Massimo Camisasca 

Bishop Massimo Camisasca was born in Milan on November 3, 1946. He spent his childhood in Leggiuno (VA). In 1953, he moved to Milan with his parents. He attended Liceo Berchet, where he met Don Luigi Giussani. In 1960, he joined the community of Gioventù Studentesca. Between 1967 and 1972, he was appointed president of the young people of Catholic Action in the Diocese of Milan, first at the local level and then at the diocesan level. 

From 1965 to 1970, he attended the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan. He graduated with a thesis on Yves Congar, supervised by Prof. Msgr. Carlo Colombo. From 1970 to 1978, he served as an assistant to Prof. Don Giuseppe Cristaldi in the chair of Philosophy of Religion and taught in the same department. In 1973, he entered the seminary of the Community of Paradise in Bergamo. He was ordained a deacon on April 10, 1974, and a priest on November 4, 1975, the feast day of St. Charles Borromeo. In the academic year 1975-1976, he served as the director of Collegio Sant’Alessandro in Bergamo. During those years, he was also responsible for the community of Communion and Liberation in the same city. He taught philosophy in several high schools in Lombardy. 

 In 1978, he moved to Rome and worked in Public Relations between the ecclesial movement of Communion and Liberation (which received pontifical recognition on February 11, 1982) and the Holy See until 1991. 

 From 1982 to 1993, he hosted a radio program for RAI during certain periods of the year. In 1987, he obtained a licentiate in theology from the Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, Pope John Paul II in Rome. On September 14, 1985, together with five other priests, he signed the act of canonical erection of the Priestly Fraternity of Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, of which he was appointed Superior General and Rector of the Formation House. The Fraternity, originally established as a Private Association of the Faithful, was recognized as an Association of Apostolic Life of Diocesan Right by Cardinal Ugo Poletti on March 18, 1989, and as a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right by Pope John Paul II on March 19, 1999. In 1995, Camisasca was recognized as the founder of the Fraternity. In 1990, he became an Associate Professor at the Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, Pope John Paul II. From 1993 to 1996, he also served as Vice-President of the same Institute (two years alongside Msgr. Carlo Caffarra and one year with Msgr. Angelo Scola). On December 5, 1990, he was appointed Chaplain of His Holiness, and on October 14, 1996, he was named Prelate of Honor of His Holiness. Between 1985 and 2012, as the Superior of the Fraternity of St. Charles, he traveled to many countries, accompanied over a hundred young men to the priesthood, and founded more than thirty missions in various parts of the world. He participated in the Eighth and Ninth General Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops: in 1990 as Adiutor Secretarii Specialis and in 1994 as Auditor. From 2003 to 2008, he served as a Consultor for the Congregation for the Clergy, and from 2006 to 2011, as a Consultor for the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. 

He served as the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Charles continuously from its foundation until September 29, 2012, when Pope Benedict XVI publicly announced his appointment as the Bishop of Reggio Emilia – Guastalla. 

He is the author of numerous articles and around seventy books, some of which have been translated into various languages. 

Among the published books are: 

•  Volti e incontri, Jaca Book 1996 
• Comunione e Liberazione. Le origini, San Paolo 2001 
• La sfida della paternità, San Paolo 2003 
• Comunione e Liberazione. La rinascita, San Paolo 2003  
• Il segreto condiviso, Ares 2004 
• Questa casa mia dove abita Dio, San Paolo 2004  
• Passione per l’umanità, San Paolo 2005 
• Comunione e Liberazione. Il riconoscimento, San Paolo 2006 
• Il vento di Dio, Piemme 2007  
• Una voce nella mia vita. L’uomo chiamato da Dio, Libri Avventura Umana 2008 
• La luce e il silenzio, Rubettino 2008  
• Don Giussani. La sua esperienza di uomo e di Dio, San Paolo 2009 
• Padre. Ci saranno ancora preti nel futuro della Chiesa?, San Paolo 2010 (2017) 
• La casa, la terra, gli amici. La Chiesa nel terzo millennio, San Paolo 2011 
• Amare ancora. Genitori e figli nel mondo di oggi e di domani, Il Messaggero 2011 
• Dentro le cose, verso il mistero. La mia vita come un albero, Rizzoli 2012 
• Benvenuti a casa. Le ragioni dell’ospitalità, San Paolo 2013 
• L’isola rossa. Diario di un viaggio a Madagascar, Edizioni San Lorenzo 2015 
• Il nostro volto. La vita della Fraternità Sacerdotale di San Carlo, San Paolo 2016 
• Lo straniero. Meditazioni sulla Chiesa, San Paolo 2017 
• Le dieci parole di Tullio. I dieci comandamenti raccontati da un bambino, Mondadori – Electa Junior 2017 
• L’avventura di GS, Mondadori – Electa 2018 
• Perché mi cercate? Incontro con Gesù nel Vangelo, San Paolo 2018 
• Oltre la paura. Lettere sul nostro presente inquieto, Lindau 2018 
• Tullio un anno dopo. 10 parabole raccontate da un ragazzino, Mondadori – Electa Junior 2019 
• Abitare la terra e vivere nella fede. Costruire il futuro attraverso le sfide del nostro tempo, Piemme 2020 
• Il giorno senza tramonto. La liturgia e i misteri della vita di Gesù, San Paolo 2020 
• Accendere l’eternità senza spegnere la vita, Cantagalli 2021 

 In 2021, on the occasion of Monsignor Camisasca’s 75th birthday, a rich collection of writings in his honor was published by Marcianum Press: Dilexit Ecclesiam. Servitore della comunione.