by Dick Matulis

In addition to the many fine Archdiocesan priests at our service, there are several religious orders with special missions. Among these are the Paulists, an order started in Italy nearly a century ago. I would like to single out the Order’s first ordained priest, Father Joseph Giaccardo, who at his ordination took the name Timothy. My information comes mainly from a book entitled “Blessed Timothy Giaccardo, an Obedient Prophet,” written by Eugenio Fornasari, SSP.

Joseph Giaccardo was born on June 13, 1896 on the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua on a farm in the Bergamo area of Lombardy in Northern Italy. His father Stephen, who was a farmer, and his mother Mary, who also worked the farm with great energy, supported Joseph’s calling from an early age. From the time he was eight years old, Joseph, who had a special devotion to the Madonna, could often be found at the door of his church where he waited for an opportunity to serve Mass.

In 1908, a newly-ordained priest, Father James Alberione, was assigned to Joseph’s parish to assist its gravely-ill elderly pastor who subsequently died that same year. Joseph was greatly influenced by this new priest who would one day serve as the spiritual director at the seminary where Joseph entered and as the editor of the diocesan newspaper.

Known as “The Founder,” Father Alberione was a visionary who felt that mass communication could be used to spread the Gospel. In 1914 he opened a printing school to assist in this goal.

While still a seminarian, Joseph was called up for the military, but he served only a month as he was discharged for medical reasons that eventually would lead to his death at an early age. Joseph was put to the test by his bishop as to either continuing in the seminary or joining Father Alberione with his printing work. Joseph chose the latter while continuing his studies so as to gain admission to the priesthood. He was called “The Teacher, a title he retained for the rest of his life.

Joseph’s mother was in such ill health that his ordination was moved up by eight days so that she could attend his first Mass. She died a mere several days later. The religious community to which Joseph belonged was called “The Pious Society of St. Paul.” At his ordination in 1919, Joseph took the name “Timothy” because Timothy had been a faithful disciple of St. Paul. In 1920, he received his degree from the University of Genoa.

Meanwhile, the group received another printing press in 1917 and in that same year, their first bookstore was opened. Their stores were destined to spread around the world. Purchasing land in nearby Alba, the Order constructed a five-story headquarters and later at an auction, purchased a printing plant which they disassembled and then reassembled on their land. Later still, a plant for making printing ink, another for stereotyping (a process for making metal printing plates), a carpenter’s shop, and a paper mill were added. Land was acquired from the Benedictines and the property was named “The Vineyard of St. Paul.”

In 1926, a printing plant was opened in Rome and the Daughters of St. Paul were willing to relocate there. A year later, the first Pauline House in the United States was founded and the next year, one was opened in Argentina.

In the midst of fund-raising efforts, Father Timothy was named bursar of the group. The Paulists’ church in Rome was the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Timothy’s love of Rome was increased by his contemplation of the pivotal ties that St. Paul himself had to Rome. Paul wrote letters to the Romans, was a Roman citizen, and died and was buried there. To St. Paul, Rome represented the earthly home of the Church.

In 1936, Father Timothy was ordered back to Alba to serve as superior of the Motherhouse. At that time, all Pauline schooling was in-house, with advanced studies pursued in Rome. Timothy was responsible for acquiring twenty-five additional printing presses, and he encouraged the Daughters of St. Paul to be “Migratory Swallows of the Good Lord,” as they fanned out throughout Italy, distributing publications.

During World War II, Timothy vowed the construction of a second church if their lives were saved. His promise was fulfilled just prior to his death. Timothy had to minister during the Fascist regime in Italy and eventually, during the Nazi occupation. Following these two dictatorships, Timothy got to see firsthand Italy’s attainment of liberty.

On May 10, 1941, Pope Pius XII signed a decree approving the Constitution of the Institute. On October 19, 1944, Timothy celebrated his twenty-fifth year in the priesthood. He was called to Rome and entrusted with the position of Vicar General of the Order, which now consisted of brothers and priests of the Society of St. Paul and the Disciples of the Divine Master, along with the nuns of the Daughters of St. Paul, the Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd and the Sisters of the Queen of the Apostles.

Plagued with poor health, Timothy was being treated for rheumatism and lumbago until a second opinion was sought and revealed that he had leukemia. On January 12, 1948, Father Timothy celebrated his last Mass. He died in his room on January 24, 1948 at the age of fifty-two.

Father Timothy had kept an extensive diary to corroborate these happenings and during hearings on his beatification, numerous lay and religious came forward with testimony on his behalf. The Founder, Father Alberione, singled out three of Father Timothy’s virtues, obedience, chastity, and piety. Father Timothy had demonstrated his faithfulness, both as a spiritual man and as a man of action.

On October 22, 1989 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, a celebration was held for the beatification of Father Timothy, along with two others. Seven-hundred pilgrims from Father Timothy’s birthplace and from Alba, joined by 4,000 Paulines from throughout the world gathered for his beatification ceremony.

Among those present was Sister Luciana Lazzarini, the pious disciple who had been cured by the intercession of Blessed Timothy. Dr. Kizawa, the chief physician of the hospital in Tokyo, Japan, witnessed the cure. The late Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, added that Blessed Timothy proposed to spread the Gospel through modern means of communication. He saw this field as the principal and typical apostolate of the modern world. Father Timothy’s legacy continues to flourish to the present day, and all of us are his beneficiaries.