Father Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, O.P. ( 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.
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.
Legacy
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. In preparation for the 200th anniversary of Mazzuchelli's
birth in November of 2006, those campaigning for Mazzuchelli to
be elevated to Sainthood began a number of activities to help draw attention to that particular cause. The Sinsinawa Dominican
Sisters have been particularly 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.
On April 12th, 2006 Dubuque Archbishop
Jerome Hanus announced that the new middle school planned by the Holy Family Catholic
School System in Dubuque would be named after Mazzuchelli. The school opened for the 2006-2007 academic year.
- Source: Dubuque Telegraph Herald, April 11, 2006, pp A1 & A3.
Parishes Founded by Fr. Mazzuchelli
External links
A Highway Sign on Fr. Mazzuchelli
Sources
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