Blessed Gabriele M. Allegra and Maria Valtorta
Blessed Gabriele-Maria Allegra (December 26, 1907 – January 26, 1976) was a Franciscan known for completing the first full translation of the Bible into Chinese (1968), followed by the first biblical dictionary in that language (1975).
He was beatified on September 29, 2012, in Acireale, Sicily, by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Benedict XVI.
This biblical scholar was, since 1965, an enthusiast of Maria Valtorta, on whom he wrote in Macao the first exegesis of the work from 1968 to 1970, published in 1985 at the opening of his beatification process. He notably stated there:Producing good fruits in an ever-growing number of readers, I think that (The Gospel as It Was Revealed to Me) by Maria Valtorta comes from the spirit of Jesus.
His life
Youth and education
Giovanni Stefano Allegra was born in Sicily in the Province of Catania, in San Giovanni la Punta, at the foot of Mount Etna, on December 26, 1907. He attended the minor seminary of Acireale (1918) and then the novitiate of Bronte (1923), both towns in Sicily.
In 1926, he went to study at the Pontifical University of St. Anthony in Rome.
At 21, in 1928, a lecture on Saint John of Montecorvino (1247–1328), a Franciscan who attempted to translate the Bible into Chinese in the 13th century, deeply marked him. He decided to undertake a task that would occupy forty years of his life: translating the Bible into Chinese.
Priest in China
In 1930, he was ordained a priest, took the name "Gabriele-Maria," and went to Hunan, a province in southern China. There, he learned Chinese and developed a first Bible translation project.
In 1937, his health forced him to return to Italy, where he continued his studies in biblical languages and archaeology.
In 1940, he returned to Kobe in China, where he met Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, with whom he had lengthy discussions.
It was the time of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He could not reach Hunan and took refuge north of Beijing. Added to these difficulties was a hardship: he lost the only copy of his translation project.
As chaplain of the Italian Embassy in China, he was not harassed by the Japanese occupiers and could continue his translations. This did not prevent him from being active, notably assisting missionaries imprisoned in Weihsien, northern China, and securing the release of several prisoners. Later, he devoted his free time to visiting lepers in Macao.
In 1945, together with a few Chinese Franciscans, he founded the "Studium Biblicum Franciscanum" of Beijing (Franciscan Biblical School)[1] under the patronage of Saint John Duns Scotus, of whom he was a specialist.
Hong Kong
The communist takeover of China forced him to flee to Hong Kong (Kowloon), where he spent the remainder of his life, except for a one-year trip in 1954 with four brothers to the Biblical School of Jerusalem to study the original biblical texts.
In 1965, he organized in Hong Kong the 1st Ecumenical Bible Exhibition.
In 1968, finally, on Christmas Day, the Bible translated into Chinese was published, followed in 1975 by the Biblical Dictionary. He died shortly after, in Hong Kong, on January 26, 1976. He is buried in the San Biagio church in Acireale (Province of Catania – Sicily).
He was known to work very hard, often to the detriment of his health[2]. In his correspondence, he authored phrases such as:The most enviable fate for a Franciscan who does not receive the grace of martyrdom is to die at work.or:
Everyone thinks I am ill: I can still work, so let’s go! The ideal is a value higher than life!
His works
His writings on Maria Valtorta
Gabriele Allegra studied the work of Maria Valtorta of which he was an enthusiast. It had been communicated to him by his confrere, Father Fortunato Margiotti[3] in 1965. At that time, the Index had not yet been abolished, but Maria Valtorta’s work was already spreading, confirming the statements made by Father Berti on the turnaround of the Holy Office[4] in 1961.
He wrote from 1968 to 1970, in Macao, an analysis intended for publication. He recognizes a supernatural origin and historical interest in it but endorses the Church’s position on private revelations: they are given for "the good of the Church and the edification of the Body of Christ" but not as an alternative to Public Revelation.
The 11 typed pages, found in his journal by Father Leonardo Anastasi, were sent to the publisher who published them in his "Bollettino" No. 6 of September 1972.
Following the opening of the beatification process on January 14, 1984, in Hong Kong, his "critique", in a completed version, was published again in No. 29 of the "Bollettino" (January–June 1984), followed by excerpts from his journal in No. 30 (July–December 1984).
These latter documents were communicated by the same Father Leonardo Anastasi, who had become in the meantime the vice-postulator of the beatification cause.
The Bible in Chinese
In 1948, the first three volumes of the Old Testament were published in Chinese by the "Studium Biblicum Franciscanum". The rest of the translations took another twelve years of effort until completion on August 2, 1961, and the launch, on Christmas Day 1968, of the first Bible in Chinese. This marked forty years of labor (almost to the day) and numerous difficulties.
This publication was complemented by the release of the Biblical Dictionary in 1975. His work continues through the Franciscan Biblical School and the Catholic Biblical Institute of Hong Kong.
Pope Pius XII reportedly said of him:Tell this young priest that he has my special blessing and that I pray for him every day. He will encounter many difficulties, but help him not to lose heart. Nothing is impossible for one who prays. I will not live long enough to see this work completed, but I will pray for him in heaven.
The philosophy of Blessed John Duns Scotus
G. M. Allegra was a specialist in the philosophy of Blessed John Duns Scotus (1266–1308), a Scottish Franciscan theologian, defender notably of the Immaculate Conception[5]. He gave a talk in 1966 notably at Oxford University for the 700th anniversary of the birth of the "Subtle Doctor."
His beatification
His cause for beatification was introduced on January 14, 1984, by Monsignor John Wu, bishop of Hong Kong.
On December 15, 1994, Gabriele M. Allegra was declared Venerable[6].
On September 29, 2012, in Acireale, Sicily, Cardinal Angelo Amato, on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, beatified Father Gabriele Allegra.
Bibliography
- Gabrielle Maria Allegra and Fr. Teilhard de Chardin – "My conversations with Teilhard de Chardin on the Primacy of Christ"
- Gabrielle Maria Allegra – "Mary's Immaculate Heart: A Way to God"
Reading journal and critique of the work of Maria Valtorta
Notes and references
- ↑ Later became the "Hong Kong Catholic Biblical Institute", apparently linked to the S.B.F. of Jerusalem.
- ↑ In his final years, he suffered from heart disorders and hypertension. Despite this, he cut short a forced rest in Italy.
- ↑ See the presentation sheet of the Maria Valtorta association and the text of the correspondence (archive), in English, on Brother Chrysostome’s site.
- ↑ He attests on his honor that after the controversial Index listing, the Holy Office, learning of the encouragement of Pope Pius XII and the support of eminent personalities, had verbally withdrawn the condemnation, which was later confirmed by the secretary of Pope Paul VI.
- ↑ See the homily dedicated to him by Benedict XVI, July 2, 2010.
- ↑ The canonization process, in which someone is proclaimed "saint", involves several stages. In the first, the candidate is declared "Venerable". By this, the Church declares his "heroic virtue". At the next stages, he is declared "Blessed" (beatification), then "Saint" (canonization). These last two stages require a miracle, a divine confirmation. Some remain at the first stage for a very long time: this is the case with Venerable Marie d'Agréda for three and a half centuries. Others are beatified only after several centuries (A.C. Emmerich: 180 years) or canonized late (Grignion de Montfort = 231 years).