Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster

Alfredo Ildefonso Schuster, (, ; born Alfredo Ludovico Schuster; 18 January 1880 – 30 August 1954) was an Italian Catholic prelate and professed member of the Benedictines who served as the Archbishop of Milan from 1929 until his death. He took the religious name of Ildefonso as a Benedictine monk and served as an abbot prior to his elevation to the cardinalate.

He led the Milanese archdiocese during World War II and was known to have supported fascism at first. His views changed to opposition after the annexation of Austria and the introduction of Italian racial laws, which prompted vocal criticisms of anti-Christian aspects of Benito Mussolini's regime.

Schuster's beatification was celebrated in mid-1996 in Saint Peter's Square.

Schuster ordained 1265 priests and consecrated 22 bishops during his tenure as archbishop. 50px In 1933, the cardinal was conferred the honour of Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Order of Malta.

Relations with fascism There were claims during the process for Schuster's beatification that he was supportive of Italian fascism. While there is evidence of some support for fascist ambitions, there is also evidence that he denounced the anti-Christian element of fascism. It was said that he refused to participate in ceremonies involving Mussolini and also condemned racist legislation during the fascist period.

After the signing of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, Schuster thought it was possible to Christianize Italian society within the framework of the Fascist state, so he considered it necessary to collaborate with it only if the scope and prerogatives of the Church were protected. In June 1929, at the time of his appointment as Archbishop, Minister of Justice Alfredo Rocco described Schuster as a Fascist "regime sympathizer". On 21 March 1930, in the anniversary of the foundation of the Fasci di Combattimento, Schuster spoke of a "mission of salvation" being entrusted to the Duce, which caused confusion among some Catholics.

Schuster was an enthusiastic supporter of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935, compared it to the Crusades, and viewed it as a potential source of converts. On 28 October 1935, while celebrating Mass in the Cathedral of Milan, he asked God to protect the Italian troops as "they open the door of Ethiopia to the Catholic faith and Roman civilisation" before he blessed the banners of the departing troops.

In a speech at the School of Fascist Mystique in Rome in 1937, he spelt out a fanciful direct link between Imperial Rome and Christian Rome to fascism: "God has chosen to reward the Duce by drawing his historical figure closer to the great spirits of Constantine and Augustus, through the work of Benito Mussolini reconnecting Rome and its King to a shining new imperial crown of Roman peace."

In 1938, his views changed with Germany's annexation of Austria and its introduction of racial doctrines, reflected then in the Italian Racial Laws of 1938.

Relationship with Mussolini The Italian fascist and German Nazi press attacked Schuster during the war, without his suffering loss of esteem among his own flock in Milan. On 25 April 1945, the cardinal hosted in the archbishop's residence in Milan a meeting between Italian partisans and Mussolini in an attempt to reach a truce between the two parties. However, Mussolini did not accept the demand for unconditional surrender as advanced by the partisan delegates Marazza and Pertini. Mussolini arrived on time at 4:00 pm without the other side being present. The delegates Cadorna and Lombardi, as well as Marazza, arrived an hour later. In the meantime, Mussolini had a conversation with Schuster, who gave him a glass of rosolio to drink and a copy of a book he had written about the life of a saint. Schuster made an effort to preach humility to Mussolini. Varying accounts by participants of what happened in the meeting after Graziani and the other Fascist leaders arrived vary.

Although the cardinal sought Mussolini out on 25 April 1945 and urged him to make his peace with God and his fellow man, Mussolini spurned the admonition and was killed within a week.

Following the end of the war, the cardinal made frequent attempts to emphasize the danger of totalitarianism that communism and fascism inspired.

Relations with Nazi Germany In May 1984, United States Department of State and the United States Army declassified documents through the Freedom of Information Act which revealed that, from 1943, Archbishop Schuster maintained relations with Holocaust perpetrator and Nazi officer Walter Rauff, head of the SS in northern Italy, resident at the time in Milan. Rauff had numerous meetings and exchanged letters and gifts with Schuster and his secretary, Monsignor Giuseppe Bicchierai. The two Catholic prelates also acted as envoys for the Holy See while Germany and Italy negotiated secretly with the Allies to surrender at the end of World War II; Rauff was involved in these negotiations, too, and often discussed prisoner exchanges and releases with Bicchierai and Schuster. The Simon Wiesenthal Center released the documents to the public and asked the Holy See to investigate whether Schuster helped Rauff escape from Italy to Chile in order to evade justice. This was the first time high-ranking church officials were mentioned in the context of a "Vatican escape route" for Nazi war criminals.

Beatification

The process for his beatification opened in Milan in a diocesan process that his successor inaugurated on 30 August 1957; that first phase was concluded on 31 October 1963 after a process was held in Rome from 21 November 1959 to 13 July 1961 to collect additional evidence and documentation. Schuster's writings were approved on 5 March 1970 as having adhered to traditional doctrine. The cause remained dormant for some time until 18 July 1986 when the Congregation for the Causes of Saints validated the diocesan phase while later receiving the Positio for assessment in 1989. Theologians approved the cause on 12 October 1993 as did subsequently the members of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints on 11 January 1994. Pope John Paul II confirmed that Schuster had led a life of heroic virtue and accorded him the title Venerable on 26 March 1994.

Schuster's beatification now depended upon one confirmed miracle. One such case was investigated, and the evidence collected was sent to the Congregation in Rome, which validated the report on 5 July 1985. Medical experts confirmed this miracle as such a decade later, on 17 November 1994, while theologians confirmed the assessment on 21 February 1995; the Congregation itself approved it on 2 May 1995. On 11 July 1995, John Paul II confirmed that the healing in question was a miracle and decreed Schuster's beatification. He celebrated the beatification at a solemn Mass in Saint Peter's Square on 12 May 1996.

The miracle that led to his beatification was the cure of the nun Maria Emilia Brusati from a severe glaucoma.