From 18 to 24 August 2013, the Rimini Meeting will host the documentary exhibition on the earthly events of the archpriest of Sondrio Nicol\u00f2 Rusca (1563-1618), who was proclaimed blessed, thanks to the decree of recognition of his martyrdom promulgated by Benedict XVI, in a solemn celebration held on 21 April 2013 in Sondrio.
\nThe event follows the canonisation of another diocesan priest, St. Luigi Guanella, who was one of the first to urge the start of the canonical process for archpriest Rusca, a priest whose eloquent testimony of personal and pastoral life was already known to his contemporaries, starting with the great Carlo Borromeo, who welcomed him as a young seminarian in the Collegio Elvetico in Milan.<\/p>\n
Nicol\u00f2 Rusca, born in 1563 in Bedano, near Lugano (then diocese of Como), after attending the Collegio Elvetico, founded by Borromeo to train clerics from the Swiss territory, was ordained a priest in 1587.
\nAppointed archpriest of Sondrio in 1590, a territory subject to the Three Grey Leagues (today Canton Graub\u00fcnden), which had occupied Valtellina since 1512, Rusca carried out his ministry in an exemplary manner for almost thirty years, becoming a model of a \u2018renewed\u2019 priest, according to the Council of Trent. Fervent was his action in defence of Catholic doctrine, moved by the desire to preserve and revive the faith in the people of the valley, where the preaching of Protestant ministers was spreading, thanks also to the dominating Grisons, the majority of whom had gone over to the Reformation.<\/p>\n
While he always remained firm on doctrinal content and church affiliation, he also showed sincere respect for people of a different faith: \u2018Hate error, love the errant\u2019, he used to say.
\nAt the beginning of the 17th century, the difficult political-religious situation within the Three Leagues led the Rhaetian State to dramatic contrasts that led to the establishment of a court for those suspected of treason. Thus began summary and sectarian trials, influenced by some reformed pastors of radical tendency. One of the victims was Nicol\u00f2 Rusca: on the night between 24 and 25 July 1618, he was kidnapped by armed men who had descended to Sondrio via Valmalenco. Taken first to Chur, then to Thusis, he was put on trial on 1 September, always claiming to be innocent. Placed under torture, he died on the evening of 4 September 1618.<\/p>\n
A sequence of 18 large panels, full of striking images, a film and the facsimile presentation of his epistolary, develop the biographical account of Nicol\u00f2 Rusca and at the same time the vision of the context and the difficult times in which he found himself living.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From 18 to 24 August 2013, the Rimini Meeting will host the documentary exhibition on the earthly events of the archpriest of Sondrio Nicol\u00f2 Rusca (1563-1618), who was proclaimed blessed, … <\/p>\n