Professor George La Piana (1878-1971), Catholic modernist at Harvard (1915-1947)
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Citation Williams, George H. 1973. Professor George La Piana (1878-1971), Catholic modernist at Harvard (1915-1947). Harvard Library Bulletin XXI (2), April 1973: 117-143.
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(-i1:0RGE LA PiANA (1878-1971) BY ROSITA CASEl-lO (rlarvard J)iviuity School)
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Professor George La Piana (1878-1971) Catl1olic Modernist at Harvard (1915-1947)* George H. TT'illia1ns
EORGE LA PIAN At the John Hopkins 1\1orisonProfessor of
Church History at Harvard1 died at a nursing home in ...... South Natick, I\1assachusetts, 28 February 197 r at age ninety-three~ As d1e editor of T be Catbolic fl istoricalRe~ vie-w put it sin1ply in an unsigned obituary~ "Professor IJa Piana n1ay ,vcll have been the last survivor of the priest-scholars ,vho ,vcrc in- volved in the ?vlodcrnist controversy· of the present century4~t 1 George J-'a Piana ,vas born in Piana dcgli Albancsi in Sicily, 2 7 February.. 1878.2 ·rhe hill to,vn of Piana, above the cathedral cities of
• Pon-ions of the follo\·ving sketch ,;,,;,rcrcrcid as a Djdnjt}' Schoo] Faculty 1nin- u to at t1i c tnt n\orb l s~rvice in A pp lcto n. Ch np cl on the :3nn iversary of the dco.th. l\1cmucrs of the corrlmincc for the minute ·were J\1.arfo.Grossm:ann, Ralph Lazz~ro, Rob crt Le c \Vol ff. an cl G cor ge H. lV ill iams. Chairman. Professor L~ P fan a left h i:s Papers to the Andny-er-Har,·ard Librarr. An1ong them Js the typescript Auto- b iogr;;1p hy in n1an y- v crsi o ns :)n d lncorn plet~. The ItaU an pages ,vere di elated to Vera Orto1oni .-3nddlff cr slightly f rum the numerous ,Tersions in English. Loufae Pfeiffer -and Lydfo. Cavan~ugh, both of ,Yhom kne,\~ Italian~ did the English pages. Nancy H. Gr-l:Cr hus left c1 pojgn:ant description of the efforts of t11ese devoted ,vomen and the difficulties they all encountered in keeping their transcriptions in sotne order. 1\1r. Alan Seaburg, Curator of Tvlanuscri pts in the An dover-H anTard
Libnrr 1 1u.s prepared a lleg:j5cer of the La Plana P~pers, \\'hich comes to thirty pages. Profc.s~or lvlilton \ 1 ~sil Au~!;tos prepared the '[Bibliogr-aphy of the \~-'orl-:~ of
George L~ Pianat Harvilrd Di'irini1y School Bulletin,, XXIII (1957~58) 9 103-108 9 in connection ,vfrh 'iln c~s~yin \\'hich L~ Pfo.nrr is dealt "·ith hr George H~ TVilliam!,_, 1 ~cA Century of Ch urc It 1-listory ac H arv~rd. 18 57-19 57, ' j bid., 3 7-{]4. 2 F atllcr l~ohert Tri~co~ foe. ch., L\ 711 (J u1y 197 c),. 3 11 f. Th etc re son1c di ~erep:i nc ies in the Papers as to L'J P j a na 1 bi nh. In most places it: j s ghTcn a 5 27 F ch ru iry. In h ter ye:J.rs he reguia rl y celebra t1=d it on :28 February; and th~rc \Va5 ::i. tradition th.:1t he was in fact born on 19 February in a leap year.
lVlany of the rccords: 1 h o,ve ver, indicate the birth as 3 l\·larc h; b llt th is -appearsto ha vc been the date on which his father prese ntcd him for a 1nuni.clpa 1 birt11 cet tifi- e~ tc, -andt l 1is document ,v as thcrca f tc r us~d for offid al purposes.
1 I 7
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) 118 I-Iar-vard Li brnry Bulletin l\1onrcale and Palern10, all three featuring in the boyhood and early career of George La Piana, \Vas the center of an Albanian settlement, lVhich originated ,v hen refugees under George Skanderbeg (Little Alexander~ d. 1468) fled to Italy· fron1 the Otto1nan Turks in the fifteenth century. The rite of the Al bani an ref ngccs in Pian a and e]se- ,vhere in Sicily and on the peninsula \V3S Byzantine; their obedience, Ron1an. In Piana it5cl f there had long been nvo churches, one Greek in 1iturg y, thc other Latin, both Ca th oli c; but th c 111nr kc d diffcrence in Christian practices tended to keep the nvo ethnic groups apart. The A 1b a nian priests , ·vore beards; and, married before their ordination,
they lived \Vith ,vife and children 1 and 1naintainedus-ages in the to,vn different from the J.....atin-rite inhahi tan ts ,vith respect to baptism., com- munion, and several f cnst d-ays. Bct\vccn the t\vo groups there ,v2s 21s0 conflict over cc clcsi a sti cal j ur j sdic tion and -cconon1ic pri vii eg esa The Albanians of }Jiana used Greek at ,vorship, Albanian in their homes, and rtalian in the streets. "fhrough so1ne intermarriage they" tended to increase slightly relative to the Ita]ian-speaking denizens of the tOlVIl and surrounding high plain. The parentage of George La Pjana ,vas of 1nixcd stock~ His fa thcr, \Tinccnzo (b. l 849) s had been trained for civil engineering~ ~nd super- vised consunction of railroads. He ,vas :J. sma11hn1do,vner, scttli ng do\ vn as an 2 d niinistra tor of th c large f arn1s of often absentee land- lords in the Pi11naregion. The son vtould ahvay·sremetnher ho,v, for the ,vorkers on his fa.thcr1s land,. the midday pasta \Vas placed upon an outdoor tahle under the shade of the olive trees, ,vith a11h1red hands taking as they ,verc able. The father~solder brother had gone off to become an Augustinian friar and a teacher of l.,:ltin and (;reek in a school of the order of Ron1et but had been deprived of his post af tcr \rictor En1manuel entered Ron1e as capital of the United I(ingdo1n of lta1y in 1870. Uncle Francesco, rendered petmanently unbalanced by his traun1ntic cljslodgcn1cnt,lived in the upper roo1n of the J.JaPiana fa n1i1 ) 7 house along ,vi th t, ·vo other origina 1 ch nrac tcrs.. Ano ther of three old n1en, destined to be jnflucncial in the life of the most distin- guished issue of that ]ivcly· and unpredictable household1 ,vas Papa
Ghiurghu~ ,vho uppears to ha.v~ been ]1is Alb~nian 1natcrnal grand- I father .. The n1other in the ever-enlarging househo]d, Giuseppina Ca- I !. * Qjorgio•s p:lternal grnndfother \\'as SavcrJo .. ~11dhis p8.[ernal grllnd mother \1:.ta.i;: Antonin a D 1Alfa.
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) CatholicA1oder11ist at Harvard paci "' La Piana~preserved the A lh anian ho1ne crafts. She e1nhroidcred ccclesiastic~l vest111entsand alt2r cloth.s of fine silver and gold.. Giorgio ,vas born the second child of cight.v Right after his birth, he \Vas taken by his n1other and the nurneruus relations living in and near their hon1e to a neighbor - an agcdJ,v-hite-bearded schoolteacher, ,vho had locally tl1e reputation of a sootl1saycr. Tl1e La Piana f a1nily ,vere, Jikc their neighbors, intrigued by· the possibly· providential in1- pli cations of the nearly coi nci den ta i death of th c t\ vo gr cat antagonists of their larger ,vorld: Vittorio E1nanuele and Pio Nono, ,vho left off fron1 their cartbly confrontation rcspectivcl 1r on 9 Janu-ary and 7 Fch- rnary 1878.0 l"hc soothsayer professed to descry .son1evague co1nbi~ nation of the strength of the one and the spiritual unction of the other infused in the second offspring before hi1n of the La Piana fa1nily; but ,lthcn the mother eagcr]y pressed for further specificity~the seer ,vould say only: "Quod dixi dixi.'' The father of the infant Giorgioat this very tin1e m~y hnve concciv·cd his strategy to in1plen1ent the prophecy.
\Tincenzo had had his first son, SrLverio,baptized according to the BJ7 - zantine rite. I-Ic no,v had Giorgio baptized according to the J...-atin rite. He ,vas dctcrn1incd to have ut least one of his .sons bccon1e a
By,-.antine-rite bishop, the other a JJatin-rite bishop1 and by their joint efforts to usher in ethnic -and ecumenical harn1ony, perhaps even fur beyond the confines of PiJna.7 In 1885, ,vhcn Giorgio ,,ras seven, cholera broke out in P~lern10 and in l\1.onreale,and n1any of the ,veil-to-do there sought the rcl2tive. safety of the hiH to,vns; -a father and a lovely da\lghrer ,vho resided a,vhile ,vith the L-aPiana fan1ily·n1ade it possible after\vards for Gior- gio to be taken du\vn to Palermo ,vith thetn for his early schooling. He ,vould vividly rcn,ember the horse-dra,vn omnibuses of the great port city. But then one day, unattended, Giorgio fell asleep in front
4 In the cerd fi catc Gi useppa Ca paci La Pb na is g ivc n as. daughter of Gi o.rgio Cc1.p~cL p. Profes.sor L-a Pianl does not give the nan1es of any uf his family in any of his P:-lpers ::i_11(1 very f e,v n::1.1ne~ nf o 5:hers, •J nd r hen on l r the snrn 8.n1c, T'j Ic P2 pers con~
t-ain, howei.Ter., certificate of the commune of Pfom]! obn:1ined hY..,/ h1s SJStcrt dated 1 5 J\.iay I 9, 4 containing a11 the. fain ily nil.n1es and b 1rth days.
,!! Professor L~ Piana -a\so en Joyed reflecting on the f ct t h1t in his n~t~ l year the 1~ret1.tyof S::11woStefano of 3 J\1arch ended 1.hcRus~-Turkish "\Var, confinncd and ntod ifi e d l)y the T rea tr of Berlin in June, '"hi ch "j nua Hy ended O ttonrn n i nfl uc.nce in the B~llrnns~ "In 1937 Pius X1 ckvat~d the,.ny1.antinc-ritc church jn Piana to the dignity of cathedral in e~tnhlishing thcrci11 an cparch,, O\.Ter:i.H Greek-rite Catholics in Sicily.
Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) I 20 H ru...... ;ard Library Btill etin of the brazier that ,vas heating the Ii1.ainroom of that house, and he , vas seriously burned. His 111other j n~isted that he be returned to Pian a.. Three of his brothers ,vere, at ages 13, 11, and 9, given full scholar- ships to study at the .A.JbanianBy-zn11tinc-rite sc1ninu.r) 7 in the n1onas- tcry of Grottaferrata outside Rome. (One of then1J J\1arco,,vould go on to bccotne a Basilian 1nonk.) ,~,c can picture Giorgio~s younger 51ster and ]ifc-long con1panion, Angela~ about this titnc. She \Yas born on i 6 Augusr 1890. Like aHthe Italo-A]banian girls of Piana. on Sun- day and festive days she ,vore a splendid n1assive silver belt-buckle, ,vith a figure in high relief of St. George on l1orscback slaying the dragon. Angelina ,vould preserve this treasure into her redrcn1ent fronJ 1,re]lesley College; and the nvo academic sih]ings, fun1iliar ,v·ith sevcra] tongueft; ,vonld often return to the· childhood lnngu;:1geof Piana degli Albanesi. · Giorgio ,,ras 2.dn1ittcd, h)r special dispensation in vic,v of his agct to
the se1ninnry of [\,Jonrealc, ,vhcrc 1 in the blu·e cassock of the institution, he studied the n1edie,\'al triviunz and qundriviu111as adapted hr the Jesuits., \vho hnd once run a· college in the cathedral to,vn, ~nd as no,v 111odifiedsince that college had been absorbed into the archiepiscopal se·minary. Here, boys \vho· ,voul Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) C({tbolicA1oder'llist at Harvnrd 12 I n1a.ndinga radical solution to age-old problen1s by dividing up the cro\vn lands rtnd the great private latiftnidia of the island a111ongthe peasants, sh cp herds~ and urban pro leta ria t. In 1 8 84, Pri1n c 1\.1inister 1-;--ranccsc o Cr ispi, himscl f a product of the Ital o-Alb anian sc1njn a.ry in al\vays restive Palern10 1 put do,vn the Sicilian revolt ,vith energy and some bloodshed~ The La lJiana fa111ily,vas affected by the protracted agrarian troubles because the father \Vas involved a.s ~te,vard of Jnany estates and financifllly tied to the lando,vners. F'ron1 the seminary in ~1.onreale~Giorgio passed into the theological college. I-Jere his principal studies ,vere dogmatic theology.,based on the Sunnna of St. Thon1as; 1noral theology, based on the prohahlist St~ Alphonse Liguori; and canon la,v. The language of in~truction ,vas no\v ,vhoHy Larin. Ecclesiastical history ,v-as not taught there until his final year. Reluctance to bring history of al1)7 kind into the training of priests ,vas due to recent happenings. Italian events had been all too tnrhu]cnt for the Church and especial]), for the Papacy. 'let La Piana hin1sclf ,vas not jmmunc to the nationalist fervor of sonic of the younger priests. They ,vould occasionally join in the ~inging of the hyn1nof Giuseppe Garibaldi, ,vho in P11ler1noin 1866 had launched his nu1.rch \Vith the cry~ Ro111ll o 111orte! l\1an)7 sen1inarians and younger priests had been trying, sioce the encyclical Rer1nnnovar1nn ( 1891 ) 1 to find their ,va)r into Hthe papal dcn1ocracy'" (La Pjana's phrase) of Leo XIII under his nc,v 111otto~(Fuori di sacrestiaH jn 2 centralized pro- gra111''for the gr2dual conquest of pub1ic po,vcrs" (De'lnocrazia cris- tia-11a).La Piana received his clerical tonsure in I\1urch 1893 nnd ,vas ordained tu the 1ninor orders in June 1897.. 1-Icreceived pcr1nission f ro1n the Sacred Congregation of the Index to read prohibited books and periodicals in l\1arch 1 898. 6 1~eca use of his precocity J.Ja P j an~ fi nisl1 ed ]1 is th colo gi cal studics son1en1onths before the canonical age for ordination to the priesthood. He received the licentiate in theology in 1900. He felt no in1111cdi2te coercion fron1 his superiors to enter the priesthood. 1-Ic,vould rc1ne1n- ber, in fact, that his 1nost revered teacher., i\11-aurizio Polizzi, tried to c]arify for hitn the n1eaning of a clerical vocation. La Pian-a.had also heen considering 1a,v and possibly a career in politics 1 even in the his- tory of art. Al,va) 7 S in the background of his nljndi ho,vcver, ,vas the unarticulated but clearly co1nmu nicated hope of his especially beloved e The permission is anlong the Papers~a]ong v.·ith a more ample document, dated I I April 1901. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) 1:12 Htfr1..,•ard Library Uulletin and adn1ircd·1nother., that he proceed ·to ordination~ On 2 2 Septen1bcr J 900 nt the age of t\venty-t\v_o he ,vas ordained priest; and in the co1n- pan1Tof others like hinlscJf he prostrated hitnself in \vhitc before the high altar of the great Byzantinc-Nornrn.n cathedral of l\1oruealc. 17cc.ling that the very·saints and Christ 11in1sclf,vou]d materialize f ro1n the n1osaics about then1, as he Jatcr recounted, he "experienced a rnysti- ca} exaltation and pron1iscd [ to hin1sclf J to keep alive the fhune of cnth u.siaMnand fulfill f aithfuily-the duties of his nc\V state. i,u Four .,vears later both his 1nothcr and his f avoritc teacher died un- expectcd}y·.He heard at night in l\-1onrealeabout his n1othcr's sudd~n death, 2 2 1\.pril I 904i in her garden; and, on horseback~ he inuncdiatcly betook hit11sclfto his hill tO\\'n to cclcbrntc her rcqnic111111c1ss. I-Jc ,vas~ ho,vcver, so ovcr\vhc]n1cd by the sight of her that he blanked out~ and on1)7 ,vith the help of t\vo other priests could he co1nplcte 11isfilial a.nd priestly duty 8t the ch11rch. ,i\1hilc in the theological college La Piana did sonic teaching and ,vas an ~ssistant in the library. I-le ,v:1s in1n1cnsely 1ntcrcsted in the in- cunabula and rook the lend in rebuilding the shelves>rcf urbishing the readjng roon1, an a The ccrtificntc of ordination js among the P;:rpen,. ·rhe newly ordained priest's resolutio11is quoted from one of the v-c:rsionsof the AuLobiography. Jv La Pfana fo.tcr paid tribute to 1,irn ic1 '~Ernesto Iluonr-duti"'sSpiritua] "\Tision of Lifct Uulletin of tbc ]-,Jarverrd l)ivi11ity Scbool~ 1947, pp. 47-67. Otl1cr ltalic1n 1\1orl- en1i~s included the novclist Antonio Fogazz.at·o ( 1842-11 111 t \Vhosc novclt 11 Santo ( x905), about :1 tempt~d Picroj "~a~put on the Index. Picro ,va.s 5~\Ted fro1n adultery by div inc j ntenTcndun fl nd dcv oted h i-s]if l! a:s ii b.y bro th cc to in te rna1 ref or n1s of the Church. The Jayn1anFogazzaro rcn,aiocd in the Church. The llarnal.Jite social reformer among the poor and among ,vrctched children, GJonlrtni gc1ncri.l ( r 8(i7- 1931), a]so re1n~ined faithful to the Church. In contrast~ the hihlical scholar and Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Cat/Jolie111oder-nirt at H«r·Vnrd 1 2 3 of the hundreds .of priests ,vho, bct,vecn 1890 and 19101- left by their o,vn choice or ,vcrc f orccd to leave the Church of their f-a.thcrs_1i Partly Je,vish in origin~ Buonaiuti ( 1881-1946),. La Pi2na's junior by three y·ears.,had been ordained a priest in 1903 .. At the tirne of La Pian2ts vjsit nuonaiuti ,vas professor of ecclesiastical history at the Pontificio Atcne.o I~ateranensc in that part of it called at the time the Pontifical llon1an Scn1ingry near Sane Apol linurc. Buonaiuti hud just launched his Rivista storica critica delle scieuze teologiche ( 1905- 191 o~ \vhcn it ,vas placed in the Index) .12 La Piana found in Buonaiuti a 1nore n1ystj cal Ca tho licisn1 th an his O\ vn and in ti 1c c cc l esiasti ca1 his- tori an' s socinl 1ncssianisn1 (]nter to be nurtured by- his Joachi1nite studies) rn an optinlisnl about itnpending ccclcsiastic-a.lrefortn ,vhich La Pjana cou]d nut sl1arc. It is not recorded at vthat tin1eLa Pinta came jnto personal contact ,\·ith another l\1odernist priest, ,vhon1 he n1nch admired.,l~on1olo l\1urri ( 1870-1944). Ordained in 1 893 a student of sociology and political science at the University of Ron1e, l\1lurri {oundcd there the pcriodicnl Cultllra sociale ( 1898), and also JTit« 11uo·va ( 1 899) . The f ormcr f ound~r of St1ult religiori1 Salvatore 1Vljnocchi ( 1869-1943), ,,,_~asexcot111nunicated. Baran Frlcdrich von I-lilgcl ( h. in FJorE:nc,c1 fi52; d. in London 1925 ), although he ,v as l.Jor n an cl ~du~atcd in 1t;t 1y, is counted ns n E,ngl ish ~1.odern i st. \\1"lth dj ffi cu 1ties he ren1ain~d f~idif ul to tho Cliurd1. Son of d~e Ausrrian c1.1nhassador to Tuscany ~nd of a Scottish convert f ro,n Prcsbytcrhnisnli van I·Higcl ]hTed in Engbnd -after !876. J-Je \\Tote Tbe .Afystical Elen,ent of l?.digion ar- Studied iu St. Catherine of Siena ( 190S) .. He ·was close to those "·ho organi7.cd and published in Rinnovtmwnto (l\1ilan, 3 907-1909), which sought to unite those in Irnly Hndcr pressure •Lecause of the condcn1n8.rion of l\iodernism in 1907. Sec ,l.Jclo\\' at note 19, n Pel!egrino di l(.onrn: La genrurzione delJ' Es-odo (BarJ 1 1945; nC\V edition ·with introduction, 1964), He had car] ier ,vritte n l l .A{od ern fru10 ratt oli co ( I\ 1oden:11 1943) .. 1 j~ Thereupon ll u on a1 u ti f ou n (led Ri ccr cbe rel igi ore, in ,,..hi ch La 1 fan a ,vou ld ]ate r pu h l is h sever.al of 1,is a rticl cs. B uon iu ti ,vas exco1nn1u n i ca te d vit ,1ndu s in 192 5. I-Jc \vould refuse in 1931 to gi,·c the Fascist oath to retain his professorship 11t the Universitv of Rome. Yet he \\'Onld dedinc in 1936 the offer to ·becorn-c ordiJwrius at the U l~ivcrsity of L-ri.u~anno,for to do so he \1itould ha Ye had to renounce C~thol- idsm acc;ording to the statutes of tli~.t Jl-cforn1ed insdtudon, and he, to the end, 1.vould con-~ider hi n1sel f a true mc1n L er of the Catholic Chu re h. l\'I areel la R ~vahas prepared a Bibliogtafia dfgli scritti di Ernesto Ruonaiuti (FJorcncc1 195 c) ,vith 3 766 iten1s, and Do1nenico Grasso has provided -a 111ajor critique of [he principal Irnlian lVlodernLstts c:onccption of Chrisrh1nity jn 1' Cristfanesinu; di Ernesto Buouniuti {Brescia! 1953), 1 ! Buonainti's studies of Joachirn of l 1·lora E:timufoted L'J. Pbna l~tcr into the sain-c field: 'LJoachi1n of r lor:a: A Critic~l SunTeyt Sp~culun1~ \ 7 l l ( i93 i ). 1.57-i8i, Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) 124 Harvard Library B11lletiu proposed a nc,v direction for C-a.tholicpo1itica1 energies released by opening up the lta1ian priesthood to political participation ,vith the strategic espousal of de111ocraziacristim1a by Leo XIII. i\1urri led the youth section of Italian Catholic Action rtnd founded the Lega den10- crazianflz-ionale, ,, ..I1en Lco>s reorganization of the hierarchically con- tro11edOpera dei Congrersileft hin1 out of the leadership. In 1907 i\1ur1·i,vas suspended fron, his priestly functions and in 1909 he ,vas ex con llllUnicatc 1 u u ...4,. n Itctli 1l n 1\1oder nist ~s I-Jope for the Future~ ' H mTn rd T beof o g ica I R evic-i.v! IX { 19 [6 ), 376--3S-1- n Pi us XII sent a ca rd inal to the bedsj de of Hu on =:i:i u ti,. ::1lJ [hor j tcd to r cone 11 him to the Church on a basis f:lt cljffercnt fru1n the ~m:j-i\•lod{~rnjst Oathi ·\.\•hk·hhe h!ld once sjgn ed, !Jut this tim c he ref used. 10 ... A R c\· icw· of Ital j l\1.oder nism, )t l-J.a/'"'~arcl T beol og i cal Re-1)iew1IX ( 19 r 6) 351-3 75+ Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Catbolic A1odernistnt Hari1nrd 125 to 190 o)t' and laymen tried variously to cotnbi ne the tra ditiona l tran- scendent dogn1a and liturgical practice ,vith (2) Nco-Kantian or (b) Nco-Hegelian or ( c) the immanentistphilosophy of J\1auriccBlondct. 17 The layn1cn,verc somctin1cs trained for part of their curriculu1n ,·vith these priests or 1norc likely in the no,v largely secularized colleges of the various orders and th en in th c secol arizc d royal universities ( systcm- atic aHy denuded of their the.ologjcal facultjes). La Piana observed th~t the first N co-Kantian grouping largely ren1ain ed "rithin the Church, often in high positions. Those in the second grouping a]most all found themselves outside the Church1 for Hegelianism became ''their true and only re1igion'' and they took positions teaching phi- losophy, history, and c}3ssicsin the secularjzed colleges and the secular Jicei. La Piana evidently c]assificd hin1scif ,vith the third grouping (along \Vith Buonuiuti), ,vho \Vere sustained by I.Al l)hiloropbie de f'action: Essai dJ1tne critique de /a vie et d'1111escience de la pratique ( 1 893) of the ncar-l\1odcrnfat Jay philosopher Blondcl ( 1861-r949). Recognizing that 1 every 111ov en1en t carries \vi th i tscl f c vil as · \veil as good, men of bad faith together ,vith men of pure ideals,n L-aPjana defined I\1odernis1nas of 1907 as Haspiritual attitude., a .strong faith and a vivid enthusiasm, trying to galvanize the dead rc1igious spirit of the Italian people.', B The Papacy took action against l\1odcrnisn1on a ,vorld scale in a ~eries of four i1otahlc strikes, J 90 5-1907. In the encyclical ll f er1no proposito( 1 t June 1905)., Pius X, lvhile encouraging Catholic Accion, .fir111ly5ubordinated the Jay apostolate to the hierarchy (in line \Vith I~eo's Gra·vesde connnuni of 1901., ,vhich~ though it had accepted the term den1ocrazia cristiana, had depoliticized it as '(beneficent Christian action in favor of the people,,) .. In the ency·c]ical Pas-ceudi(8 Septe111- ber 1907) Pius X set forth and condemned the ,vholc international i\1odernist prograrn. Ln Piana \vill surely have read attentive]y the .spirited anon)rn1ous reply to I'nscendi hy Buonaiuti, 11,progra11t1na d ei 111odernisti( 1907) .19 Ptccisel)r amid the reverberations of La111entahiliand Paxcendi La .u l bid., 3 71 r :!B lbid.t 373· i~ La Piana char;1ctcrizes il jn '""Iluonaiuti's \ 1isiont pp. 52:-54. Buonaiuti in his tesnunen t of 18 l\il-nre h 194-6lquoted ibid., p. n6i w o tJl d :5a y of I\1 od crn ism that it ,vas misnamed't ''since it vvas Jntrnded only to be a· re\riya1 of the plirc Evangelical idcah of the Gospels}~ Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Harvard Library Bulleti11 Pjana asked his ordinary·, Gasparo l.,ancea di Brolo, Archbishop of l\J1onre-a[eand hirusclf an ecclesiastical histotiant for permission to take a year off to study at the Catholic universit)7 of Fribourg.~0 Evidently· La Piana had no intention of studying in Fribourg. 21 It ";,asperhaps on his trip north that ,vc 1nay place the oft-repeated anecdote of a fateful conversation in the train co1npart1nent., ,vherc he expressed son1e,vhat too freely his l\ 1od ernist vi C\VS. His con versa ti ona l partner turned out to be the ecclesiastic3l pcrson~gc \Vith ,vhon1 he \Vas to have an appoint- 1nent about a nc,v position the next 00 A rchhishop di Brolo's pcrn1iss1on,c. October 1907, js; among the::P~pers. The second p3ge V/jth the exact date is missing. :11So he ~ays jn his A utobiograph,r. In the common vcrsjon of this story, undocun1ented,. howe\Ter., in the historian's Papers\ La Pi=ma ·was to have bcf.n considered for -a V\1.tic-an :ippoinnncnt in JsrnnbnL This is plausible in that he ,vas from uoyhood acquainted "\Viththe Byzandnc rjcc. But for another cxplanr-.ti on, sec 1Jc] o,v at note 2 5. I here gjve the story in the ,vords of John l\1arshaU,,vho became in I 916 sccn;:- rnry of the i\1ecliival ACiHkruy of Atnc:tica: 1'Lc1Pfana receiYed an invitadon to come to Rome to meet ,vfrh the Apo::itolic Ddegate to lstanbu], as he understood it, to be con:,idered for a secretaryship. As La Piana said, an appointment to this po st ·wou] d ha \Te put hj n1 j n to the di p1on1adc 1ine of eccl esia sti cal a cl,Tancemen t,. ·which cou1 d hn,·c ] c:d to the Red Hat [the tradition a] djgnity of the \;ratica.n's highest n:•-presenn1.ti\'"Cjn the aucicnt capital of the East]. Crossing from Palern10 by feITJ\ he took the train for Rome. At l\1onte Cassino! ri priest got aboard the train and cnten:d the con~partment that La Pfrina \V;asoccupying, dressed in derjcal garb ,vith- ou t any d isdngn t5 hing mar ks. 0 n the v.~jy to Ro inc the ntTo priests ta] ked frc:clyi as unid~ntified tra"elcrs \Viii~2nd La pjan4lcxprc~sed his vie\v,s candid- ly. l\lhen he ·went for his appointn1ent the next day at the \T1'tic~n, the nuncio proved to be the \.'cry prdatc ,\·ith ,,·hon1 he had come from ~1onte Oa.~sinorAs J,c rc.cognized La Pfana, he me.rd v said, '\\' ell1 Father L~ P fan a, after our talk of yesterday., I see no n~ed for rfurther discussion.J" 23 The dip] 01na is an Longth c P, pet·s+ ~"~Chiesa e Stato irt Fr:a.ncia: Progetti di Riforme soi Prindpji del Seco]o x,r11J/ Rivista storico-cri!ica delie Stie7]z.c Teologicbe, 1\ 1 ( 1908 ), 467 .ff.. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) CatbolicA1.odernist at l-larvard 127 Alessandro Lualdi (b. 1858~ appointed to the see of Palcrn10, 1904), offered hicna position in histor}Tin the col1cgcof San Rocco in Palermo and the directorship of this quasi-n1unicipal school no longer under direct cc clesiatica] s ju r isdicti 0111 a1th ou gh both pri csts and Ia ymen taught there. La Piana apprised the Cardinal of his l\1odcrnist leanings and ,vas told that he might proceed ,vith the appointn1ent so long as he kept these insights ufor his o,Yn use.'' 25 San Rocco had been a Counter-Refortnation establisluncnt ,vith an admirab]c libral)r ,,-ith many incunabula. It ,vas the traditional school for the youth of the local Italian nobjlity; ·but it had been suhstantia1ly altered b)r the hnvs that had secularized the colleges of all the religious orders ~frer 1870, and \vhen La Piana took over as rector, there ,vere but t\ven ty resident boys. He rigorously· reorganized the institution, recruiting nc,v students, dividing the groups according to aptitude and achievcn1ent, and placing them under freshly recrl1itcd young resident priests as prefects. La Piana ,vouid re1nc1nbcr vividl)7 the fashionahle Sunday visitations of the aristocratic n1othcrs upon thejr sons, their solicitous inquiries in the office of the rector, and the n1utunl courteS)T kissing of hands. On such occasions the young and h-a.ndson1e rector marveled that he could ,vcekly t\valk on fire ,vithout burning his feet.', :rn Indeed he fell secretly in love ,vith one of the young n1othcrs of rare beauty and uncon1111onability. I~a.Piana served both as rector of San Roccot 1909-1913, and as teacher, .once a ,veek, of histor)r in the nearby ecclesiastical licco of Palern10. He also taught Italian and French ljtcrature in a technical school (llcgia Scuola Tccnica Piazzi). On I September 1910 an acute problem faced all Ivlodcrnist and [Viodernizing Catholic clerics, not alone in Italy~ By a u1ot11 proprio Pius X required of all clerics above the level of the minor orders an nnti- l\1odernist oath~ ,vhich en1bocliedfive doctrinal propositions of the Tridenrinc profession of faith of Pius IV ( 1 563}~an1plific-d ,vith addi- tions from Vatican 1, -along,vith subn1issionand asscnr to La111entnbili and Pascendi. The oath ,vas directed against clandestine groups that had been forming since 1907 and ev·cn the n1orc open scholarly pcr- ~1 The phr-::lse~ppcars in the Autobiography~ It is quite possible that the famous train co n1parunent episode \Vith i1n ccc lcsj astic-al personage,. during "\\·hich La 11 j an r-i. spoke un\vadly- of his I\1odernisn1,.,vas ·with Cardinal Lualdi, ,vho neverthdess a 11 owt.:d1l l1n to take the post at San Roe co, per h~ ps on th c t hcory that he cou] d hold for the Chu re h the scions of Aristocradc £a mi Hes. Sec '1hove at note 1 :z.. 1111A phrase fron1 th<: Autobiography, Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) I 1 8 Har-vard Library Ru/leti11 sons like those "\Vho con tribute d to 1?..itn2ova111en to ( 1ilanl 1 90 7--09) 1"hc oath insisted that there be .seenno opposition benvecn history and dogn1a. Only about forty Catholics aH over the ,vorld dcc1ined to .sign the anti-i\1odernist oath. La Piana is recorded as say·ing that he never had to sign the oath,-21 perhaps because of the 1cnicncy of Cardinal Lualdi, perhaps because of the tfUasi-1nunicipalstatus of San Rocco~ ln A1.ayr 912 San Rocco celebrated the vjctory· of Italy in the ,Yar for Libya ag~inst the Turks ,vith specfril cere1nonics in honor of General Giov:1nni A111cglio,an alumnus of San Rocco, "'ho had Jed the expedition that took the Island of Rhodes for Italy~ The Pea.cc Treaty of Lausanne of 1 9 I 2., ending the I talo~Turkish "\;I;/ar~ also established the independence of A]bania fron1 Otto1nan rule and phi.eccla Gcr1n:111 pri n cc 01t the A lb anian throne 6 - a11 of \V hi ch ,vas of g rca t interest to residents of La Pi an a.deg Ii Alb ancsi. In the national library of the University of Palcrn10, La P1anahad been attracted hy a Greek n1anuscript of a dra1natic honJily·of Gregory of Nyssa.'2° In Jul)r 1912 he received his doctorate 80 fron1 the Uni- versity for his dissertation· on the \vay in ,vhich By·zantine liturgical dra111adeveloped fron1 dran1atic .sermons, Le Rappreseutazio11isacre nellaleite-rrrtura bizantina, published at Grottafr.rrata. La Pjana ,vould later place his .study in the Jargcr context of scholarship to date in '""The Byzantine Theater," Speculuu1 ( 1936) ..31 Although successfulin his rcctors~ip of ~an Rocco~La Piana found unbearab]c the tediu1n of the routines he_hJ L~ Pfa.namakes this statcn1cnt in his Autobiography. Prince \.Villfom of lVicd \\'3S Jong: ;:I!!: Saver 10, Franccsco 1 Fcdc::rico. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Catbolic A1oden1irttrt 1-larvard 129 one a i\{odcrn.ist, the other a conservative, both of ,vho1n had gone to Nc\v Orleans. IaJe applied hoth to C11rdinalLunldi 2nd to the n1u1uc- ipal authorities of P~lerrno for a six 111onths' leave of 2bscnce; and, taking the e,nigrant ship it-1oltkefr.0111 Naples in August 1913t he turned out to he one of a dozen in the first-c]ass cghins, destined for Nc,v )Y-ork+ He recalled his first lesson in English \Vith the only ,voman in rhat sc]cct company aboYe steerage, the ,vife of a doctor. At 1-Iohoken he ,vas disn1aycd by the ugliness of the port in such contrast to the be- loved Porto \Tecchio of Palcrrno and by the s1nokc1 grin1c,and noise. I-Iis ,vclco1ningbrothers chided him for his aesthetic sensitivities and took hin1 at once on a yjsit to Coney Island. He rcn1aincd a. 1nonth in • i\1an hat tan J gro, vi ng ever 111ore i111 prcssc d by A1ner ican genius~ bcf ore l caving for lvlil,va u k cc. La Pianu., fron1 correspondence \Vith his brothers, had gained the itnprcssion that the French and German Catholic traditions converging in 1\1ihvaukcchad 1nadc the ~rchdioccsc there one of the 1nost progrcs~ sive in the N e,v ,,, orld. He had a.lready been struck hy the translations of Arch bishop John Ireland ( d. 1918) and Jan1cs Cardinal Gibbons (d. l 92 I) jnto In1lian~ l..iaPiana presented hir11sclfto the S,viss-born Archbishop _of l\1il\\raukcc, Sebastian Gebhard l\'1css1ncr ( 190 3-30) to receive per1nission to celebrate n1ass ,vithin that jurisdiction i 3 but also to offer his servic cs in d cvel oping, perhaps in connection ,vi th Jcsuit i\1firguette U ntversity, a hun1anistic progran1 of the kind he had developed so .successfully at San Roccoa (In Decen1bcr 1913 the authorities at San llocco forn1ally accepted.his resignation as dircctor 1 after "i1.second extension of his lcave~3~) Archbishop l\1cssn1cr,vas not at all receptive to La Piana's proposaL His priestly secretary, though more favorable, could rnake no pron1iscs4 The scc re tar y and J...,..aPian a excha ngcd English n n d I ta 1i an lcsso ns. La Piana ,vas urged by Archbishop J\1cssn1erto learn Gcrn19n; and he \Vas introduced to l\.1onsignorP. 1\1. Ahbclcn, characterized later as the "(despotic' l spiritual director i1t the n1othcrhouse of the teaching Sisters of Notre Dame~ opposite the lAl Piana house. and drugstore. In the n1cantime~ Angc]ina La Piana had con1e to join lier brothers. _A..bbelen~ \vhcn he once encountered Giorgio and Angelina taking their usual ,valk before s_upper, angrily accused 1..-aPiana of ''typical Italian devit~ ::IJ Archhi:shop l\lessmer's letter granting La Pi-an-aperrnissjon to mass and to receive con f es-sions, d atcd 1 F c hruary 1 9 141 is :;i n10TIg the Papers. tk I) oc u 111ents among the Pa pcrs, Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) 130 Harvard Library- Bulletin try'"'; and~vti tho n t giving hi1n an opportu nit y to explain, th c chancery .suspendedhis right to say n1 ass.~~ ,i\Tith rebuffs and 1nisunderstanding.s f ro1n Catholic authorities., l..,..i, Piana before long found hin1self n1ore and n1ore in t11e con1pan}r of the cultured elite of the city than in sanctuary and classroo1n. In the gatherings in the J~rge horues of such leaders of business ~.';the R-alph GugJcr fan1ily·.,\Vith ,vhose daughter he exchanged Italian lessons for German, he occasiona11y-gave lectures on French and Ita1ianpoetry and other subjects. It "ras in this circle, ,vhich included the University Club., that L.. a Piana n1ade the acquaintance of the Unitaria:n 1ninisrer, the Rev. Lyn1an -~1.Greenrnan, an al11n1nu8of tl1c Irlnrvnrd Divinity Schoo1 (1896). Greenman suggested to La Piana that he n1akc -astudy of the I ta] ian con1111unity in 1'1ih vauk e c, ra111 id the ethnic f ac ti o11alis1 n over the control of the hierarchy and chancery as :unong the Irish~ the Gcrrnans, and the Po1es. This study n1atcrjalized as The Italians in A1ilwaukee">JJTisconsiu: A Geue-ral Sur•vey (A1il\vankcc, r915) in 87 pages. 1""hough L.. a Pi:ina had re.signedhis rectorshjp in San Rocco, he ,vas still n1uch jutcrcstcd in education; and he visited .several institu- tions in ':\'isconsin and beyond. I-le al.~otook over the editorship of the brotl1crs' fortnightly· paper, Corriered el f-fTest. It had _originallybeen conceived as a \vay of advertisingpharmaceutical concoctions. The La Pi an a brothers n1ain ta ined u drugstore~ ,v hilc o nc , vas studying 1ncd- icine. A division of labor no,v occnrreda One brother (l4ranccsco) turned ,vholl)r to his 1ncdical studies ( [\,1.D~ 19 r 4) in his final intern year, one brother (Saverio) ran the store., and Giorgjo La Piana in- creased sales by his vigorous editorship. The third page of Corriere ,vas reserved for the pharnlaceuti cal pro ducts. Th c enterprising editor even ran a. serial novel about Indians, "On the Shores of the Great Lakes,J, ,vhich finally can1e under priestly censure because of too 111anyerotic episodes. 0 n learning that La Piana had made no progress \rith the Arch- bishop r-tndthe President of IVlar(1uetteUniversity and rhat he did not ,v ish further to i n1pose on his bro th er~/ hospi t8 lity, Greenman urged him to consider rcn1aining in An1erica and establishing h imsclf in some connection at the Harvard Divinity Scl10ol. The Harvard Di vjnity SchoolJ thanks to Greenman~s good offices, offered La Pjana ,vhat "\"Vas ~The episode i:sIecountecl in the Autobiography, but only in the -rnemorilndum of A1onsignor K.eefor ( sec below, n ore 68) is this c pi sod c interpreted as: the occasion of th c .suspension of his right to s'cly n1 ass. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) CatbolicModernist at liarvard I 3 I in effect a teaching f cllo,vship; and non1innlly, at least, the son1etin1e rector of San Ilocco and doctoral laureate of the University of Palcr1no ,vns registered as a resident gradu~tc .student, 1915-J916. He had a.c- cc pted the ap poj n tm en t s teaching fell O\V on the cor rcct assun1 p ti on thnt the grant of a felJo,-vshipin "the nondenon1inationalschool'' surcl)T could nut jnlply "acceptance of Unitarian theology." He cook a roo111 in Divinit)7 Hall~ and bccatne a neighbor of another instructor~ 1-I:rrry A ..,,rolfson. The nvo n1c1nbers of the Faculty ,vho gave La Piana the n1ost en- coura.ge1nent ,.verc J)rof essor George l\,oot l\1loorc and Prof cssor Jan1cs Hardy Ropes. It \Vas under i\-Ioorc that La Piana served as non1inal 1 teaching fc1lo,v. 1'1oorc had encouraged J... a Piana "to hang ::1round~ and ''get the l1ang of the p1aceit; and, stiil gaining n1astcr) 7 over the English language 1 La Piana ,vondercd for ~nvhile,vhether thnt recur- rent ,vord ''hang'' n11ght not be intended in the deponent sense. But he decided to persevere in Cambridge rather than rjsk returning to 1tal}" at ,var ,vith Austria (as of 1\1uy1915). llopcs, ~s editor of the Hnr·vnrd Tbeological Revie-w, encouraged J...iaPim1a to prepare puh]icatio11s for tl1at journal a11dl1cl1Jed l11n1to pnlish ]11sEnglish sty le. 1-Iisfirst contribution to the Revic~v"~as published in his first year in C"11nbridge.~ ,:,Allcvie\v of Catho]ic I\1odcrnisn1.'1 ia I-le then introduced the ltalian l\1.odcrnist Ernesto Buonaiuti to the l~evie.-r..Vin r 9r 7, in a translation of -''The Genesis of St. Augustine's ]dea of Original Sin.1 ' Ji '''ith the entry of the United St~tes into the ,var in Aprjl 1917, La Pjana considered returning to Italy for n1ilitary service.. Indeed the Italian co nsu]ar scrv ice arranged for the training of resident Itali an aliens jn a camp in Texas~ Rut en route in Ne\v Orleans L.. a Piana ,vns excn1pted on physical grounds.38 He offered his scrvjccs to the Red Cross in Italy, but they did not 3cccpt aliens for ,vork in the country of origin. J-Iis ,var-ti111cservice turned out to be to read :-1ndto report on the suspected pro-Gern1an scnti1ncnt a1nong Albanians in Ne\v England~ aftcr Italy had joined the Allies and ousted the Gern1an prince fron1 Albania~ cstabJishinga foothold there against hoth Serbians and Grecl(~_~oDuring the ,var he also con1n1utcd to the I"""'oomisSchool in ~II arva1·d Tbcologic(1J Rr·vier:.vtIX ( 1916 ), 351-3 75• .allbfd., X ( u; 17), 159-175, Note also Buonaiuti 1s u i\1ethodius of Olyn1pus/' ibid .., Xl\i' ( 19i. 1 ), 255-166. 2-!I The certificate of exernption is 'Jmong the Papers, Vr'jth related materfals, ~!] Sec ahove -at note 2K Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) 132 flar-r..hTtd Library B111feti11 Connecticut to rcpl~ce the master in French there; college cnroll1nents ,vere greatly reduced, and a number of professors took on secondary- school teaching assignments of this sort. At the c1osc of the \Var in I 91 8 I....-iPiana "ras naturalized. lAt. Piana~s first course in his o,vn name at Harvard ,vas C-atho]ic moral theology fro1n Thon1as Aquinas to the present, in the a.cadc1nic year 1918-1919. Fron1 1919 to 192 3 L.a Piana ,vas instructor in Church history~ During this period he ,v~s at ,vork on early Christi'iln history· in Ronle, publishing t,vo articles in 192 1,•rn and t,vo rc]ated monographs jn 192 2: 11prob/e111a deJJa Cbiesa l ..atinrt in l{o1na and La Succesrio11eepiscopa/e 111Ro·uur c gli Albori del I'1·hunto. In the sarr1c ycar 1 1 921, J__,aPiana ~s translation of a 111aj or ,vork of George l"oot l\1oore appeared in Bari in r,vo volun1es~as Storirtdelle Re!igiune.-uIn 192 2 he ,vrote to the Italian i\1inistryof Educationt entering h1s na1nc ju con1petition for a post in ecc] esias6cal history at the U nivcrsity of Naples+4~ In the s2111c year, 1922, he ,vrotc t\YO articles about contc1nporary thcoiogicnl trends~ one jn Italian to apprjsc readers in his native land of HThe Crisis of An1erican Protestantis111" 4~ and the other in English to acquaint An1ericans \Vith recent trends in continental C:uhoiic /Vlodcrn- isn1.-u1n the Italian t1rticlc he dealt pri~nnrHy,vith the fund~tncntalist- co n se rv ati v c-1noder n i.~t cleavage nn1 on g re prcsc n ta tiv c 1nainl inc d c- n on1in :1 ri on s such as the Eaptists 1 the Prcsbyterjans~ and the Episco- P alian s. He sa, v reli gi 011s and po Iiti cal conserv atis n1 as in tcrrcIa tcd and, ,vith his strong passion for soci2l jnsticc'l he inveighed against the n1achinations and ruses of A111eric~nplutocracy and rejoiced in the breakthrough of the social gospel a1nongthe younger 1ninistcrs. }_/aPiana's experience in polyglot !vlil\vaukcc ,vith conflicting liturgi- cal feasts a1no ng Cat ho}ics there had rei nf orcc d his boyhood m cn101-ies of t,vo-rite Piana and n1ade increasing])rvivid his understanding of polygJot Jlon1c and the beginning of Church historyr, I-Iis scholarly in- 1 7 4.·) 'Cc;ph~5 3.nd Peter 1,i Fi clr-u11rdTb eo 1o gi cal R e---;,..·je·w I XI , ( 192 1 } • 8 7-9 3t n d t'Thc Tombs of Peter and Pau] c1d Cat~cutnbas. 11 ibid., 5 3-94. n This was foHo\VCc.lhy Origine e wJluppo dell a Rdigio11e (lhr-j~ i 924). ,~Le ttc r fr om th c n1i11jsrry among Pap l:rs w oul cJind icatc th~ t h-e 1n~ de a pplic.adon in. Non::mber. i:J '~La Crisi dei Protestant£!-5inlo A1ncric~no.t lJ Co11vivio ( 1912 )T 44 ' 1 Rc{:Cnt Tendencic~ in Rotn~n C::i.thoiic Theology,':r lla~wrd Theological Re- view,,xv· ( i 921 )., :z.33-i9:i, This -article ,v-as cited above at notes l4i r6--c8. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Catbolic A1odcr11istat Hariinrd I 3 3 sights., archa eo 1 ogical~ litnrg ica I, and cthnic, , vould cven tuate in t\ vo monographs \v·hich to the present day-reverberate in the literature: '~The Ron1an Church at the End of the Second Century,, 45 and ''Foreign Groups in Roni c during the First Centuries of the E1npirc. ~,4 G In the 111c11 n ti 1nc La Pian a ]1 ad been -appointed assistant prof essor of Church history at I-larva.rd~ 192 3-26, and ful] professor~ 1926-3 24 Dean "'\\7illard I". Sperry- ( 192. 2-5 3) ,\·as probably very much in~ volvcd in his pron1otion, given Dean Sperry's great interest in Father Tyrrell and Baron von Hugel. During this period of La Pinna's advanccn1ent -Jt I·l-a..rvardthe Sacco- \Tanzctti C,gse bccainc an intcrna tional cause ceJe bre ( I 91 1-2-7). Al- though even President A. La,vrencc Lo,,,ell becan1einvolved at the end as n mernber of a thrce-n1an advisory con1n1ittcc to the gover- nor, La JJiana for his part ren1ainedalooL He obtained a seat in the visitors, section during the trial; "7 hut he recoiled frorn the philosophi~ cal anarchisn1 of the defendants., as the socia1ly concerned priests in Jtgly felt far rcn1oved fron1 the revolutionar) 7 fervor of the Socialists. In any event no reference to the fan1ous case has sho,vcd up in the La Piana Papers. La Piana~sappointn1cnt to tenure in July 1926 ,v~s nccon1panied by a leave of absence for six n1onths (fall sen1cster, 1926-27 )'ts and a grant of t\\ro thol1sand dollars+ Tnthe san1c year ( 1926) the Beacon Press in Boston put out an ltuli'3n-English edition prepared by La Piana o{ a biography by Ed\vard I-I. Cotton, entitled in the t\vo-langnagc edition for Italians: Teodoro Roosevelt, l,A?J1ericrtno.I-Ic accepted an invita- tion to be professor of Italian culture at the ColurnbiaUniversity Sum~ 1ner School ( 1926). He ,vas the con1mon choice of the nvo factions ,vi thin the department of It a1ian n1adc up of native .A.Jncricansand ltalo-An1cricans .. He gave one course on lta]ian poetry from Dante Alighieri through l.iodovico Aiiosto to the poets of the Risorgi- n1ento.4{1'Angelina registered for this course under her brother and .. 1bid., x,rnr (I915 ), 2-01-2.77. "6 l bid.! XX ( J927), 183~403. "~A remin isccncc of a career-] a ng friend. T/Je Arn1ou1Icenient of lb~ Tbeological School in Ilnro(jrd Univenity (Caru- hridge, l916) says that Lt=LPiang \\'as [I.absent during first half-year, 1926--17." The auto biog rap hie~ l m~ ter j i 1s say that h c returnc d to Carn br j dge in O ct{lher 192.6. Rut the picn1 re slb 11m in the La pj a.na Collection ind ic~te.s that he \t-"asin Italy ,veU into the f :all-and ,.vintcr.. Ita1 ia n IU Contetnporary I ta] i an T.. itcrg tare i 1 [ 3i Hi story of Italian Liter.1 ture. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) I 34 H ar'VardLibrr,.ry B11llcti11 began "\·vorkon ,,rhat ,vou1dbeco1ne her University of Palermo doctor- ate (I933 ), La Cultura m11erica11([e l'lurlin.60 After the sum1ner sessionLa Pian-atook passagefor Italy on an Italian liner in the con1pany of his friend 1~-a11ro de nosis. He had taken the precaution of getting his visa in Ne,v York rather th~u1Bostonj ,vhere the local consu1 ,vas too much £nvarc of his anti-Fascist sentiments.~1 111 Ilome, B11on:::tiutioffered hin1hospitality at his viHaon \ 1ia Alheroni until he could secure a convenient residence of his o,vn. He a.dn1ired Buonaiuri's rnysticr1lan pron1ptl)7 in the Harvard .A.Jun1niBulletin.~~ I-le, like Buonaiutit s:n,r in th c I ...a te.rnn T rca ties hal cfu 1 mu tu aI l'. uncessions b en veen t,vo kinds of 1 r..i P1Jblished in Turin in 1939;. rcnTork-cd ~11d enlarged as Dantes A1J1eric1r11.Pil- grhuage: A Historical Sun.,1ey of DtoUe Studies in tbe U"JdtedSuites. 18LJO-i. 944 (N('.\'r.'T-Ii1Yen, 1948). I-Jer brother \Yurkcd \vkb ]1er e.xten$hTe1yon this publk:~don. Angc1ioa. "·~~ a n1c111bcr of the ,~ 1dks]ey Co1lege Deparuncnt of llon1;1nccLnn- guagc St in varying ron fo;;:1 f rorn 19z 7 to x949 · ~:La Pfo.na's Irn.lfa.npassport is ~rnong the Papcr.s! Lut not the An1erican. Nor do \Ve ha,Te in hand the papers on his b ccon1 ing "'c1n cri can citizc n. ~:i B-nUe1inof the Htrn ..mrd Divinity Stbao/ 1 1947, pp. 47--67. Th~ La Piana Pnpcrs contain the cor re sponden c e for the period 1908~i 946. C-"] Ilorn in 1 S94 n Jew, Pinchcr]e becarne c1com:c:rt to Chrisdanity-. At the tin1e of the La Pfo.na yfait he "·:1s prufc~snr of the hJstory of re]igions in the Uni,itersity of C'lg ]farj. Ear lier he had been at the Harv ard Divinity School on ia,Titado n f rrnn J.a Pian~. During the period of Aryan legislation in Italy Pincher}~ \Vas professor in Llma1 rctw-ning to becornc., after the ,vsr., ordi1Jariusin th(\ history uf C!iri~tfo:nity ar the Uni ,Tcrshy of Ro1ne. Stud i lingiJ i stid allrnnes i: 11 ar fa (Pa lcrm o~ t 949) nd a crid cc1l cv:1l uation of Stntrt E. 1\1.a.nn.,sHistoricfll Albnniwn-Eng!is!J Dic1ionary (Rornc 1 1957). A1arco Jud for a ,vhile been a Hasilfan n1onk at Grotrnferrau ancl d1cn fought in \:Vorld \Var I. I'. 'I w ';The \! 3rj~an Treaty-/~ lo,:. cit.1 XXXI ( :!\1ay,1919 )1 970 ff. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Catholic i\1odernist at J-Jarvard 1 35 to.talinu:-ianis1n~He presently· resolved, in collaboration ,vith exiled and intrepid Gaetano Salvcn1ini, ,vhon1 he had as a guest in his ho1nc in Cmnbridge, to publish in English translation a collection of n1ajor studies of Fascisrn, aThe First Ten Years of Fuscis111.'"'tie A contract ,vit11the Atlantic l\1onth1y Press ,vas con1pletcd in 1931 ,vith the expec- tation that Salvcn1ini ,vonl granted by Pope Urban II to l:Zogcr I of N.onnnnized Sicily1 ,vho~ ~fter the fall of Saraccn-he]d Palern10 in 107 2 1 conquered the ,vhole island fro1n his Calabrian base~ and in 1098 Yvns 1nadc apostolic legate for Sici 1y. The Salvcm ini-La 1)iana proj c ct f cl t throu g h1 as both n1 en re- assessedrh e possib1 y· adverse i1npact of their er itic al ,vrj tings on the flill erican pu l1 lic,. \ ~t 11icl 1 in so1nc qnar ters see1ncd to adtnirc l\1 uss o Ii n i for his ref orn1s and adn1i n istr-a ti ve cffici ency. In July 193 2 l.raPiana becan1e the :firstincumbent of the chair estab- lished by the Harvard DiYinity Sc11oollibrarian Robert S. A1orison ( d. 1 9 l 3) in n1cn1ory of his f athcr of the class of r 8 3 1 • By this tin1c ( 1931) Li1 Piana had established hi1nsclf in the house at 3 BerkelcJ7 Place, ,vhich fonnerly had hcen the property of ,~7iUiam Dean I-Io,vells and then of Professor J. D. Brannon of the La,v School. Professorial and other friends re1ncmbcr dinners in l1is hon1e ,vith charades or bridge into the evening. DDring his n1iture years as profc~sor1.-a Pi'1.n-a aHo,vcd his )7 0uthful religious concerns to ,vithdra\v to the nlargins of his life. He loved the Church. It sin1ply disappointed hirn. He \Vas often heard to say in these years that the Church \V85 at its best ,-vhcn it had a po\vctful laity to oppose clericalis1n -;ind that the Church in America had not had a Screral arc n1nong the La Piana Papers: "'1I-liscory uf Fascisn1 in ltaly' 1 jn t\\'O bo uks of sixteen completed cha ptcrs. t., u·rhe L~tcr'1.n Agreen1ent'' in n1nc c:h,ptcrs ,nd "The Concordats of the l}oly Sec in Hi si::ory and L-a,v ,~ in n inc chapters, of ·w hie h the scco n d is rnissin g, but it co u l Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Harvard I.:ibrary l111lleti11 p o,vcrf ul layman until Alfred E., Smith cn1crgcd on the national scene., A re pre senta ti ve episo d c .reflects this period. La Pi ana used to put- t cr a good bit 1n his sn1alIgarden on Berke]ey PJace .. One day he looked up to sec a young priest confronting hin1 frorn the .sicle\valk. 1'I should think fron1 your 11an1e'.IDr~ La Piana~,,he s--aid~''th-at you ,vere a C~thoJic, but I ne\,.er sec you at mass.~J ~1No/~ said L-a.Piana, "I a Catholic, hut I don't go to Chnrch. '' 1 ...hc young priest then en.gaged La Piana in ,vhat he supposedto be artful argun1ent as to ,vhy Professor La Piana should practice his religion. After a certain an1ount of dis- course1 La.Pian-a. looked sternly at the young cleric and said: '"1\·1)'dear boy, do you realize thnt the argu111cntyou are using ,vas branded as heretical in an article by so and so in the lle·FUcde .... '' The J•oung priest depar tcd and never reru rncd to th c atgu111cnt. 8 La Pian a,s in- terests \Vere be cotu in g in ctca sing1 y political, not thco] ogical 4 lust a.decade after his frustrated effort to collaborate \vith Salvemini, J_.,a_Pi2n2 under the psendonyn1~E .. Ruperto, ,vrote -aseries of articJcs in II Aioudo, beginning June 1940., aU cntit1ed~tcJtalian Fascism in A111erica..', Then h1 1943, this tiine in successful collaboration ,vith Salvc1nini,he published lf 1bttt 1io Do l-l1itb Italy? 50 I{ercin both men ,vcrc concerned for the survival of their native ]and, 1nisled by l\-1us- so1ini~bludgeoned hy·Hitler., and in turn1oil ,rith the sense of in1pend~ ing AJlied victory~ L,aPian a and Salvcn1ini ,vcrc ccrmi n that no up- rising of the Italian people in favor of the 1\Jlies ,vould take place4 \!\7hilc dcp]orjng the ho1nbard1ncnt of beloved cities and monun1ents of Italian culrurc, they \Vere resolute in their support of the Allied effort to rout the Nazis fro1n the peninsula and both took for granted the overdue cstablishn1entof il dcn1ocratic repul)]ic jn place of the Savoy 111onarchy4 On ,rnticrin City and the Church in Italy La Piana expressed hint- self ,vith confidence and vjgor. Although he recognized the validity of the Lateran ~frcaty· of r929 jn securing "the liberty of the Hol)r Sec as centre of the international C~tholic Church,'i he hoped that the United States \vonld not try to help the \Tatican uphold the concordat entered into ,vith the Italian state in that same year. ~'There ,vill be rccrin1i nations and perhaps years of estran gc1nent,' t he \V!otc ''but in A re tninisccncc of John 1\.-hn-s1i::t1 I j rt cor.resp ond enc e ·with the: author 1 1 S-l\"foy i9-2 1 ·Ne,v , ...ur k/Lond on, l 94 3; Spanish e di don, i\1cxko City"' l 94 J; Italian e ditiont 1946. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Catbolic-111odernist at Harvard 1 37 th E end the \Tatican ,vill .find out + • • that freedom is the best con~ cord-at for the Church that can ever be 1nade.'-i00 In effecti La. Pjana proposed for Italy the con1plctc separation of church and state on the modet of that in his adopted land, including the recognition of the diocesan church and the rnonastic congregation each as~ ~ole corpora- tion? the institution of secular public education ::ilongside religiously supported scl1ools, and the cxe1nption of clergyn1en fron1 military ser- vice. He also looked for\v~rd to a Sl\'ift de-1taUaniz-ationof the Curia and College of Cardinals. La Piana had since 1926 been an incrcasi!lgly active 1ne1nber of the 1\1ediaeval Acadenly of An1erica und for son1c years served on the advisory board of its organ~ Spec11/tnn.A n1en1bcr of the Board of Scholars at Dnn1barton OJks in "\f\Tasbington,D.C., f rout 1942. ont La Piana \Vas Senior Fello\v in residence l 943-44; and thereafter he rcn1ained an honorary n1cmber of the Board of Scholars. La Piana ,vas a very f or1nal lecturer. I-le continued to the end a practice begun ,vhen he \Vas :firstn1astering spoken EngHsh.. He en- tered the classroom car1y·enough to put an outline and technical tcrn1s on th c board. His cla sscs bee an1 c j n creasingIy p opu] ar clra \Vi ng stu- d en ts not only fron1 the Divinity School, but also fro1n the Univcrsit)r at largc.m In the classroon1 he \Vas son1c,vhat ~loof. One 2h1n1n11src- n1cnlucrs being the only student in the course and yet La Piana entered ,vithout pleasantries and left pron1ptly, as though the room ,·verefull and a. teaching fcllo\v ,vcre dealing "rith the practicaliti~. But bc)rond the classroon1La Piana \Vas gracious and concerned .. i\1any a student received a letter ,visl1ing hin1 ,veil in hjs nc,v post after graduation. I-le ,vas fond of jnviting the 1ne1nbers-of his classes to \,rclJ-attended teas, dinners, and cocktail parties at his hornc. On these occasions he not only shoviled hin1sclf to be a gracious host, but he also contjnucd to dazzle his students ,vith his learning in conversation and in talks illus~ trated ''"rith slides. In 1947 Dean \~Tillard L .. Sperry· ,·veil character- ized I.,JaPinna ns teacher and as scholar: I need not ccle brn te his ency cl oped ic 1carn1 n g, the precision and insights of his tea chi ng, his generosity to his graduate stud ents1 and his proper concern for ac3dc1nic standards. These have been matters of common kno,vlcdgc among us for over a quarter of a century. He con1bincd a dispassionate zeal for schol- 00 Ibid., p. 135+ "-La Pian~ ·was 11 mern ber of the H fatory De parttnent. J-1is pc rro nal sta tl on cry n( tcr ret..irernent lists that de pan mcnt ! in deed, as Jus H arva r Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) H nr·var d Library 11u llet i11 ars hip ,vith a personal ,varm-h ea rtedness in the gi v e-and-ta.1.:e of Iif e. He put itthe fear of Godn into the minds of his students, a.t the s:11nctin1e he manifested the ''Everlasting i\1crcy. n e2 La Pian a had inaugurated th c fin al a c aden1ic y car of his a c ti vc career, r 94 6-4 7, ,vi th nn address fro1n V{ hi ch l~/c havc a Iread y dra\ v n in dcali ng ,vith his early Modernisn1, '"Buonaiuti,s Spiritual \Tision of Life.'' v\1hilc purported l)" cha ra c tcr izin g his re ccn tl y d eceascd friend, IJa Pjana ,vas no doubt sharing 2s nearly as he could son1cthing of his o,vn conception of the Church~ Not all the sources of its vitality, not all the spiritu~l currents ,vhich nourish Christi an t] 10 u ghtt not n1l of Chris ti an pi cty fall un dcr the pcreep tion of scici 1cc. In the ,vorks of the faithful and in the i111pcrccptiblcvibrations of the col1cctivc souli there is a part ,,rllich cannot be seen in the light of intc1kctual cfossification and cannot be explored by methodical research. It is in this obscure ,vorld of coll ecrive spirit ua1 exp eri en ce th at Cb r j5 tia nit:y 1ives i rs n1ost intensive Ii f e. Tiu s may seen1 to be a paradox, hut it is true nevertheless 1 that tradition~ so under- stood, prepares the future \\•hile rc.tnaining faithful to the past. . . . [ I Jnvisible conn cc ti ons bind 111c n to Cl n-j st., ,vj thou r , vi \IC l1 C !tds tfan icy ,vould b c n rcHgi on of o 1d pa rchn1en t5 and a faith of scrj bes. • . • The original Chri5tian message,,·as not the result of logical or metaphysjcal speculation. Its content ,vas not sorncthing that cou1d be e>,:pressr.din th:e,con- ch1sions of sylloglsn1s. It \,ra~ a tra.nsccndcnt chndsnrn.tic effusion of divine grace in the \\'or]d. In nncient Christianity, bcnvccn h111nanrcn.son nnd the truth of God, there \Vas an nbyss ,vhich could not be bridged except by grace d~\.rinc. In post-scho]astic Clu·lstianity the abyss no longer exit;ts; it h3s been .filied in , \"i th flimsy, pe d sh~bl e structures of syJ 1 ogisrns and 1ogica l deductions. The N e\v Testament uses the tern1 [do gm a] five times: in three i t1stan ces it refers to edicts of Caesar or Pharaohj it appears ont:"ein Acts ln connection ;,vith the disd plina ry prescriptions of the A postlcs in J crusalcin; and on cc in the Epistle to the Epllesi of his body 1 transfixed on the cross, the only tn1e ]i,rjng JJogma. 1 'husi Dogn1a did not 1ncan the painstaking doctrinal lucubrations of thcologjcal schools, bur, in the 1an guagc of Pau lt t Il c mystical uni on and so lid a rity of t I1c f ai t l tful, in I love and ho lincss, ""'it h Christ crucified+ C:.L . I Professor La Pian.abeca1ne the JohnI-Iopkins l\lorison Professor of Church History eu1erit11sin JulJT 1947, on the eve of impending ~:i Bulletin of the Harvard Divinity School, XL ,r( r948)J 57. In modified form the artide appears: also in Itdfa.n :is the introduction to the second edition of Buon- c1iut •~s La Vi t Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) CatbolicA1oderuist at Ha1·vt1rd 1 39 ch~nges that V{Ouldgre:1tly enlarge the Divjnity School.. He \Vas not happy about all the dcvclop1ncnts hut he dctcrn1incd to 1eave his 1ibrar)r and papers ,vith the school he had served so \velL His most in1portant puhEcation after rctirc1ncnt \VasA 1 1 otalitarianC!:J11rcb in a Deu1ocr11tic State: 1,be A1nerican l~xperhue1it, ,vhich gre,v out of his lectures at nuder Univ crsity j n 1 949. 1--Ic , vas Iong a consultant to Be aeon Press, especially in connection ,vith the P2.ul Blanshard vo1urncs on Cntholi- cis1n. I-Jc rcgularl)7 participated in The Radcliffe Seruinars fron1 195 2 to 1957. I-le ren1ained active as Fello\V of the American Acadc1ny of Arts and Sciences (since 192.2 ), Fello,v of the l\fediacval Ac;den1y of America (so1nc-tin1e vice president), and n1cmbcr of the An1edcan Academy of Political Science" of the Dante Societ)r~ of the Colonial Socitt)r of lVlassachusctts,of the I-Jistory of J.le]igionCiub, of the Shop Club and'.)along ,vith Angelina, of the Alibab ])ining Club, of ,vhith their very close friends l\1r. and l\1rs.. I...-aurenccl\1a.rshall and Professor and l\1rs. Roherr Pfeiffer ,vere also n1emhers~ His scventy~fifth birth- d2y ,vas celebrated in the hon1e of Robert and 1\1ucildcPf ciff er in 19 58 ,vith the presentation of the n1011un1c11tnlJ£11cicl opedirt. ltalirnut :f'recc1111i,to \vhich he had himself contributed several articles and in ,Yhich there appears also an article on hin1.e:J Prof cssor La Pi:l.na ,,·as interested in g~rd enin g, 111ou n t~ in cli n1bing, brid gc, :;ind h y p noti sn1. Lndn ,vas a second language to hini4 He ,Ynslong sponsor of the 1-Iarvnrd-RadclitTcLatin plays~and his 111cllifluousand rhytlnnic voice is Jccorded in the Harvard \ 1 ocariurn in rendition of ancient T.Jatin classics. There is nothing among his p~pers to sho,v ho\v f..... a Piana reacted to the cxcraordinar) 7 pontificate of John XXIII ( 1958~63). One n1ight expect hi1n to have scenl especiaHy in the convoking of \T~ticau Council Ill the fnlfilln1cnt of son1c of the hopes th11tBuonaiuti, if nut he, had cherished. Y ct., one Can1bridgccolleague recalls his ren1arking thnt one 111ighteven have forebodings 11bout a non-intellectual, like Johni steering the barque of Peter. Hut tin1c began to n1cllo,v his judg- n1ent about the Church; ftnd his sister's independent actions n1ust haye had sonle influence in his o,vn n1editadons4 Though Angelina had becon1c for invhile a Protcstnnt, she decided to return to the Church .. Professor La Iliana for his part persevered in the course he long bcf ore Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Har·vardLibrary- Bulleti11 launched out upon. But both of them ,vere dinner guests at· the res- idence of the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston~"~ Father R.ichard Foley, ,vhile a candidate for the Ph.D. in Church History at I-farvard1 t\vicc called on Professor La Piana around this tin1c and ,v~s ,var111]y·received b.oth by hin1 and his sister. Then on 20 August {969, Foley,. jn t11e co111panyof i\1onsignor "\i\'illia1nI(ecler, Chancellor of the diocese of I~Iarrishurg, called on George La Piana in his ninety~sccond year. Ushered in by l\'1issLa Piana, the t\vo clerics found hin1 .seated at his desk in a reflective n1ood. I-le re1ninisccd jn- tern1ittcntly in Eng·lish and Italian. l\1onsignor Kcclcr's t\vo-page n1cmorandun1 on the visitation preserves the follo,ving state1ncnt a.rno ng others: l ~Ju no"' llt the end of n1y }jf c and a bout co die, . , , 1 an1 content ..... 1 believe in the Christian "rayt ahvays open to nc\t' suggeri,uenti, to nc,1· rcilec- dons. I ~m ,vriting no\,r the final 1·c.flccrionson 1ny o"rn Jife}~G I have ah\·i1ys considered n1ysclf, al f ondo~a Roman Cntho]ic+ I never joined any other fel- Jo,vship [ as did nly si.~ter}, A]though I have kept 111yse1fncutra], 07 C:.Hholicis1n haf; ahvnys ha rich von Hiigel 1 Professor Edouard Le Roy (d. 1954), Father Giovanni i:.-;•• Althougl1 lt: was son1etirncs he]d th::tt La Pfana h3d at one time uccn declared e;i;connuunicat1tr ct viurndus 1 there is no support for this in the nrchircs of the chancerie.s of the Archdioceses of Iloston or l\1ihv'1u"kccor jn the A cM Apostolicne Sedir. ]t \\;jll be rcca.lled th~t he "v~s-c:::~nonic~llyin order in the Archdiocese of ]\.1ihv~Hl ke~ :al, ov c at nrn::e3 ; , Dut cf. note 35 - ,0:!1An l11usian to his u nfi n ishc d Au tobiogra ph y j n mln y d r:l f ts. -01 Perhaps he means h~rG th~r ls a schobr he l1:;1dnut hcc:n p:1:rti~an :lnd tll;1t in terms of ouni;.1fird ~lkgiancc "J.nddE\·ot1on he l1;:1dnot been a pnu::dcing C21:holit?, ,.,hjch ,v~s surelr true froin 1915 on. l!,,-:t Frorn the mctnoran d um of A-1onsignor l( eel er, dated Il oston.. 20 Aug us,: l 969. dc-pos.itcd hrm C ainOng thC La Pfo.TI l Papers. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) CatholicModernjst at Harvard Scmcria.,and even Ro1nolo i\1urri had found it possible in the end to sentire cu111E cclesia~ Others like F athcrs Sah,.atore i\1inocchi and Iluonainti steadfnsd)·refused to be reconciled ( even though in the case of Buonaiuti the Pope designated the Secretary of St~te and then, at the end~ a cardinal to call on hin1 to proffer 1ntH.:hmitigated tcrn1s). Special inrerest1 therefore, both theological and psychological, attaches even to details of Professor La Piana's final actions. Accordingly, the author guotcs in part fron1 his 0\Vn Journrtl dated 1 8 August 1970: On nvo pieces of paper, ri~ in F,nglish ~nd 1taliani he {La Pfo.na] had shared ,vith h1:rs. Lydia Cavanaugh, a de\rout and 1oving Catholic of Italian parentage ( ,vho had been helping George on his memoirs) ,i0 his des.ire to have a 1i]ay funeral" 1 in J\1enl oria 1 Chu re h and an other "according to the ri ties of the Ch urch. ' On this b.1sis,vc foregathered at the South Natick rest hon1c on a beautiful n1orn- in g. ~1rsa Laurence i\1ars ha11 and I arrived firsL George ,vas in the parlor dressed for the occasion "\Vi th a smoking j a<.:k er and a ,v hi te handkerchief in the pocket. At first he ,vris slo\\' to respond. . . . [ His f<1ce] sw·eetened ,vith a faint sniik. Presently in ca1nc l\1rs. Cavanaugh.. None of us realized ho,v Jong and strenuous it ,vould he for :111concerned~ She ta]kcd lovingly and soli ci tousl y 2nd en coura gj ng 1y; and I encouraged her not to pass back into English and this atmosphere brought hin1out quite articulately. Dut it ,vas long bcf ore he realized \\'hat our csscntfol p1.1rpose. ,v~s. 1 tried to g-ct his mind on the m:lttcr by asking hin1 about the painting of Pope Gregory XIII 71 fro1n an1ong his possessions, ,vhich he had requested be hung in his room at the nursing hon1e+ Although he talked about his a-cg,1isttio11of this old copy from some cardinali ,ve didn't get much further \Vith the subject of extrc1ne uncdon and the Church~ \\Tc kept tc11ing hitn about Father Richard Foley; hut it \Vas only a fe,v nlinutcs before he entered~ having driven in fron1 out of statc 1 that ,vc think he n1ay l,gy e re ca11 ed hbn and the three v jsi cs F o] ey had n, ad e car lier for George said something about his being ,idecano nello Collegio Rofl'iano.1' I thought Foley •Nas a little gruff and impersonal at first. ':\'hen things did not "\vork out too \vcJ!, he suggested ,vc thin out, f..1.rs.Mnrshall and I ,vithJrc,v. of Trcnt 1 founded and sponsored many seminades and conventual colleges, issued an j1nprovcd edltion of the Corpus luris CaumJici, e.stablished the English Colkge in H.onJe, fos~ered 1njssions in the far East, and reformed the calendar ( 158:). If La Pi:Jna.\\':1S in a specfal \vay jnteres-ted in the achievement 01· influence of lhis par- ticular Pope as distinguished fro1n the value of the ,Tcnerab1e copy, his in.terest n1-ay ,vell h~,·c centered in the Gregorian ca]en&a.r. It ,vas th:Jt calendar "'hich., gradually dis pfa dng even j n thQ seen l nr Ort hod ox East the Ju lb n calendar, co nu j IJuted to the differcntig.tion jn the liturgical year ·bnt,,·c-onthe East ind the "\;Ve.st~snd ~unong even the: C-ath oHc Al ban ia ns of Pian a the Julian c al~ndar prc\'aiicd in the liturgy. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) H nrvnrd f_.,ibrary Bulletiu Then J1c l old JHrs. f"Avana 1 tgl 1 to \Vi ti 1d ra \V :ancl sll c ,vas pern.1rbed about the prie.st]y order) because she felt George ,vas getting panicky. I ,vent back in a fe,v and urged upon fi oley the need for ~1rs. Cavanaugh's presence; and before long "\•.:e ,vere alJ gathered around hin1 and Foley held one of George's hands, i1nita.ting A'lrs. Cavanaugh on the other~ George knc,v no,v ,vhat it ,vas about but felt that it could be interpreted as a '1co1n·crsion.,1 ,¥ci each in his O\t'n idio,ni tried to con,Tincc hirn that the acceptance nf the fast rites in no ,vay in1plic-d either dcath~bed conversion nr a rcpudfation of his critical Church-historical scholarship but t£1ther a revision of his Jif e,s prjor1tics. He h~d hin1sc1fbeen talldng about in oral and spiritual values. H c scc1ncd to be trying to say that fnith ,vas: not a 1n11tterof explicit dogn1as but a n1atter of e~'Sentialloyaltie.s. ,'i.7hen ir alrno~t Jooked ns though he ,vou]d say No or post- pone his decisi oni I sum 111c d up a 11our f ccl.ings and aspirations, s 1.1ggc-sting that he allolv each of us there to be thought of by him as representative of a ,vhn]e company of frjends nnd as~ociations, secular and Chrh;dan 1 Catholic :and Prot~ estgnt~ acadc1nic and sod~L vVc . . . increasjng]y resorted to the person~) appeal and the opportunily of the n10111entto receive the sacrament in the pres- ence of assembled friends and loved ones. Mrs. 1\1arshall kissed h1n1 on the forehend c1nd affirined thnt "\Vould n1can 1nt1cl. to hei.:-TF 11ther Foley stressed "l\1adrc Chiesa., H 1no1nento oppnrtuno."'] 1\·1rs.C'lvanaugh stressed the faith ex- pressed in his o d gin~l "rri tten pieces. H c sai ,vho kncl~l his thoughts 1 1'ne,\ 1 of his spoke I ta]fo.n, a doctoral :ilrnnnuS'of his o,vn HanTard in Chul'ch history\ and ::it the sa1nc tin1e a dean in Rorne [here] on a brief i\1rs. 1\-iarshall s~id quiecly she thought it ,vas not going to ,vork out rind she Jcft the roo1n ro 111akea can [ r-ciatcd to a funeral in the family J J took the book of ritual f ron1 the mantcL Fo]ey and I agreed in that n101ncnt ,ve should simply procccdt although up to then, Fo]eyi fol1o\v~ ing canonical prescription and carrying the burden of obscrvjng all the ccclest- nstical proprieties 1 h :1.d"~anted Geo t·ge to say f onn:ill y that he de.siredthe 14 sacr:uncnt. With the benedictiona] in sight, Geurge :finally s~id \" a bcnc/~ as three of us urged hitn~ holding his hands or shou]dcr. Foley- read the service be~utifully in Jtglianate Latin. George asked that he read even more slo,v]y und ,vas clearly res on ::iting ,vi th the ,vnrds. l held the n"'c1pkin and vj al of chrjsm. Foley had decided not to try the comn1union, although he wras prepared there- for~ George Tcceived the unction on aU parts of his he~d and hands p;1ssivcly and at the end lighted up ,vith the ,vords '~cresus~itata la gra1.ia dcUo Spirito S::into~"· But then after it ,vas a1l over he forgot ,vhat had h'1ppened and asked quite fonna1ly that the sacmn1cnt be gi\Ten. Foley satisfied hirn hy rcadjng beautifully t\\'O supplen1entaty pra ycrs and touched again hjs forehead jn Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) Catholic Af oder11istnt Har·vard 143 benediction .... H c seen1ed pleased nnd ,ve \\'ere all deeply satisfied that his ,·d shes and our d csires for him had b ccn f u Ifilled; and "'c a11 fi v·c held hands in a quiet sense of triumph. I ,vas pron1pted to say a benediction + .. • but the nurses ,vcrc already there to help hirr1get his dinner r1nd :,'.iOOn \\'C ,vcrc ofI. Professor l~a Pjana ~;vasuuricd from St. PaulJs Catholic Church in Cambridge., 4 l\jarch 197 1, ,vith l1athcr Joseph CoBins and several m en1hers .of th c Catholic f ac u 1ti cs of Gr eatcr Boston con eel c brating th c Requicn1 High i\1ass~He had once told the author that he expected ,ithc lay service" in A'1cn1orialChurch to precede this. 7z \\ 1hen hack in 192 2, exactly a hglf-ccntury ~go1 Dr. La Pi-ana,vrotc on ' 1Rcccnt Trends in R·onrn.n Catholic Theology," he closed \Vith a passage fron1 the Psahn, not J(ing Ja1ncs's 107 hut St. Jeron1c's 106 (23f.): Those ,v ho go d o-wn to the sea in ship~, doing business in grca t , ~tacers. They sa,;,vthe deeds of the Lordt his ,vondrous ,vorks in the deep. Q d csc end u nt n1nre in n n·'irj bus. f acj en t es op erati onem in ag ui~ 1nul tis ipsi vidcru n t op c:raD on1ini ct n1in1bi lia d us in prof und O+ l 1~r.01nAlbania to Piana dcgli Albanesi, f ron1 Constantinople to llon1e, f rorn JVlonrealcto i\-1i1\Yau kcc, f ro1n San llocco to H~rvardt George La Pian-a and the Italo-Albaninn fan1ily fron1 ,vhich he sprang had literally and n1ctaphorica.lly gone do\vn to the sea in ships; ~nd then, by placing the treasures of his voyage in safekeeping ,vith Harvard Divinity School, he left :tl~othe final ,vnrning of that large article of long ago: IT] hcology is not a gan,c of chess w·ith nothing ar stakeJ but carries ,vith it life or death for every specific forn1 of higher religion such :is Catholicisn1. 73 ~:! As it turned out'! the ser·dcc in Appleton Chapel condnctcd by Dean l{rfatcr S-cendn h l of the H:.=i.r,;ard D j vinity s~ho ol took pl B.ce on th E: :Innivcrsary of his de1 th, Sec the first note above+ lly Professor La Pfana's.·wiU~ $50,000 ,,Tasleft to the School for sc ho] arshi ps. 1~ Loe. cit., above st note 44. Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973) CONTRIBUTORS- TO THIS ISSUE Rorrn.ur D~ Hul\1:R, a mc1nber of the Department of English at Cornd]i is the author of Dryden"s Criticinn~ ,vhich ,vas published by the Cornell University Press in 1970. A1ARY C~ KA'H L hus pursued research on s cvcnteen th-century F rcn ch dram a as a Fclio\v· of the RadcliiTe Institute and is no,v tc:ichiog at i\li1ton Acadciny., ,vherc she is also Assistant to the Principal of the Girls! School; her I-Iar-vard dissert:ui on ( 1 969) ,vas on "Poli ti cal Dram a on the Eve of the Frond e/i- ERr-.~EST JOHN is the author of several ,vorks on European hlstory, the n1ost recent of ,vhich is Frnuce, Au luterpretive History, ,vhich ":tas pubEshcd l )y Seri bn er in 1 97 r i his Harvard dissertation ( 1 9 34) ,vas '' A R econsi d eratio n of the I)iplo1natic Policy of Prince 1~alleyrand, 1814-1815 ." CHARI.Es\\T4 !-.11LLARncon1pleted a I-Iar,rar JosEPH SENDRY, Associate Professor of English at the Catholic University of Amcdc=i, is the author of A CriticalStudy Guide to Keats" The Odes (1968) and of n Hnrvard dissertation ( 1963) on HThc Thematic and Stylistic Coherence of Tennyson's In 111e-1norian1/) GF.ORGE H. \\ 1ILL1Ar,,1s, I-Iollis Prof cssor of Divjnity at Harvard, is the author of nllmerous ,vorks on theology and church history; his nrtic1e!"Called by Thy Name, Leave Us Not: The Case of l\1rs. Joan Drake! A Fornrntive Episode in che Pastoral Care er of Thomas Hooker in England,'' app cared in the April and July 1968 issa cs of the HARVARD LIBRA RY IluLLETI r,.,-. 224 Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XXI, Number 2 (April 1973)