Monday, Apr. 24, 1950

The New Esaltato

As a boy, in the early 13th Century, Peter Nolasque astonished his parents by coming home half-naked after giving away his clothes to the poor. Later, his compassion was stirred by the plight of his era's D.P.s--the thousands of religious prisoners languishing in dungeons and torture chambers. He founded the Mercedarians--the Order of Our Lady of Mercy--dedicated to the liberation of imprisoned Christians. Before his death in 1256, Nolasque had begged enough money to ransom 2,718 prisoners from the Moors. In 1317 his order vowed that whenever no ransom could be raised, two Mercedarians--one priest, one layman--must substitute themselves for a chosen captive.

In the next three centuries, Nolasque's followers freed 300,000 more prisoners, mostly from Islamic dungeons and mostly by voluntary substitution. One Mercedarian, Raymond de Blanez, was beheaded by the Moors at Granada in substitution for a condemned prisoner. Later the Mercedarians declined; by 19th Century's end, the order had less than 30 adherents. In 1918 it was reorganized to establish foreign missions. Today it has a membership of some 1,000.

No Politics? Last week, at the rocky island prison of Procida in the Bay of Naples, a young (33) Franciscan priest, violin-playing Blandino Della Croce, urged the revival of the Mercedarian tradition--with a mid-20th Century twist. Blandino announced that he would substitute himself for one of the 13 Italian war criminals serving terms on Procida.

"This," he said, "is the beginning of a religious crusade to relieve the suffering of innocent people . . . In the Middle Ages, when people were imprisoned for political reasons, it was necessary for the Mercedarians to undertake their mission of liberation. These prisoners are just as deserving of the Mercedarian spirit as the crusaders enslaved by the Turks."

Cautiously Blandino added: "This has nothing to do with politics. It is entirely religious." But to other Italians, and other churchmen, his gesture did not seem entirely devoid of a political background. During World War II, Blandino had served as an army chaplain in the Albanian, Greek and North African campaigns. In 1943 he had joined Mussolini's diehard "Salo Republic" in northern Italy. Does he now sympathize with Fascist principles? Replies Blandino: "A call went out for chaplains to administer spiritual comfort. A priest must not interest himself in politics."

Near war's end, Blandino was clapped into a Turin jail by Italian partisans, released after a year. He went to Switzerland and this year returned to Italy. He re-established contacts with ex-servicemen and chaplains of Mussolini's Republican Army and with the neo-Fascist Movimento Italiano Femminile (Italian Women's Movement), to whom he propounded his idea: revive the Mercedarian tradition for liberation of Italy's 20 war criminals convicted by Allied tribunals, and 1,600 sentenced by Italian courts. Embittered ex-servicemen, theological students, relatives of prisoners gave him support--offers of money and of substitution for prisoners. Blandino and some of his sympathizers sent a letter to the Pope asking his help. No answer came from the Vatican.

During Easter week, with valise and violin, Blandino went to Procida. There he dispatched letters to the Pope and to the Italian President, Premier and Minister of Justice, renewing his plea for legal recognition of voluntary substitutions. He slept on a cot in the same room with other prisoners, set up an altar in the reception room, commiserated with the war criminals and their visiting relatives. To newsmen he said: "Why have the Allies let big people go, and let the innocent ones who can't afford lawyers stay in jail? These people had to do as they were told. One man from my regiment is here for killing an Allied prisoner of war. I remember him as an 18-year-old illiterate. Why should he be imprisoned? Why should I have freedom that he doesn't enjoy? He should be free to see his family and have babies. Allies are indifferent to their fate, so others must take their place."

No Mercedarian. Blandino said he intended to remain on Procida until the government recognized the principle of voluntary substitutions. His movement, he predicted, would spread until all war prisoners had been liberated. But his Franciscan superiors gave him no encouragement. "The custom of voluntary substitution,""said one of them, "was never in our code." A Vatican aide brushed off Blandino as "an esaltato [fanatic] who defied discipline. To preserve the peace of Saint Francis it is best to ignore a mistaken effort to bring the peace of Saint Francis to others."

A particularly strong cry of indignation rose from Mercedarian headquarters, disturbed from a century of obscurity. Snapped a Mercedarian father: "Blandino isn't of us. The Mercedarians never volunteered to substitute for political prisoners. They were only interested in religious prisoners whose faith might waver under persecution and imprisonment. We want no part of politics."

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