Germano Ruopollo

After his profession, the young religious continued his theological and philosophical studies at the motherhouse of Saints John and Paul in Rome. However, the political upheavals linked to the capture of Rome in 1870 and the laws on mandatory military service for clerics forced his superiors to send him to Belgium, to the convent of Ère. It was there that he was ordained a priest on November 3, 1872, by the Apostolic Nuncio Serafino Cattaneo. He first dedicated himself to the apostolate among Italian emigrants in Belgium, then exercised his ministry in France, notably in Boulogne-sur-Mer and Bordeaux. Returning to Italy in October 1876, Father Germano was entrusted with the intellectual and spiritual formation of young Passionists. He taught a wide range of disciplines: theology, canon law, Church history, classical letters, philosophy, physical sciences, and mathematics. An encyclopedic mind, he was also passionate about Christian archaeology. He conducted important excavations at the church of Sant'Eutizio near Soriano nel Cimino, but his major archaeological work remains the uncovering, under the Basilica of Saints John and Paul on the Caelian Hill in Rome, of the ancient Roman house inhabited by the martyrs John and Paul. His rigorous work earned him the esteem of internationally renowned archaeologists, such as Giovanni Battista De Rossi and Paul Allard. On June 5, 1883, he was appointed Secretary General of the Congregation of the Passionists, a position he held for six years. Later, he became Postulator General of the order. In this capacity, he deployed tireless activity to promote the causes of beatification of members of his religious family, in particular that of the young cleric Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (Francesco Possenti), which he led successfully to his beatification on May 31, 1908. Father Germano enjoyed great esteem from Popes Leo XIII and Saint Pius X, who entrusted him with several delicate missions as apostolic visitor in various Italian dioceses (notably in Calabria and Tuscany). Out of humility, he refused the appointment to the archiepiscopal see of Bucharest proposed by Leo XIII, as well as, according to several testimonies, elevation to the cardinalate.

The name of Father Germano Ruoppolo remains indissociably linked to that of Saint Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), the mystic of Lucca. It was through a mystical vision that Gemma recognized in him the spiritual director the Lord had destined for her. Their relationship began with an epistolary correspondence in January 1900. Father Germano traveled to Lucca in September of the same year to meet her personally. Demonstrating great prudence and theological rigor, he first subjected the young woman to various meticulous examinations in order to rule out any illusion, simulation, or autosuggestion. Convinced of the authenticity of her mystical experiences (notably her stigmata and her conversations with her guardian angel), he became her attentive spiritual guide, encouraging her to write her autobiography out of obedience. After Gemma's premature death in 1903, Father Germano dedicated himself to the preservation of her memory and the promotion of her cause for beatification. He wrote her first reference biography, published in 1907, and gathered her letters and spiritual writings.

Father Germano Ruoppolo died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage in Rome on December 11, 1909, at the age of 59, while he was correcting the proofs of the sixth edition of his biography of Saint Gemma. Initially buried in the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome, his mortal remains were later transferred to the Sanctuary-Monastery of Saint Gemma in Lucca, where he now rests alongside his famous spiritual daughter. The cause for the beatification of Father Germano officially opened in Rome on December 18, 1959. On July 2, 1995 (decree promulgated on July 11, 1995), Pope John Paul II signed the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, thus conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of the Venerable Germano Ruoppolo is deeply rooted in the Passionist charism of contemplating the Passion of Jesus Christ. A man of immense scientific and theological culture, he knew how to combine exceptional intellectual rigor with profound humility and a life of intimate union with God. His love for the Eucharist, born in his childhood, resulted in the foundation of the Pious Union of the College of Jesus to propagate this devotion. He also supported his own sisters in the foundation of a monastery of the Addolorata in Sorrento. His most lasting legacy lies in his writings on mystical theology and, above all, in his role as a witness and guide to the holiness of Gemma Galgani, whose spiritual richness he helped reveal to the whole world.