Marco Bianchi

After Napoleon’s fall, the territory of the Kingdom of Sardinia was modified and Genoa and the Liguria region moved under his control. According to these changes, the government of Piedmont decided to reorganize also the territories of various dioceses. In particular, the parishes in the Vigevano’s diocese increased, including in its territory areas that previously depended on the Pavia’s diocese...

Angelo Gallotti played a leading role in the land of Lomellina, diocese of Vigevano, in the educational and cultural fields, politics and administration, as well in his own family and ecclesiastical experience during the second half of the Twentieth century. In this essay, the Author shows the education he received from his family, at the parish and at school before he received a profound education at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. The experiences lived by Gallotti are outlined as a Christian testimony, in his everyday environment but also within the wider historical context as referenced in the precise annotations.

Il contributo ripercorre la vicenda biografica di padre Giovanni Balduzzi (1886- 1961), superiore della Congregazione dei padri oblati dell’Immacolata di Vigevano e responsabile degli oratori cittadini. Nato nel 1886, Giovanni Balduzzi fu ordinato sacerdote nel dicembre del 1908; nel primo dopoguerra fu assistente diocesano, a Vigevano, della Federazione della gioventù cattolica e dell’Unione del lavoro aderente alla Confederazione italiana dei lavoratori. A partire dal 1924 fu chiamato, dalla Giunta centrale di Azione cattolica, a partecipare ad alcune iniziative che avrebbero portato alla fondazione dell’Istituto cattolico di attività sociale. Nato il nuovo organismo, Balduzzi ricoprì la carica di segretario generale dello stesso sino al maggio del 1930. Negli anni successivi si dedicò alla creazione di una fitta rete di iniziative caritative nella diocesi di Vigevano. ENGLISH: The essay presents the biography of Father Giovanni Balduzzi (1886-1961), Superior of the Congregation of the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate in Vigevano and co-ordinator of the parish youth clubs. Giovanni Balduzzi was born in 1886 and took Holy Orders in December 1908; after World War I he became diocesan assistant for the Vigevano’s Catholic Youth Federation and for the Labour Union, affiliated to the Italian Workers Confederation. The Central Committee of Catholic Action called on him in 1924 to take part in the foundation of the Catholic Institute of Social Activity, of which he served as general secretary until May 1930. In following years Father Balduzzi devoted himself to the organization of a number of charitable events for the Diocese of Vigevano.