356. Catholic Politicians
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| Our Parish Priests introduce the Speaker on Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo- The MP Marco Zabotti |
The
upheavals of the Monte Paschi Bank (MPS)
upheld by left wing politicians whose directors, and it seems under substantial
bribes, have bought fraudulent bonds causing an immense loss which, it seems,
Mario Monti as Prime Minister covered by heavily raising the Italian taxpayer’s
taxes, has caused the CEI (Chiesa Cattolica Italiana) to review their political
alliance. As we all know a couple of weeks ago there was a warm support in
favour of Mario Monti standing for Premier with the Centralist political
movement, now it appears to be barely lukewarm. In fact the CEI is saying
little if anything, even the Twitter world is silent on the matter.
So what
now, where do Catholic politicians stand? If everyone is corrupt, if everyone
has something in their past to hide what hope is there for the Church to find
that transparency in politicians it so keenly seeks to uphold? Are there any
Catholic politicians who are Catholic before they are politicians?
Yes there
are, I met one a week ago Marco Zabotti, who, in association with the “Year of
the Faith” program arranged by our parish, came to talk to us about a newly
beatified saint who not only was a lay person, happily married father of seven
but also an economist, one of those people who are consulted by bankers to help
them out in their job- this person is the neo-Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo.
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| The Honorable MP Marco Zabotti |
During the
process for beatification the Honorable Marco Zabotti, explained that the
Patriarch of Venice said Giuseppe Toniolo was for the laity a “tasty” sample of
an “ordinary” Catholic.
We were all
enchanted as the MP unfolded the delicate procedure Giuseppe Toniolo took to propose
to she who was to be his bride. Admitted, this all took place in the late 1870s
when courtship was a process that had its own observances to uphold, but even
so, what Toniolo did was for even those times, something out of the ordinary. What
Toniolo did shows his sense of humility since he considered a consecrated
person would be more worthy to present his cause. The fact that he thought his
bride to be would do him honour if she married him, shows what he thought of
women. Not only did he believe in the dignity of womanhood, was if not more, at
least on the same level as that of man, but he also put that concept into practice
throughout his married life. She, Maria, of course did the same for him.
Thus,
Toniolo solicited his parish priest to ask Maria’s hand in marriage on the his
behalf since right from the start Toniolo wanted the Holy Spirit to be partaker
of this union with his future bride to be.
But
Giuseppe Toniolo became blessed also because of his vocation as a member of the
laity, an economist and university teacher. In effect his teachings in
economics influenced the financial system of the late 19th Century with the introduction of “coops” and “Casse
Rurale” (Rural Banks). His principles of economics and bank system was based on the Primacy of Ethics on the Economy that profit derived from the employment of practices for the common good and
not for profit alone. If his theories had been implemented in the late 20th
Century years, the present economic crises would not have arisen.
Hence we
have a saint of our times as a model for lay people not only as a husband,
teacher, economist but also as a Catholic who made his own, the teachings of
Jesus.
It is
difficult in the present elections that Italy is undergoing, for Catholics to
find someone trustworthy to vote for, certainly I can recommend, he who came to
speak to us, our local MP Marco Zabotti. However, since people will find no
advice or too much of it, for what it is worth, here’s mine:
When
voting, search for an unknown face- that way you have a 50% chance that their
hands are clean- whereas with all those faces we know well, they each have left
us in no doubt that their hands are 100% in the mire and may at least the best,
of the worst, win.
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| Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo |
About Blessed Giuseppe Toniolo
Giuseppe Toniolo was born in Treviso 7th March 1845. He gained
his degree in Civil and Economic Law in 1867.
In September 1878 he marries
Maria Schiratti in the Church of Pieve di Soligo. In 1878 he is transferred to Modena and the
following year becomes professor of Political Economy at the University of Pisa.
He dies on 7th October
1918.
On 14th January 2011 Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the miraculous healing of Francesco Bortolini through the intercession of Giuseppe Toniolo
on 7th June 2007.
On 29th
April 2012 he is declared Blessed in
Rome in the Basilica of St. Paolo fuori le mura. His mortal remains, placed in an urn, were returned
to the sarcophagus in the Duomo of Pieve di Soligo in 2011.
