1. The archival material for the history of the Scalabrinian Congregation is preserved in the Scalabrinian General Archives in Rome (Via Calandrelli 11 – 00153 RM).

2. The archives is divided into: General Administration of the Congregation and internal aspects: it contains all the material of general interest and up to the establishment of the individual Provinces.
Provinces of the Congregation: a) relations of the General Administration with the Provincial Administrations; b) individual religious houses and missionary residences.

This is the richest and most interesting material. As a rule, it contains information on the start-up and beginnings of the individual missions, particularly significant and rare testimonies on the early development of many settlements and institutions in the areas of Italian influence. It also contains periodical reports, rich in particular news (but not on an annual basis and not even the status animarum that, when drafted, should be kept in the offices
abroad).

3. Personal positions: current members, deceased members, egressed members. The material is of a bureaucratic nature, and often confidential (therefore not consultable).

4. The life and work of the Founder, John Baptist Scalabrini and the process of beatification.
The conspicuous Scalabrini fund, of great historical interest, was established later. Scalabrini’s personal papers passed to his trustee heir and secretary Camillo Mangot. At the request of the S. Consistorial Congregation (now the Congregation of Bishops), Mangot gave them to Francesco Gregori, a priest from Piacenza who was in charge of writing the first biography of Scalabrini (La vita e l’opera di un grande Vescovo, mons. Giov. Battista Scalabrini (1839-1905), Turin, Lice, 1934). The papers given to Gregori and the other documents lying at the Episcopal Curia of Piacenza or elsewhere, by canonical disposition, were collected by the Diocesan Court of Piacenza in view of the process of beatification of Scalabrini, which began in 1936. All these documents, very interesting also for the history of the relationship of the episcopate with the Holy See and the relationship between State and Church, were then delivered to the Sacred Congregation of Rites, in view of the Apostolic Process. The originals were delivered to the Scalabrinian Congregation, specifically to the General Archives, after the publication of the “decretum super scripta” in 1970. The material preserved concerns in some cases also the state of the diocese of Piacenza. Among the unpublished material, there are 1700 autographed letters of Scalabrini, 9 triennial reports on the state of the diocese of Piacenza for the ad limina visits, decrees and official acts of the 5 pastoral visits, 310 speeches for the most part autographed, and finally documentation on the works for the emigrants, particularly the St Raphael Benevolent Society.

All the archival information and the most interesting material are widely cited in the monumental work on Scalabrini by P. Mario Francesconi (Giovanni Battista Scalabrini, vescovo di Piacenza e degli emigrati, Roma, Città Nuova, 1985, which integrates and surpasses the previous work by M. Caliaro, L’apostolo degli emigranti Giovanni Battista Scalabrini vescovo di Piacenza. La sua opera e la sua spiritualità, Milan, Ancora, 1968). As far as the transfers and the vicissitudes of the Archives are concerned, the material relative to the Congregation was kept in Piacenza until 1910 (Mother House); in that year it was transferred to Rome, first to Via di Ponte Sisto 75, then in 1922 to Via Calandrelli 11 (where, apart from some further changes of location in Rome, it is still kept today). Part of the documents concerning especially the Provinces and the persons remained in the Mother House of Piacenza until October 1945. During the war, fearing that the material would be lost under possible bombings, it was transferred to Rivergaro and Bassano, from where the documentation was taken to Rome, again in October 1945. However, no significant dispersion or loss is to be lamented. All the most important information regarding the history of the Scalabrinian Congregation, with ample citation of the original texts, is contained in the fundamental work, written by Fr. Mario Francesconi, Storia della Congregazione Scalabriniana, 6 vols., Rome, 1969-1982.

The archival material is preserved in good condition and well inventoried. A detailed guide and an analytical inventory has been prepared for the various sections. The process of computerizing all the available information is at an advanced stage.

Contatti:

Scalabrinian General Archives
Via Calandrelli 11
00153 Roma
E-mail: gterragni@scalabrini.org
E-mail: giovanniterragni@yahoo.it
Tel: +39 349.3505099