OUR FOUNDER:

• Motivation
• Mission
• Mound
• Maturity

Mission

Fr. Mazzuchelli’s emphasis for his first year as a priest was to minister to fur traders, fishermen and hunters in the neglected parishes of Mackinac Island and Sault Ste. Marie. In August of 1831, Alexis de Tocqueville arrived at Mackinac Island on his survey of democracy in American society; he hoped to visit Fr. Mazzuchelli for his insights, but the priest was away from home, serving his people when the writer called. While serving Green Bay, Fr. Mazzuchelli was one of the founders of the first temperance society west of Lake Michigan.

The next year he began to tend to the spiritual care of the four native tribes in his region: the Chippewas, Ottawas, Menominees and Winnebagos—all of whom were subject to the accelerating efforts of the United States government to relocate them off land of growing interest to farmers, miners and other settlers. Fr. Mazzuchelli quickly became active on behalf of the Native Americans, writing letters of protest to officials and staying with the tribal communities. He shared their meals of rice, corn and sturgeon, slept on their mats, drafted a government program for their children’s education, and acted as superintendent for the Indian School of Green Bay. Before his 27th birthday, he’d prepared a prayer book in the Winnebago dialect and forwarded a copy to President Andrew Jackson.

At Twenty-Nine

Around his 29th birthday, Fr. Mazzuchelli found himself focusing on the cities of Dubuque, IA and Galena, IL, which had recently become the world’s leading source of lead ore; the area’s population had increased by 5,000 percent in five years, including 250,000 Irish Catholic immigrant miners who claimed him as their own by altering his name, transposing Fr. Mazzuchelli into “Fr. Matthew Kelly.” He designed and oversaw construction of churches in both cities—just two of more than 20 churches he built (including a pre-fabricated design built in Galena and assembled in Shullsburg, WI).

Despite a growing national anti-Catholic movement, Fr. Mazzuchelli was recognized for his ability to build community across denominations. Just before his 30th birthday, he served as the first chaplain to the legislators of the new Territory of Wisconsin, but his mobile ministry duties prohibited an extended term. Fr. Mazzuchelli’s mission extended more than 200 miles along the Mississippi River, extending 30 to 50 miles on each side. After his 32nd birthday, Fr. Mazzuchelli was named general and special vicar of the new Diocese of Dubuque, though he actually served members of three separate dioceses.

 A few months after his 36th birthday, Fr. Mazzuchelli journeyed to Nauvoo, IL where he spent a night in deep, spirited conversation with Joseph Smith, the founder of the Latter Day Saints who would be murdered in an anti-Mormon uprising the following year. Around the same time, Fr. Mazzuchelli was advised that, following four attacks of virulent fever brought on by overexertion, he should consider a restorative trip to Italy. Never one to let exhaustion undermine opportunity, on the way to his homeland he participated in the fifth Provincial Council of the Church in the United States.