Mgr Biagio Musto and Maria Valtorta

Biagio Musto was born on Wednesday, July 12, 1905, in Montemiletto in the Neapolitan hinterland and died in Sora on Friday, April 9, 1971, during the night from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday. It was therefore the anniversary of the agony at Gethsemane. His first name, Biagio (Blaise in English) refers to St. Blaise of Sebaste, one of the 14 helper saints, meaning particularly helpful, especially for throat ailments. In Italy, 120 municipalities bear his name.

At 23 years old, on February 23, 1929, he was ordained a priest. Little is known about this period until his appointment, on February 7, 1951, as coadjutor of Mgr Michele Fontevecchia who was becoming Confessor. He was ordained bishop shortly afterward (April 22) and succeeded Mgr Fontevecchia from April 19, 1952, and remained so until his death 19 years later.

While Mgr Fontevecchia was contemporary with the first difficulties of the work of Maria Valtorta with the Holy Office, Mgr Musto was the one during the Indexing.

The website of the Diocese of Sora presents him as a builder concerned with bringing back to his original homeland the Relics of St. Thomas Aquinas. According to the portrait drawn, Mgr Musto was "a determined man in his projects who knew how to appreciate the Good done by his collaborators," but he was also "harsh and authoritarian," more feared than loved.

Calendar of major events experienced by Mgr Biagio Musto (1951-1971)

At the time Mgr Musto became bishop of Sora, the work of Maria Valtorta was under surveillance. Here, in recall, are the events that took place at that time:

• January 29, 1952: petition to the Holy Father initiated by Mgr Carinci.
• August 3, 1952: Mgr Giovanni Peppe puts eight books about Padre Pio on the Index of forbidden books without referring to Pius XII, which leads to his resignation request.
• July 10, 1953: death of Father Romualdo Migliorini.
• June 1956: Publication of the first volume of Maria Valtorta's work titled Poem of Jesus.
• October 9, 1958: death of Pius XII.
• 1959: Publication of the last of the four volumes of Maria Valtorta's work.
• December 16, 1959: Signing of the decree of Indexing.
• January 6, 1960: Publication of the decree in the Osservatore romano accompanied by a commentary.
• October 12, 1961: death of Maria Valtorta.
• December 1961: Summoning of Father Berti for a resumption of dialogue.
• June 21, 1963: election of Paul VI, former secretary of Pius XII.
• June 14, 1966: abolition in law and consequences of the Index of forbidden books.

The investigation carried out by the Holy Office

In the letter he wrote on May 27, 1992, to Mgr Dionigi Tettamanzi, Secretary of the Italian Bishops' Conference, Emilio Pisani notes:

"I remember that at the end of the fifties, when I was a little over twenty years old, my bishop Mgr Biagio Musto called me to the episcopal residence for a report on the Valtorta situation, which had been requested by the higher authorities. Since that distant conversation, very cordial as it was a sort of interrogation, until the day I received your letter, Your Excellency, we have been almost excluded from any opportunity for dialogue with the Pastors of the Church."

He does not specify the date of the meeting nor the topics discussed. He only notes that it took place at the end of the fifties and that it was cordial. One can only conjecture about the motivation for this meeting as it corresponds to the publication of the work. A publication which was only troubled after the death of [[Pius XII and Maria Valtorta#Did the Pope approve and support the work of Maria Valtorta?|Pius XII]]. However, it is necessarily linked to the events unfolding at the time (see above).

As confirmed by the testimony of Marta Diciotti (see below), the higher authority is the Holy Office. The episode must have taken place in 1956. Emilio Pisani was then 22 years old and it is normal that the Holy Office investigated a book published without an author's name and thus linked it with the typescripts of Maria Valtorta which they had wanted to destroy. But this also confirms that the Holy Office did not sanction the work during Pius XII's lifetime who had encouraged its publication. There were, Salton them, reasons to do so because the article of the Osservatore romano of January 6, 1960 alludes to passages from this first volume. It also confirms that Mgr Musto was Good connected with the Holy Office regarding the work of Maria Valtorta and so the pressures he says he endured were plausible.

The Confession to Marta Diciotti

The interrogation of Mgr Musto, referred to by Emilio Pisani in the letter of May 27, seems to be confirmed by the testimony of Marta Diciotti collected by Albo Centoni]:

[…] The Bishop of Sora, Mgr Biagio Musto, who could have granted the imprimatur as the person responsible for the diocese where the Pisani Editions are located, on the evening of his feast — February 3, 1970, after the performance of "Laments of the Virgin," taken from the "Poem" and recited by Miss Anna Maria Palmi in the same cathedral of Sora (an old lady declared in dialect to have never "wept" so much in her life) — was kind enough to invite us to his apartment: Father Berti, Emilio and Claudia Pisani, as well as myself and a few others.

He made a great celebration and many compliments, holding my hand for a long time with great, great affability.

On this occasion, he expressed his enthusiasm for the "Poem," in which he said he found magnificent, wonderful pages. And these same words were certainly not just diplomatic, both because of the warmth with which they were spoken and because I had heard them shortly before in the cathedral when he was speaking with a layman beside him.

Then he told us that if it depended on him, after the necessary revision, he would have granted the imprimatur, if he had not been prevented.

To me particularly, after taking me aside and offering me chocolates, he openly said: "Oh, how willingly I would have granted the imprimatur, if someone had not come and snatched it from my hands! Please, pray to Mary for me."

And he was certainly referring to the Holy Congregation in Rome. [...] The allusion to the Holy Inquisition made by this dear and venerable bishop of Sora, Mgr Biagio Musto, was evident.

[…] Mgr Biagio Musto, unfortunately, died shortly after this memorable reception for me: precisely on the evening of Holy Thursday the following year, after the liturgical celebrations. This saddened me very much, especially since I was expecting his visit to this house, as he had promised. He was to come on the occasion of the spa treatment he planned to take in Montecatini. Indeed, the publisher had warned me, even adding to count on it: "Look, I know him and I know he keeps his promises. So wait for him. Better yet, get ready."

Unfortunately, his sudden death prevented this project from happening, the very thought of which rejoiced me greatly.

On a moral level, it seemed to me a way of providing a posthumous satisfaction to poor Maria, who had languished so much in the desire for ecclesiastical approval: a desire not only frustrated but even ridiculed by the heart-wrenching crown of an Indexing.

Naturally, in this case, the question of the imprimatur was not raised, whose importance may have perhaps lost some of its strength: it was simply a moral recognition that could have broken down some barriers, always ready to arise in the Valtorta question, but above all honored this noble prelate before God and men. […]

Mgr Musto must have heard about the work of Maria Valtorta from Mgr Fontevecchia of whom he was coadjutor for a year and a half. Mgr Fontevecchia had it read to him. Anyway, he read it and appreciated it enough to want to grant the imprimatur after revision. This mention refers to the conclusion of Mgr Ugo Emilio Lattanzi for whom the work was preternatural (beyond human possibilities alone) but who had not adhered to many descriptions of the book.

Mgr Musto, although legitimate in his desire to grant the imprimatur, was firmly prevented from doing so. Whether by a visit or by a telephone conversation, it is unknown, but Mgr Musto retained the taste of humiliation that seemed to haunt him still, fifteen years later. The hope for this meeting, which never took place, between Marta Diciotti and the suddenly deceased Mgr Musto, indicates well the pain of the Indexing which was that of Maria Valtorta and Marta Diciotti, and remains ours. Twenty years later, Cardinal Ratzinger, delivering his Nihil obstat by private letter to "The New Man," fulfilled the wish Marta Diciotti expressed in memory of Maria Valtorta.

Person who is neither priest nor religious.

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