and suffering, Fr. Quadrio affirmed existentially
that the human and divine of the priest fully merge only in the sacrifice of the Cross, the supreme
epiphany of the Son of God and the Son of Man. On the first Sunday of the Passion in 1962,425 he wrote
to his nephew:
I must finally convince myself seriously that a priest should sanctify his own sufferings and those of
others. It is not to suffer that is important, but to suffer like Him. Your priesthood too, Valerio, is a
mystery of cross and blood... The Cross is truly the “only hope” of our priesthood: we will do nothing if
not through the Cross. My wish for you and me, Valerio, is to know how to understand and live the
mystery of the Cross, and to know how to make our priesthood a living Cross, on which to hang our life
for the salvation of souls.426
Only this way can a priest – a man taken from among men, and ordained for them in the things of
God427 – become an “evident Sacrament of the Passion and Death” of Jesus.428
This is the most vivid and true portrait of Fr. Quadrio, that which he himself painted unawares
while talking to his friends in the sacred ministry of the presbyteral Order. Truly, “the things Fr.
Quadrio said and wrote” on priesthood 'were his own': what he said was his life!”429
In his life he was a “tangible Sacrament of the Goodness” of the Lord, and in the tragic epilogue of
his last years the “evident Sacrament” of the passion and death of Christ for the salvation of the
world:430 whoever came near him – on the altar or the playground, in class or on the bed of pain –
knows he's met a witness to Christ, a “Vicar of His love”,431 a priest in whom “is revealed the goodness
and humanity of our Savior.”432
421 Ibid., p. 264. Again to Fr. Crespi, he wrote four years before: “Either a priest is like Him, or is a mess” (Ibid., p. 159).
422 Ibid., p. 314.
423 Ibid., p. 265.
424 Ibid., p. 266.
425 Translator's note: the fifth Sunday of Lent, in the pre-Vatican II calendar.
426 Ibid., p. 294.
427 Translator's note: paraphrasing Heb 5:1.
428 Already in 1959 he wrote to Fr. Ferranti: “We should look for Jesus under the olive trees in Gethsemane and relive His
agony, repeating his prayer to the Father... Those are not lost sufferings, but the price we pay for our priesthood” (Ibid., p.
196).
429 Ibid., p. 350.
430 Ibid., p. 265.
431 In his application for admission to ordination, addressed to Fr. Fanara on February 21, 1947, Fr. Quadrio wrote: “I have
decided to neglect no means by which the Eternal High Priest, who has mercifully established me as a “Vicar of His love”,
may give me a priestly heart like His: forgetful of self, abandoned to the Holy Spirit, big enough for self-giving and
compassion, passionate for souls by His love” (Ibid., p. 87). The same expression, “Vicar of His love”, was printed on his
ordination card. See E. Valentini, Don Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale (from the Spirito e Vita collection,
#6), Rome 1980, p. 89.
432 See QL, p. 286.

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FR. QUADRIO: A MATURE PERSONALITY,
A LIFE PERVADED BY SENSE433
Eugenio Fizzotti
Constant attention to the reader and his explicit questions and, even more, to those implied; a
conscious, joyful and sometimes painful fidelity to his role as teacher and spiritual guide; a concrete
pedagogical orientation with a clear indication of strategies for building respectful and enriching
relationships; an extraordinary capacity and courage to cope with the pain in the face of approaching
death: these are some of the psychological characteristics that emerge from reading the answers given
by Father Quadrio to readers of Meridiano 12, Voci fraterne, Catechesis and other magazines, who
sought his advice.
The thread that unites Fr. Quadrio's many contributions is a stated vision of the essential dignity of
man, of his radical freedom before any conditioning (and how can we not consider “maximum” the
conditioning of the disease that rendered him unable to pursue the work he so passionately loved?), of
his orientation not towards the achievement of fleeting pleasures or cheap statements of self
affirmation, but towards the identification of the unique, original and unique task of his existence, of
his “unconditional faith in the meaning of unconditional life” (Frankl), thanks to which he could go on
with head held high, albeit in painful acceptance of the destiny of imminent death.
The invitation to the full realization of the potential enclosed in his daily life is present in his
various contributions, like a refrain. Suffice it to recall the constant reference to the work to be done
with love and passion, human relations to live intensely, to the ability to judge reality in a detached
perspective, objective and optimistic, with a serene gaze that turns to the world of experience, scientific
research, social and political commitment, consistency in life as an adult and mature Christian.
From reading the “Answers” emerges, then, Fr. Quadrio as a mature master of his own existence,
oriented towards the creation of a clear plan of life, aware of his limitations, but always ready to exploit
his own resources, integrated in all aspects of his existence (physical , mental, social, cultural, spiritual,
religious), ready for understanding, open to the unexpected, solid in convictions but exquisitely open to
self-criticism. A Fr. Quadrio, in short, that has embraced the ideal of giving to others and seeing in them
the face of the God incarnate in Whom he believed and hoped, considering this as the only way to
identify and carry out the unique and unrepeatable task of his life.
433 Summary of a presentation of the volume of “Answers” [to readers' questions in Meridiano 12], done at Bormio, 17
November 1992.

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FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO
MASTER OF THEOLOGY AND LIFE
Remo Bracchi
I don't think any of you expects a theological treatise from me about the teaching and holiness of Fr.
Quadrio. If that is the case, look for somebody better qualified for that.
What I have tried to do is to bring together in a very simple picture some evidence gathered from
the writings of the Servant of God. The thoughts and words come from him and have been gleaned so
that they become waybread for our journey. Mine is only the thin thread of memory that seeks to link
them, so they don't get scattered in all directions.
I will tell first of all one of the reasons that connect the Cause of Father Quadrio directly to the
twenty-fifth year of the re-launching of the theology department at the Crocetta.
I will then point out, with brushstrokes of light, some features of the life and teaching of the Servant
of God, concentrating on the two great mysteries of Christianity as supporting pillars of his spirituality
as he lived and transmitted it: the Trinity of God living in us, and the incarnation of Christ in our flesh
and our “incarnation” (incorporation) in Him.
To them, which form the core of the message of Fr. Giuseppe, I will preface two essential aspects
for directing our route to the mystery:
- The need of silence (not just one of things, but that of being, that is, being absolutely docile to the
Spirit) as a condition for the reception of the Silent One in oneself;
- The need of continual rebirth in knowledge and intimacy with Christ, in order to be taken in as
children in the family of God.
1. From deep roots
Fr. Luigi Ricceri, Rector Major of the Salesian Congregation, opened the academic year at the
“Crocetta reborn” on 15 October 1968. He is ideally attracted to the luminous figures of teachers who,
by their doctrine and their life, had in a brief time already made the name of the University big in the
world. This trunk, not yet old, but already deeply rooted in the church garden, announced a hopeful
springtime of renewal.
“For the Salesian who travels through the Congregation,” Fr. Ricceri began, “it is interesting to hear
talk about (and how they talk!) in San Francisco or in Cairo, Tokyo or Buenos Aires, London or
Mumbai ... for example about Father Vismara, Father Gennaro, Father Quadrio.”
Fr. Quadrio! Let me take you for a moment to look at our great confrere, Father Quadrio, almost like
a man synthesizing of all these trainers, these “masters” that have come and gone ... Fr. Quadrio, a young
master, but a master of life ... There is much to collect, much to ponder ... Well, collecting this example,
all of you together (because he was a master of life for his colleagues and a teacher of life for students),
you are grafted onto the vigorous and fruitful trunk of the Crocetta.”434
This speech was the spark that made, in the heart of each one present, a belief flare up that has long
434 Speech lithographed and distributed to teachers (Turin, December 1968), p. 3-4). See also Fr. Remo Bracchi's history of
the introduction of the Cause in this volume, ch. 5.

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rested in waiting. Fr. Domenico Bertetto, confessor of Father Quadrio and witness to his death, under
the impression of this unprovoked praise coming from the highest level of the Congregation, wrote a
letter to Fr Eugene Valentini, a promotor of the knowledge of Father Quadrio. This was to interpret the
desire of many to suggest that the Rector Major launch the Cause for beatification, and so that “this
figure so precious, modern and close” become valued more in memory and heart, especially at a time
of transition, in which is felt more and more urgently a “need for true leaders, that is true saints, who
lived in our time and for our time.”435
At the same time, and without prior arrangement, Fr. Giuseppe Abbà was deeply impressed by the
breath of the mystical that permeated the pages of Fr. Quadrio's diary, published shortly after his
death.436 He drafted a letter to be sent directly to Fr. Luigi Ricceri, to ask that the Cause be started, so
that, with the seal of the Church, “this modern, Conciliar figure could pass more completely [to future
generations]: a man of dialog, of learning, a teacher, a priest and a Salesian, a human synthesis” of the
human and the divine, as the Rector Major himself had expressed.437
2. Presuppositions for the spirituality of Fr. Quadrio
2.1. The silence that prepares the symphony
What is most impressive in the gathered testimonies about Father Quadrio is the agreement in
attributing to his personality a unified harmony of virtues. Not even in his rich gifts of nature and grace
was there one that lorded it over the others, such that it could be identified as qualifying. Perhaps
humility covered all, as if to hide, if the light that shone from the inside had not overwhelmed it every
time.
It was enough to meet him to feel in him a deep peace, an absolute silence within him, ready to
accept anything that had echoed in his direction, like a valley at dawn after the night had extinguished
every echo.
Approaching him was like climbing onto a high ledge and suddenly finding oneself stupified in
ever new marvelling at a limitless sky, and feeling it swing open in the very womb of all things.
Meeting him allowed one to experience the vertigo of the abyss opening to view, but with an everyday
naturalnesst that never came to facile familiarity with mountain trails. There was in him that silence
which is not empty, but full of warmth, the infinitely open silence which alone can accommodate God,
because it is the only reality in the world that does not have dimensions. The effort to open himself to
the light is evident from the pages of the diary right from the start. It aimed to make every day of his
life the cavity of a flute, such that God could fill him with His secret harmonies.
Upon entering the novitiate in 1936, young Quadrio threw open his heart to the guidance of the
Novice Master, Fr. Eugenio Magni. His autograph sheets summarizing his life up to that point have
come down to us, and they manifest his commitment to absolute clarity into the future: “I want you to
know me well, entirely, know me better than I know myself. This is why I hold dear, as a resolution,
this sentence: Anima mea in manibus meis semper, so that you can read it like a book. Yes, I repeat it
with that holy youth, Ero superiori meo tamquam aqua limpidissima.”438
Right from then, therefore, the secret of holiness was understood in docility of heart. The future
teacher identified the most direct route to wisdom through discipleship.
435 Letter from Fr. Domenico Bertetto to Fr. Eugenio Valentini (3 December 1968).
436 Fr. Giuseppe Quario, Documenti di vita spirituale [Documents of a Spiritual Life], ed. Fr. E. Valentini (Turin 1964, 2nd
ed. Turin 1968) [= Documenti (first ed.)]. Translator's note: the book went to a third edition (LAS, Rome 1980), which he
had in hand for this translation.
437 Letter of Fr. G. Abbà to Fr. L. Ricceri, 20 December 1968. Fr. D. Bertetto, Fr. M. Simoncelli and Fr. N. Loss also signed
the request.
438 E. Valentini, D. Giuseppe Quadrio modello di spirito sacerdotale [Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, model of priestly spirit =
Model], Rome 1980, p. 13. Translator's note: Latin for “I will be like clear water to my superior.” [Who is that holy youth?]

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2.2. Growth in intimacy with Christ
In the diary covering his first years of religious life (1936-1941), the search for intimacy with Jesus
predominates. He is the only friend worthy of the name. To Him he manifests his purpose already
all-encompassing: “Your life will overflow, will perspire right out of my life.”439 Later in life, he will
recommend to young people to let themselves be conquered by the irresistible charm, if only just
experienced, of the person of Christ. In abandoning the self to this invitation, we should not behave like
the child who sticks a toe in the water instead of diving in, but pulls back, tries a second time, then
pulls back for good. You need to jump in all the way. This comparison is of Father Quadrio.
The secret of success is in totality. It is unselfish love that unifies the person. “Man is not an
inventory of desultory multiplicity, nor a collection of unrelated pieces, but a perfect unity in his
multiple varieties. His actions do not follow one another like shells from the mouth of a cannon, but as
links in a chain, so that the earlier act has its influence on the following.”440 As St. Augustine said,
amor meus pondus meum: eo feror quocumque feror:441 “Love is my law of gravity: My every instinct
emanates from it with power.” With these words, Father Quadrio translated the Augustinian image into
a concrete one of navigation: “The needle of our compass swings restless until it rests in its magnetic
north, God.”442
We can identify Fr. Quadrio's definite conversion with a precise date in his spiritual journal: 28
November, 1943, the day of his perpetual profession, his “second baptism”443 in the fire of the Spirit. In
his unconditional “yes”, the twenty-three year old seminarian relived in himself the mystery of the seed
fallen in the furrow of the Easter Triduum: “I will raise up in me the grace of baptism. This month is
therefore the preparation for my baptism, death and burial with Christ, my regeneration in Christ.”444
The mode of his choosing reveals a mystical maturity anticipating the science that will accumulate
gradually through his long study of the theological manuals. The “Divine Unknown,” the “Interior
Teacher,” had led him through secret paths to the essential that only He knows. His Voice could then
bubble from the interior silence through death as an experience of all being - because only words born
of silence are not contaminated. “Every night after dinner I will go to Jesus and ask him to explain:
quomodo potest homo nasci... Renasci denuo? I will listen long.”445
So the law that directs crystallization happened so in him. As each crystal, under its external,
changeable form, has a secret constant orientation of the axis, so too does the soul, brought by love,
building the multiplicity of acts one after another, reveal only one polarity without scattering. Suaviter
equitat, quem Dei gratia portat: that was a phrase drawn from the Imitation of Christ,446 which
accompanied him throughout his life.
3. First mystery: the Divine Trinity in man
In the essential baggage packed up by Fr. Quadrio for his Exodus toward Easter, we find those two
truths that the catechism calls “the principles of the Faith: the Unity and Trinity of God, and the
Incarnation (Passion, Death and Resurrection) of the Lord.
Friendship with Jesus and docility to the Holy Spirit brought the seminarian Giuseppe Quadrio to
the most intoxicating discovery of his life: the lived experience of the Trinity dwelling in us. His
plunging into Christ through death made him feel like being supported in the arms of the Father, raised
439 Documenti 7.
440 Ibid., 9.
441 Confessions 13,9,10 = PL 32, 848.
442 Modello 205. The expression recurs often in his homilies and retreat meditations up to the end. Translator's note:
compare with Augustine, Confessions I. 1.
443 Documenti 20-23.
444 Ibid., 21.
445 Ibid. Translator's note: quote from Latin Vulgate John 3:4-5.
446 De Imitatione Christi 2, 9, 1. Translator's note: “Whoever is led by the grace of God gets along just fine.”

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up to His cheek, wrapped in the warmth of His Hand. Still nineteen, before the big “conversion” of 9
August 1940, at 18:50, he writes in his own diary: "God the Father perfectly loves Himself in the Son ,
and is loved in return by Him perfectly. This is the Holy Spirit. This is the eternal divine action, the
Father towards the Son and of the Son towards the Father. Wherever you find Jesus Christ is, there this
action is eternally repeated.”447
Following liturgical rhythm, Fr. Quadrio launches his existence into the current of love that has its
source in the Father and is poured from him eternally into the Son, to be floated gently towards the
river mouth, which coincides with the wellspring in God. On 7 April 1944, Good Friday, he notes in his
diary the mystical surge that had long sprung from the heart: “O my Dead Brother! May the power of
your Death penetrate and dominate my life! That my life be really buried with You in Your death ...
Jesus, to die with you, be absorbed into your death, to be consumed in Your Holocaust, in loving praise
to our Father, for the benefit of our holy Church.”448
Next day, the Hymn of Moses sounds at full strength from the pages of his diary: “Arise, live,
triumph, rejoice! Rise in my soul, in my life ... Shine in my life and scatter the darkness of the ancient
error, O holy, O shining, O eternal light of Christ. O renewed youth of Christ, defeat the ancient death
in me, scatter the darkness of sin, revive me, renew me! Alleluia!”449
On 18 May, the Solemnity of the Ascension, the seminarian Quadrio begins a memorable novena
leading up to Pentecost. On the first day (19 May) he resolves to worship, penetrated “by the Holy
Spirit in the bosom of the Father.” It is the same Spirit of God in him crying Abba, "O Love Divine and
subsisting, O yearning, throbbing of the most tender paternal bosom, O most sweet Beloved, ineffable
joy, life-giving warmth of the Father with the Son, O intoxicating and uninterrupted burning kiss from
the lips of the Father and the Son. O exchange of love, always equal!”450
Nourished by love in the bosom of the Father, conceived with love from all eternity, we are
pronounced in time, each one unique, but only through the Word of God, to be with him word and song
of praise to the Father. On the second day of the novena, there flowers the desire of total involvement
in the hymn that sounds along the centuries through Christ in the Spirit. “You, who, before the world
ever was, in the bosom of the Father, breathed into the divine Word those ineffable accents, those never
before heard harmonies, which He sings eternally to the Father in eternity, sweet embrace in which You
live, You Who wanted to join all in ineffable song of the Word, in that sublime and symphony both
divine and created, that from the bowels of every creature rises, different yet the same, and is released
through the lips of the Word! You, who of that eternal symphony are the inspiration, the soul, the
director, You direct and at the same time inebriate, You the Conductor of great and small, innumerable
singers, invading and almost getting high off the same lyrical, poetic impulse, Who melt and harmonize
all voices into the one, ineffable Voice of the divine eternal Singer of the paternal bosom. Oh, yes, truly
your Spirit, O Father, filled and possessed all things, and from all, as from innumerable harp strings
break out and release the divine eternal harmonies, accompanying the voice of your Son, they excite
the paternal tenderness of Thy bowels.”451
26 May 1944 (Pentecost) is the second key date, marked with a stylus of fire in the heart of Fr.
Quadrio. That year, it coincided with the sixteenth anniversary of his First Communion. In a prayer to
the Holy Spirit, left to us in the Diary, there is touched one of the highest moments of all Fr. Quadrio's
experience. “O Divine Spouse of my soul, thank you for this day, which will be memorable in my life:
my Pentecost, my marriage with Thee, O sweet my spirit, my soul, my instincts, my anguish, my love.
Today something is renewed in my life: take You now the helm and be its only guide. I am a docile
little boy in your hands, a flexible reed. I solemnly renounce all opposition, contrast, resistance,
447 Documenti 16. Translator's note: See Augustine, De Trinitate, VII.6.
448 Documenti 29.
449 Ibid.
450 Ibid., 33-34.
451 Ibid., 35.

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hindrance, impediment to your divine Breath; I detest my pride, my desire, my taste, my interest, my
competitive spirit, you'll be the only sweet sorrow that can throb my heart. There you are, O divine
Bridegroom, my hand, my sincere “yes", complete, final. I want to also take your name ... and call
myself with your sweet name, the name that you have given me in this new baptism: Docibilis a
Spirito Sancto.”452
From that day, all will be “a crescendo of light.”
On 19 November 1944, Father Quadrio began a novena to the Holy Trinity, in preparation for the
twenty-third Anniversary of his baptism and his first of perpetual profession. The Trinitarian
dimension, earlier solidly emerged, becomes henceforth a stable arched bridge joining life and
teachings.
Even now, the trajectory is drawn with no hesitation: "O Jesus, I believe most boldly that the seed
of the Holy Spirit sown in my being by baptism, fertilized by your death and your blood warmed and
germinated by your Holy Spirit, will grow and be amplified in me during this novena of preparation,
and will become a great tree for many children of the Father. Most surely I believe that the divine
leaven of your death (blood) and your life (Holy Spirit) will ferment all my life, and will overcome
every resistance to nature. Christus Vincit, regnat, imperat!”453
The page most overflowing with mystical fullness coincides with the feast of the Holy Trinity, May
27, 1945, the seventeenth anniversary of his first communion. In pilgrimage to Our Lady of Divine
Love, Fr. Quadrio abandons himself totally to the flood of divinity washing over him and asks, with
bold frankness, to become a small companion of the Three Persons, to carry out with Them the divine,
infinite operations, which exist among Them from all eternity. “At the dawn of this day, I offer and
consecrate myself completely to you, adorable Holy Trinity. I offer myself to the Father as a small
companion in the generation of the Son; I offer myself to the Son as a small companion in the gift of
self to the Father, I offer myself to the Holy Spirit as a small companion in the embrace and sweetest
kiss of between Father and Son. O my Three, you are in me and I in you. Whisper in my heart the
eternal words of your eternal discourse: do in me the most joyful circulation of your Trinitarian life and
friendship, operate in me your inaccessible and most loving mutual expansion. Be really in me, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit.
And may I be in you, in the consortium of your Trinitarian communication, the mutual outpouring
of Your love one and indivisible. May I be in You, Your life partner, a member of your family, sharing
your intimate talk, a member of your friendship. O my Father, pull me into your Son. O Son, glorify the
Father in me: show me the Father, and that's enough. O Holy Spirit, bind me to the Father and to the
Son with that most loving and indissoluble bond that is You. O my Three, my home, my family, my
life, my love.”454 In this summit of life experience, more than by intellectual perception, one captures
the vibration of the deeper spirituality of Father Quadrio. Borne by such a long wave on the sea of
infinity, our life that resonates with it like a shell.
The Father is the source gift, and cannot exist except as Love that overflows from eternity,
generating His own Only-begotten, infinite as himself, because His own giving cannot include
rejection. When man, in His own image, makes a gift of himself to God and to others, he becomes a
small companion of the Father in his effusion and in his generation. Our small, limited gesture floats
along on the flood that gushes from Him who is and always rushes towards the One who is forever,
coupled to all its infinite vibrations.
The Son is the “Yes” of the Father in the welcoming of His entire gift and in the unconditional
obedience to His love, even when emptied of divine prerogatives and mixed up with our sin, it is forced
to raise the stakes even to death. Fr. Quadrio repeatedly showed that he understood that being a small
companion of the Son would lead him on the way to Calvary. “I want to be at all times a stalk of straw
452 Ibid., 40. Translator's note: “Docile to the Holy Spirit.”
453 Ibid., 58.
454 Ibid., 77-78.

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consumed in Your fire, everything in praise of Your Grace. I want to die here, now, rather than betray
even “in the least”, even once, my three vows, rather than resist once, even in the slightest degree,
rather than withdraw from Your living Fire a moment or the tiniest atom of my being and of my
love.”455
In the infinite stream of love that flows from the Father in the Son and from the Son flows back to
the Father, the Spirit is the irresistible gravitation between them. In the direction moving from the
Father, the Spirit forms in us the image of the Son, the perfect likeness of the face of the Father. In what
impels us to the origin, the Spirit leads us to the full stature of Christ456 formed in us in baptism, to the
totality of His “yes”, towards the supreme measure of His self-emptying and His resurrection already
operating but not yet reaching its climax. Fr. Quadrio asks to be the small companion of the Holy
Spirit, to urge his assimilation to the Son, and of being able to leave all burden, and be launched madly
into rapids of love, rushing to the Father.
The river channel dug in himself during formation will remain the never-evaded orientation of all
his life. The diaries which might have described the stages of growth from this point were probably
destroyed by the same author. In the homilies, in conversations, in school, his inner self always
emerges with the clarity of spring water welling up to eternal life from the inside,457 and with the depth
that only in pristine purity can be achieved.
4. Second mystery: the Incarnation
The urgency of the Incarnation, the second great mystery of faith that impregnates all the
spirituality of Father Quadrio, arises as a logical consequence of the first. Welcomed into the family of
the Trinity of God, the Christian becomes a son in the Son, realizing himself in his own etymology.
Being “Christ today,” before being an advice to others, was for Fr. Quadrio an achievement for his life
of faith fully realized.
4.1. Christ, flesh of our flesh
On Christmas 1944, Fr. Quadrio is fully wrapped in the idea of being Christ's flesh, and that
everything belonging to Him by nature is communicated to us as a gift. The note in his diary remains
one of his most steeped in the wisdom revealed unto babes. This Christmas we could compare to that of
St. Francis in the cave at Greccio. He writes on Christmas Eve: "Mane videbitis.458 My God, how I long
for You! I believe with all my mind in You! I trust madly in your redemption. I love your coming with
all my being! Let me die here, rather than reserve a single ounce of my being from immolation, from
being consumed for You who are to come. May I not resist even minimally to your abundant
redemption. Here, throw open the doors of my soul, enter, O God of my soul, come in and be King.
Behold, my being is ready, like a handful of dry tinder: burn me, flame me, consume me in your
redeeming love.”459
Silence now invaded his exterior and his interior, not only the silence of things, but much more
deeply, the silence of being, where every cupidity was extinguished, every vanity, every extraneous
desire, every movement not directed to the one goal. And when silence had taken over all things, its
Word came down to him.
From the soul of Fr. Quadrio rose a song almost beyond meaning, even to him. It is distributed in
the Diary from Christmas Eve 1944 through the following days, up to New Year's Eve, but only as
noted in its first and last verse.460 What he continued from the Holy Night and the following week, he
455 Ibid., 60.
456 Translator's note: see Eph 4:13.
457 Translator's note: see Jn 4:14.
458 Translator's note: Latin for “Tomorrow, you will see...” See Exodus 16:7.
459 Documenti, 66-67.
460 Translator's note: diary entries for Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.

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could not express in words.
O Holy Humanity of my brother, Jesus! O Flesh, sister of my flesh, O bones like my bones, O Blood
like my blood, O ineffable likeness! How I joy and confide and love and desire to love and live in You!...
Your triumphal coming floods high-handedly into my being, and loosens all resistance! You come so
that I my live no longer but of You, in You, and for You...
Today I understood, O my brother Jesus, the vital necessity of communing, participating, convening,
coming to concord with You, with Your life, with Your Holy Spirit, with Your operations, judgments,
desires, appraisals. Never like today have I felt that which is Yours belonging to me so intimately: Your
Father, His love and embrace, Your flesh real and mystical, Your mission and work, Your Church and
Your Mother, Your blood and Your Spirit, Your life, passion and death, Resurrection, exaltation, Your
Redemption and Your Eucharistic immolation. All this is mine: I must participate in intimate
communion; I must concord and consent; I must avoid any contradiction between You and me.461
4.2. Sacrificial dimension of the Incarnation
This mystical intimacy could not last for long without revealing its sacrificial dimension. “Under
the olive trees of Gethsemane things do not go differently. That is where you go to find Christianity. If
there were not good people to suffer, the Kingdom of God would be no longer a scandal and a failure,
as was Calvary then and after, but instead it would become a peaceful republic of well-wishers.”462
Two days before his ordination, 15 March 1947, just past midnight, Fr. Quadrio asks Christ, for
Whom he was about to become a minister, “as a particular grace, priestly compassion for Your priestly
passion.” And he asked, in exchange for the fullness of his gift of self: “Give me martyrdom of soul, of
heart, of body, in union and conformity with Your priestly suffering. Give me love, Your love for the
Father, for the Church, for souls. Let me forget myself completely, my things, my interests, and live
only and all for You, for Your love in me, and the perfect fulfillment of Your will.”463
How much he had matured in the formation years appears solidified in the thought printed on his
ordination card: “O Eternal High Priest, Who have constituted Your humble servant as vicar of Your
love, grant him a priestly heart like Yours: forgetting self, abandoned to the Holy Spirit, generous in
giving and compassion, passionate for souls by Your love.”464
Fr. Quadrio spared no love and Providence spared him no pain. This becomes perfectly
understandable and acceptable, precisely in his identification with the obedient Son. “For we have not
been given a spirit of slavery, but a Spirit of sonship, in which we can turn to God and say, my Father!
This is the essence of Christianity. This never feeling lost, alone or abandoned. This sense of being
wanted like a son resting in the bosom of the Father. This feeling of God at our side in every situation,
certain He will never abandon us. This feeling God's fatherly hand on our shoulder, guiding, sustaining,
lifting, comforting us. This being bound in the love of the Father, cupped in the warmth of His hands.
And, even when we fall, this sense of being mourned, longed-for, searched out, desired by Him Whose
greatest joy is to pardon us! All this, and more, is the sense of hope.”465
With heroic coherence, three days after learning he'd have no pardon from his illness, he wrote to
his sister: “All that God prepares and disposes for us is a gesture of infinite love. What evil can befall
us, if God loves us, holds us as the pupil of His eye? Could you ever wish me ill? And what do you
think the Lord wishes, Who loves me much more than even you? Have faith, then, joy and gratitude to
the good God, always! Let us thank Him for everything, that everything is grace!... I assure you, with
the Lord's grace, that I am serene, happy, calm and joyful, as I have never been in my life. I feel the
hand of the Heavenly Father on my shoulder, and am perfectly at peace. When He says, “Come!” I will
461 Documenti 67-68.
462 Letter to Fr. Luigi Melesi, 6 September 1957 (Modello 146; L 106).
463 Documenti 105.
464 Modello 89.
465 Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Omelie [Homilies, = O], ed. R. Bracchi, Rome 1993, p. 238 (O 068).

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answer, “Here I am!”466
“Here I am.” The words of leaving and of arriving. The words which, translated into everyday
gestures, connects us with the beginning and the end. In pronouncing this “Here I am,” the teaching of
Fr. Quadrio becomes truth; his all flows together in a single “Yes” to God, Who is defined Truth and
Life. With the serene acceptance of his sickness, he left the chair of specialized theological teaching,
and was given instead the one of free teaching, the only truly free one, that of the wandering Jesus.
Now he was teaching with his whole self, become himself testimony, so that he might be transformed
into the suffering Lamb, without a word escaping his heart.
4.3. Vicar of love
The process of Incarnation is in two directions: acceptance of Him in us, and our total conformation
to Him, to reach His full divine stature with no sunset.
In his letters to priests, Fr. Quadro does nothing else but translate into words those convictions he
had himself transformed into life.
Be always, everywhere, and with all a living and sensible incarnation of the merciful goodness of
Christ. The priest is the vicar of the love of Christ, so he may be His agent for loving souls. Whoever
approaches you should feel in your person that the goodness and humanity of Our Savior is there. Be
really and practically Christ today in your surroundings, an authentic Christ, in Whom the divine and the
human are integrally and harmoniously united. The divine and the eternal that is in our priesthood sin
incarnated (without dilution) in a humanity rich and complete like that of Jesus. Let it have the style, the
face, the sensibility of your surroundings and of your time. The Word is made truly and perfectly man, to
be Savior. Your priesthood, too, will save nobody, if not through this genuine incarnation. People coming
to you, or running away from you, are all indistinguishably starved for goodness, for comprehension, for
solidarity, for love: they're dying of need for Christ without knowing it. To each one of you, they lift a
desperate prayer: We want to see Jesus. Don't dash these poor people's hopes. Know how to understand,
to feel, to seek out, to suffer with them, to ask pardon, to love...
Before any learned discourse, preach the Gospel with simple goodness, welcoming, with serene
friendship, with heartfelt interest, with unselfish help, adopting the method of evangelization by
osmosis, one on one, person to person. Get in through the window of Man, to get out through the door of
God. Throw out the bridge of friendship to each one, to let the light and joy of Christ pass over to them.
Always give, never waiting for anything. Be servants of all, slaves of none.467
He wrote to those same new priests, to whom the preceding letter was addressed, on the third
anniversary of their ordination, and in the last year of his life. Fr. Quadrio points out, in erroneous
views of priesthood, those same errors that marked the Christological controversies.
Because priesthood and incarnation are two faces of a single mystery; the classical deformations
that threaten our priesthood correspond to false notions of the Incarnation, well known from theology.
Indeed, there can be a disincarnated priesthood, in which divinity has not succeeded in assuming a
true and complete humanity (Docetism). Today we have some priests who are not authentic men, but
mere larvae of humanity. They are like Martians dropped out of the sky, strange, de-humanized,
incapable of understanding or being understood by people of their own time and surroundings...
But maybe for us the opposite risk is worse: that of a worldly priesthood, in which the human has
diluted and suffocated the divine (Monophysitism). We have now the tearful spectacle of priests who
are maybe good professors and organizers, but no longer “men of God”. They are not true epiphanies
of Christ. They are like certain churches turned into secular museums...
Finally, there can be the deformation of priestly Nestorianism: a lacerated priesthood, in which the
466 L 143 (17 June 1960)
467 Modello 224-225; L 206.

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divine and the human coexist without harmony. Priests on the altar, but they act like lay folk in at the
teacher's desk, in the courtyard, among men.
An “incarnated” priest, then, is one in whom the human and the divine combine harmonically, to
resound from inside in unison. In the perfect unification of his own personality, Fr. Quadrio was a
luminous example of the “successful priest”, an “Epiphany of God” in our flesh, a prolonging of the
person of Christ amid the fragmentation of space and time which He assumed and redeemed.
4.4. The priest, fallen in love
The sense of full realization of one's personality in an embraced ideal also forms part of the
Incarnation so conceived, as a source of joy for oneself and others.
If the matter of celibacy is renunciation and immolation, its specific form is consecration, love, the
marriage of the soul with Christ physical and mystical. If this positive part were to go missing, [the
priest] would be like an old bachelor, who has found no one to marry and so has renounced married life,
with nothing to substitute for it. [The priest], instead, is one who has renounced human marriage for
divine marriage; has renounced the love of a creature for the inebriating love of Christ; has snuffed out
the trembling candle flame of flesh, because he has found the light of the sun; has refused the poor
droplets of natural pleasure, because he has been pitched into the torrential rapids the divine Will.
Consecrated virginity is a true and real marriage with Christ, albeit a mystical and spiritual marriage.
The essence of human matrimony is unveiling the profound mystery of one's own being to a
creature, giving oneself to her body and soul in complete abandonment, exclusively and definitively. The
essence of consecrated virginity is putting the profound mystery of one's own being in the hands of
Jesus, handing it over intact and sealed, as a total gift, exclusive and definitive, of body, heart and spirit.
“He is dear to me, and I to him, who pastures among the lilies,” is the best formula for the spousal love
that unites a most sweet knot Christ the Spouse and the soul of the consecrated virgin.468
4.5. The Church as place of Incarnation (womb of the Spouse)
It would be an unpardonable oversight not to accentuate, in Fr. Quadrio's vision, the sense of the
Church. Always flowering with lyrical power from the notes in his Diary and in public speaking, his
lively belonging to the Church, flesh of Christ, Spouse by blood, is realized as the insertion, or
prolonging, of Christ into the centuries.
The necessity of being incorporated into the Church, to participate in Christ, is gathered form the
Diary right from the time of his “conversion”. On the fifth day of the novena to the Holy Spirit (23
May 1944), we find a mystical effusion, bubbling up from such a realization, “O most fecund germ,
seed of Trinitarian Life, divine sprout, deposited by Jesus in the womb of His most beloved Spouse, so
that many, many faithful offspring of that sacred marriage may spring forth. O vital lymph, that
vivifies, makes fertile the body of the Church. O soul that rules and governs her, inspires and leads
her.”
Next day, he adds: “We little fish are born in the water like our ichthys469 Jesus Christ. O water
regenerating, O source of life to which You give birth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to new children
of the Father, new brothers and sisters for Jesus Christ! O immaculate womb of the divine fertility of
the Holy Spirit, from which You birth all to the same infancy!”470
We are not given here the possibility to dwell at length on other pieces which would confirm a
“sense of the Church” strongly realized and lived. Deepening that sense constituted for him a constant
recommendation for those he formed to the priesthood, but it is also seen in his homilies to simple
468 Documenti 185-186.
469 Translator's note: Greek word for “fish”, also anagram of Greek phrase for “Jesus Christ Son of God, Savior”.
470 Documenti, 37-39.

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faithful. In the one entitled “The Heart and the Church”, we find the formulation, humble and lofty at
the same time, of the ultimate desire of Fr. Quadrio: “If it be allowed to a poor man like me to think of
a motto to chisel on my tomb, I'd be extremely proud if, with some truth, one could write onto the rock
of my sepulcher: He loved the Church.”471
It was a common conviction that Fr. Quadrio had offered his life for the success of the Ecumenical
Council.472 Even at that last moment, the incarnation of the priest coincided with that of Christ, who
“loved the Church, and gave Himself up for her.”473
471 O 033, of 28 June 1957.
472 Modello, 185.
473 Eph 5:25.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Theologian and the Teacher.........................................................................................................................................3
1.Premises: almost a wish to decorate a treasure...........................................................................................................3
1.1.The title of this talk and its limits........................................................................................................................3
1.2.My limits and the the contents of this talk...........................................................................................................3
1.3.The method to follow without falsifying the data...............................................................................................3
2.Fr. Quadrio, the Teacher-Theologian: Almost a Wish to Mount Diamonds Among Precious Pearls.........................3
2.1.The facts and their eloquence..............................................................................................................................3
2.2.Points to be developed in the thought of Fr. Quadrio..........................................................................................3
2.3.Teacher-Theologian and/or Theologian-Teacher?...............................................................................................4
3.The perennial teaching of Fr. Quadrio: almost a wish to continue study of his personality and so imitate him.......4
3.1.From Mary, Mother of the Church, to the interests of the Church, Mother of Peoples......................................4
3.2.From opening to the problems of man to man open to the realities of God........................................................4
3.3.From the virtues of a Christian to the reality of the virtuous Christian..............................................................5
A Teacher's Relations with the Students.............................................................................................................................6
1.The course on the theological virtues..........................................................................................................................6
2.Ability to question himself..........................................................................................................................................6
3.First fruits of the revision............................................................................................................................................6
4.Listening and availability for dialog............................................................................................................................6
The Priest, the Shepherd......................................................................................................................................................7
1.A three arch bridge.......................................................................................................................................................7
2.The priest, man of God................................................................................................................................................7
3.The shepherd, friend of men........................................................................................................................................8
3.1.One of them..........................................................................................................................................................9
3.2.Available servant..................................................................................................................................................9
3.3.Break the bread of God's Word............................................................................................................................9
3.4.To lay down one's life for his friends...................................................................................................................9
Reading God in Fr. Quadrio's Letters................................................................................................................................10
1.Collected letters: a legitimate access.........................................................................................................................10
2.First, kindness............................................................................................................................................................10
3.Grace and Humor.......................................................................................................................................................10
4.Air of simplicity.........................................................................................................................................................10
5.Faith as an axis...........................................................................................................................................................10
6.Unity of life................................................................................................................................................................10
7.A message-synthesis..................................................................................................................................................11
8.A true letter of the living God....................................................................................................................................11

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Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio, Theology Teacher and Master of Life. Through the Initiatives Leading to Introduction of the
Cause.................................................................................................................................................................................12
1.Reputation of a holy teacher in his lifetime..............................................................................................................12
2.Spontaneous testimonies after his death....................................................................................................................12
3.Publication of the diary (first and second editions)...................................................................................................12
4.Intervention by the Rector Major: the spark.............................................................................................................13
5.Gathering of testimonies, and first biography...........................................................................................................13
6.An external intevention.............................................................................................................................................13
7.Official requests.........................................................................................................................................................13
8.Systematic start of work in view of the Cause..........................................................................................................14
9.Growing involvement of the Vice-Province and Salesian Pontifical University......................................................14
10.Submission of the Cause to the Curia of Turin.......................................................................................................15
11.The 25th Anniversary commemoration in Valtellina..............................................................................................15
12.From the commemoration to the study congress....................................................................................................15
13.Overview of the more important next steps............................................................................................................16
Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio and the Dogma of Mary's Assumption:
Historical and Dogmatic Considerations..........................................................................................................................17
1. The theme of Mary's Assumption in Fr. Quadrio's theological formation...............................................................17
2.Solemn debate on the definability of the dogma of the Assumption (1946) ...........................................................17
3.The “Sitz im Leben” of Fr. Quadrio's theological formation: the “Assumptionist” theology of the '40s and '50s
and the Dogma of the Assumption of Mary (1950).....................................................................................................17
3.1.A diffuse opinion shift........................................................................................................................................17
3.2.The decisive push by Pius XII...........................................................................................................................17
3.3.Contributions by theologians.............................................................................................................................18
4.The scholarly contribution of Fr. Quadrio to the definability of the dogma of the Assumption..............................18
4.1.The Mariology of the “Roman School”.............................................................................................................18
4.2.The Mariology of Charles Boyer and Heinrich Lennerz...................................................................................18
4.3.Giuseppe Quadrio: Treatise “On the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary” of Pseudo-Augustine and its
Influence on Latin Theology of the Assumption” (1951)........................................................................................18
5. A first evaluation of Fr. Quadrio’s Study..................................................................................................................18
The Fathers of the Church
in the Writings of Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio...........................................................................................................................20
1.The monographs........................................................................................................................................................20
1.1.The treatise “De Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis" of Pseudo-Augustine and his influence in Latin
theology of the Assumption (Analecta Gregoriana, 52), Romae 1951, pp.3 428...................................................20
1.2.Mary and the Church. The Social Mediation of Mary Most Holy in the Teaching of the Popes from Gregory
XVI to Pius XII (Accademia Mariana Salesiana, 5) Turin 1962, 299 pages..........................................................20
2.Lecture notes..............................................................................................................................................................20
3.Book reviews.............................................................................................................................................................20
4.Unpublished writings.................................................................................................................................................20
5.Answers in Meriidiano 12.........................................................................................................................................20
6.Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................................20

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The Responses of Fr. Quadrio
to Readers of Meridiano 12...............................................................................................................................................22
1.Overview....................................................................................................................................................................22
1.1.Meridiano 12 and its experts..............................................................................................................................22
1.2.Fr. Quadrio, collaborator on Meridiano 12........................................................................................................22
2.The personality of Fr. Quadrio in his replies to readers of Meriidiano 12................................................................22
2.1.Index of topics....................................................................................................................................................22
2.2.Analysis of the principal topics.........................................................................................................................22
3. Conclusion: Fr. Quadrio, Theologian and Pastor in His Popular Writings..............................................................25
3.1.Scientific seriousness.........................................................................................................................................25
3.2.Attention to the reader's personality..................................................................................................................25
3.3.Openness to Church, Cultural and Societal Dynamics......................................................................................25
The “Fr. Quadrio Sources” in the Archives
of the Salesian Pontifical University:
Preliminary Organization and Inventory...........................................................................................................................26
1.Family: 2 items..........................................................................................................................................................26
2.Civil: 9 items..............................................................................................................................................................26
3.Religious: 27 items....................................................................................................................................................26
3.1.Sacraments: 3 items...........................................................................................................................................26
3.2.Salesian formation phase: 10 items...................................................................................................................26
3.3.Priestly formation phase: 14 items.....................................................................................................................26
4.Academic: 39 items...................................................................................................................................................27
4.1.Student: 22 items................................................................................................................................................27
4.2.Teacher: 17 items...............................................................................................................................................27
5.Official testimonies....................................................................................................................................................28
6.Unofficial testimonies................................................................................................................................................30
7.Other testimonies.......................................................................................................................................................31
8.Diaries........................................................................................................................................................................33
9.Academic writings.....................................................................................................................................................33
10.Homilies...................................................................................................................................................................33
11.Published writings by Fr. Quadrio ..........................................................................................................................34
12.Published works about Fr. Quadrio.........................................................................................................................45
APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................................................................63
THE FIGURE OF THE PRIEST
IN THE LETTERS OF
FR. GIUSEPPE QUADRIO SDB
Apropos of a Recent Book................................................................................................................................................64
1.The priest: “a man taken from among men”.............................................................................................................64
2.Ordained for men in the things that appertain to God...............................................................................................64
3.“A true and authentic priest, complete, always, and only a priest, while still a perfect man”.................................64
Fr. Quadrio: a mature personality,
a life pervaded by sense....................................................................................................................................................66

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Fr. Giuseppe Quadrio
master of theology and life................................................................................................................................................67
1.From deep roots.........................................................................................................................................................67
2.Presuppositions for the spirituality of Fr. Quadrio....................................................................................................67
2.1.The silence that prepares the symphony............................................................................................................67
2.2.Growth in intimacy with Christ.........................................................................................................................67
3.First mystery: the Divine Trinity in man...................................................................................................................67
4.Second mystery: the Incarnation...............................................................................................................................68
4.1.Christ, flesh of our flesh.....................................................................................................................................68
4.2.Sacrificial dimension of the Incarnation............................................................................................................68
4.3.Vicar of love.......................................................................................................................................................68
4.4.The priest, fallen in love....................................................................................................................................68
4.5.The Church as place of Incarnation (womb of the Spouse)..............................................................................68

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