Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli

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Image:FRMazzuchelli.jpg Father Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli ( November 4, 1806 - February 23, 1864 ) was a pioneer Catholic missionary who helped in bringing the church to the Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin tri-state areas. He founded a number of parishes in the area. He acted as the architect for a number of the parish buildings.

1 Background
2 Legacy
3 Parishes Founded by Fr. Mazzuchelli
4 External links
5 Sources

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Background

Father Mazzuchelli was born in Milan, Italy on November 4, 1806. He became a member of the Dominican Order. Prior to arriving in the Dubuque area, he worked for a time in Wisconsin. When he first arrived in the United States, he spoke almost no English. During his time in Wisconsin, he faced a number of challenges, such as hostility from other Christian denominations.

Mazzuchelli arrived in the mid 1830's to what would later become the city of Dubuque, Iowa. While there, he reorganized the parish and named it Saint Raphael's - which later became the Cathedral parish when the Dubuque Diocese was formed in 1837. He assisted Bishop Mathias Loras during the first few years after the founding of the Diocese. He also worked quite extensively in what would eventually become the Diocese of Madison. He named three Catholic parishes after the three Archangels. These were Saint Raphael's at Dubuque, Saint Michael's at Galena, Illinois, and Saint Gabriel's at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. And in 1848, he founded St Clara Academy (today known as the Dominican University of Illinois), a frontier school for young women. In 1849, he founded the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters.

Many remembered him as a kind and gentlemanly priest. Fr. Mazzuchelli was able to break down the cultural barriers that existed at the time and appeal to many different ethnic groups. The Irish he ministered to called him Father Matthew Kelly. He died on February 23, 1864 after contracting an illness from a sick parishoner that he had visited.

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Legacy

Image:FrMazzuchelliGraveJune03.jpg Father Mazzuchelli is buried at Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Benton, Wisconsin. Over the years a case for elevating Father Mazzuchelli to Sainthood has been pending with the church. In 1993, Pope John Paul II declared Father Mazzuchelli Venerable - the first step in the process of elevating an individual to Sainthood. As the 200^th anniversary of Mazzuchelli's birth will occur in November of 2006, those campaigning for Mazzuchelli to be elevated to Sainthood have recently undertaken a number of activities to help draw attention to that particular cause. The Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters have been particuarly active in this campaign.

Early in April 2006, Italian doctors charged by the Vatican with determining the validity of miracles decided after careful study that the curing of Robert Uselmann of cancer was indeed a miracle. Uselmann, a resident of Madison, Wisconsin had went to Sinsinawa Mound with his family in 2001 to pray Mazzuchelli for his assistance in curing him of cancer. While there he prayed with the Sisters and also prayed with Mazzuchelli's penance chain. Uselmann would later find that he had been cured of the cancer, and it was established that there was no medical explanation for this cure.

As a result, Mazzuchelli is now eligible for beatification, the next step in the process of naming a Saint within the church. For canonization to occur, another miracle due to the intercession of Mazzuchelli would need to occur, and would also need to be verified by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

The Holy Family Catholic School System in Dubuque is also in the processes of building a new middle school. On April 12^th, 2006 Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus announced that the school would be named after Mazzuchelli.

Source: Dubuque Telegraph Herald, April 11, 2006, pp A1 & A3.

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