The Faith of Caravate

To the 800 inhabitants of the little town of Caravate on the Lombardy plain, Don Luigi Milani was no ordinary parish priest. Thirty-five years old, tall, extremely handsome, he was the greatest athlete in the whole countryside, the leading figure in welfare and charity work, a convincing speaker with enlightened views. He was popular even with Communists, whom he invited to his house to discuss politics and religion.

But one day recently the Bishop of Como ordered Don Luigi to leave Caravate. A matter of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, said the church authorities. The 800 citizens of Caravate stormed and raged. At a mass indignation meeting in the public square, rude things were said about church authorities in general and the Bishop of Como, a cleric of "considerable circumference," in particular.

"Let's Go to Messa." In the nearby town of Varese lived the Rev. Giovanni Battista Schreider, a serious, bald, bespectacled Baptist minister. When he heard of the state of affairs at Caravate, he put in an urgent call for his friend Angelo Messa, an elder of the Baptist Church in Milan.* Both hastened to Caravate, arrived to find a crowd milling around the main square. From a balcony above their heads Pastor Schreider blasted the papal system, offered the "true faith which does not need external manifestations to assert itself." The crowd cheered. Many said they were ready to turn Protestant on the spot. They particularly liked the name of the Baptist elder--"Messa," the Italian word for Mass.

Next day a procession appeared in the square, led by small boys yelling, hooting and carrying placards bearing the words: "Abbasso la messa--andiamo da Messa (Down with Mass--let's go to Messa)." Elderly ladies on the fringe of the gaping crowd shook their heads sadly, murmured to one another: "All mad; there's no religion any more."

New Priest. When the Bishop of Como's new man, Don Mario Sessa, finally got to Caravate, tempers soared further. According to an eyewitness: "He was violently assailed by the furious congregation, especially the women, who even tried to tear his clothes off." Don Mario retreated, but returned under the armed protection of the carabinieri. Soon the church bells were ringing again. But nobody in Caravate came to Mass.

Just down the street, Pastor Schreider's hastily improvised church in the local tavern and dance hall was crowded. Some hotheads solemnly pronounced themselves Protestants, but other citizens said it was not as simple as that; first they would have to receive permission to leave the Catholic Church.

A letter was dispatched to their old priest, Don Luigi, from the people of Caravate saying: "Because you have left us we are all becoming Protestants." When his reply came, it was disappointing. He told them not to be "foolish children." So the argument still raged in Caravate: ''How can we become Protestants if we are still Catholics?"

Don Mario, the new priest, was a patient man; he knew that Italian tempers cool eventually. Last week a small, penitent group came to Mass. There was also a noticeable decline in attendance at Pastor Schreider's sermons. Said Don Mario, beaming gently: "I wager they all, even the black sheep, will come to hear midnight Mass on Christmas. Peace will return."

*Last religious census (1936) gave Italy 83,600 Protestants, 0.2% of the total population.

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