GIOVANNI di GORZE. — Benedictine abbot and reformer, b. at Vandières (Pont-à-Musson) at the beginning of the 10th century; he studied at Metz and St-Mihiel, but with little success. While still an adolescent he was orphaned by his father, and was obliged to occupy himself with the administration of his paternal estates. After a quarrel with the other members of his family, he was taken on by a nearby nobleman as parish priest of his church. In this office he came to know and subsequently visit frequently the women’s monastery of St. Peter at Metz; through contact with the cloistered life and the exemplary observance of those nuns, his monastic vocation matured, and he followed it fervently together with other companions. With them he undertook a journey to southern Italy, stayed for some time at Montecassino, and then returned to his homeland with the intention of restoring monastic life to its most ancient observance. After many difficulties, he and his companions obtained from the bishop of Metz in 933 the abbey of Gorze, founded by St. Crodegango in 749 and at that time reduced to the utmost extremity, including materially. G. held there the office of cellarer, then in 945 that of porter, in 949 that of prior, and finally, in 967, was elected abbot.
Exceptionally strict with himself, he was instead indulgent toward his monks, whom through his wise and cautious energy he led to great material and spiritual prosperity. The fame of his virtues soon spread beyond the monastery walls; delicate tasks were entrusted to him even before he became abbot: in 953 Otto the Great sent him to the caliph 'Abd ar-Rahmān. Through his firmness and energy, G. succeeded in achieving results that other envoys before him, charged with the same mission, had been unable to attain.
The name of G. di Gorze is above all associated with the monastic reform that he first introduced in his own monastery and which subsequently spread to approximately 70 abbeys; it thus became the center of the revival of monastic life in Germany. This reform was based on a return to the primitive observance of the Rule, but added austere practices not proper to the spirit of St. Benedict. Nevertheless, it steadily gained ground in Germany and Belgium, and even in Rome. Rather than with the reform of Cluny, it should be linked with that of Lorraine, which comprises the reforms of Brogne and of Riccardo di St-Vanne, in addition to that of Gorze. The latter lasted for 200 years. G. d. at Gorze on 7 March 976. His commemoration in the Martirologia benedettino, however, is on 27 February.