FATHER UGO BASSI
A soldier for the Independence of Italy
(1801- Aug. 8, 1849)
Fr. Ugo Bassi met Giuseppe Garibaldi on March 3, 1848 in Rieti at the time of the “Roman Republic.” Few weeks later Fr. Bassi wrote to the Leonese family in Bologna: “In Rieti the reception given me by Garibaldi was more than I expected. Garibaldi is a hero worthy of a poem more than I thought. Our souls met like if they were sisters in heaven before walking together on earth. We are at the vigil of war...” In another letter: “Garibaldi: this is the hero my soul has been searching for. As soon as we met our souls loved each other as sisters.”
Garibaldi never forgot Ugo Bassi. This is how he remembered him in Bologna on August 16, 1859: “Bassi joined the first Italian Legion in Rieti. Chief chaplain of the Roman army, he wanted to serve as a soldier. Courageous man, he would be in the battle without arms, preferring a fiery horse, as he was a strong and agile rider. In the battle his primary care was the transportation of the wounded. His words of encouragement were often heard on the battle field. Bassi’s chest was decorated with many wounds. His clothes were full of bullet holes. My helper in many scrimmages, I could hardly keep him by me.”
Who was Ugo Bassi?
My great delight is to forgive
He was born in Cento (Ferrara, Italy) on August 12, 1801. He studied in Bologna with the Scolopes, and then with the Barnabites at the Santa Lucia school. His baptismal name was Joseph, but he changed in Ugo because of his admiration for the Italian poet Ugo Foscolo. He received many awards, especially in Grammar, Humanities and Rhetoric. He wanted to become a Barnabite. His studies were excellent but he was tormented by a mental illness throughout his youth. He was also tormented by that mixture of ingenuity and passion which would be the problem of his adult life.
When 18, he was admitted to our novitiate in Naples, but, since the vows could not be professed in the Kingdom of Naples, he went to Rome for his profession, which took place on January 29, 1821, and he was ordained a priest in Rome in 1824.
He loved poetry and music. He played organ, flute, violin, guitar, and cymbals. He composed a Mass for four voices and 22 instruments which was performed in our church of “St. Mary’s a Caravaggio” in Naples by the leading musicians of the city.
In 1828 he started his favorite apostolate, preaching. Fr. Joseph De Ruggero wrote: “His great attraction was for deep emotions and the ones he was experiencing on the pulpit would inflame his soul and fill him with tremendous enthusiasm. And so the power of his extraordinary genius was in full evidence in front of the crowds, which, drawn by his personality, his harmonious voice, his elegance, would run to listen to him and would stay deeply attached to him.”
But this is what became Fr. Bassi’s cross, a cross he had to carry all over the most important cities of Italy: Genoa, Turin, Alexandria, Bologna, Perugia, Naples. Already in 1834, in Turin, his liberal views, which attracted many young people, almost caused his expulsion from Piedmont. The following year, in Bologna, speaking about the pagan Rome he infuriated the Apostolic Delegate, Cardinal Spinola, who was present. The allusions to the papal Rome were too evident. By order of Father General he had to appear in front of Pope Gregory XVI, “who received him in a very human way, but encouraged him to preach with carefulness.
This was nothing in comparison with what was going to come. Fr. Bassi did not just make allusions but his preaching took very patriotic tones, and the conservatives joined forces against him. It was a great honor for the Barnabites to have a confrere, Cardinal Lambruschini, as secretary of State for Pope Gregory XVI, but it was a great disaster for Fr. Bassi. The difficulties were increasing and there was a need for a permanent solution.
Fr. Ramenghi, who always defended Fr. Bassi, wrote to Fr. General: “It is futile I think, to hope in the Pope, because, as you well know, he signs with Lambruschini’s hand’.”
The prohibition to preach in Bologna, the expulsion from Perugia in the middle of a novena, the exile from the Barnabite community of St. Severino, the expulsion from the Pontifical States, the prohibition to hear confessions were all stations of the cross that led him to Calvary.
Fr. Bassi’s reactions were different: fluctuating from the temptation to leave the Barnabites (“I would... leave the Barnabites, who do not know how to want me!”) and the most evangelical resignation, “My great delight is to forgive and I feel that the will of the Lord is sweet as a triumph.”
What a beautiful heart Fr. Bassi has!
At the election of Pius IX, Fr. Bassi supported with enthusiasm the program of the new Pope. Pius IX during an audience looked for Fr. Bassi, and “it was Fr. Bassi to speak most of the time. He talked about Italy and he recommended it to him almost as a daughter.” The Pope talking to a monsignor said, “What a beautiful heart Fr. Bassi has!”
This parenthesis of enthusiasm with Pius IX was a short one. On April 29, 1848, the Pope declared that the papal cause was a totally separate one from the Italian. What followed was an avalanche of events. During the war against Austria, Fr. Bassi was a chaplain in the papal army with the specific mission to look after the priests. He stayed with the soldiers, was wounded in Treviso, took active part in the Roman Republic, was made chaplain of the Garibaldi legion by Mazzini, stayed with Garibaldi and the few survivors of the set back from Rome to Venice.
In Comacchio, on August 4, 1849, Fr. Bassi was taken prisoner by the Austrians. During the interrogation he answered: “I have no other crime but that of being an Italian.” In the house where he was captured there is a plaque which reads: “Guilty to love Christ and Italy.”
He was taken to the Austrian Headquarters in Bologna, where he met his desolate sister Carlotta; embracing her he consoled her: “Why are you in distress, dear sister? I have accomplished my mission. I am not guilty… I have assisted the dying on the field, and I did not deny my help to the very enemy.” He was condemned to death without trial. General Gorkowsky hurried to carry on the sentence, which had not even been proclaimed. Fr. Ugo Bassi was executed on August 8, 1849, after having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and expressed his regret for whatever he might had done offensive to his Religion. His last words were: “I ask pardon to all and I forgive all: I recommend Religion and I am so happy to die in peace under the wings of Our Lady of St. Luke” (the Marian Shrine dominating the city of Bologna).
The people of Bologna noticed that August 8 was the first anniversary of the Austrian outset from the city (August 8, 1848). The Austrians needed to “normalize” the Pontifical State. They needed to show that indeed there was order in the city of Bologna.
The legend of Fr. Ugo Bassi started: the opinions and judgments have winged to the two extremes, “Mason of the Concordia Lodge of Bologna,” “Savonarola of the XIX century!” Giosuè Carducci, a distinguished Italian poet, called him, “Citizen of Italy, and a Priest of Christ.”
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