RUSCA, NICCOLÒ. - Priest, b. in April 1560 at Bedano in the Canton of Ticino, then in the diocese of Como, of a noble family from Como; d. as a result of torture at Thusis on 4 Sept. 1618.
He studied at Pavia and Rome, then at the Helvetic College recently established in Milan by St Charles Borromeo. Ordained priest on 23 May 1587, he was parish priest of Sessa-Monteggio (Canton of Ticino) from 1588 to 1590, when he became archpriest of Sondrio, then under the rule of the Grisons. An able theologian, he took part in various disputations with Protestants, the most celebrated of which were those at Tirano (1595; V. Acta disputationis Tiraniensis, Como 1597) and Piuro (1597). The zeal and firmness with which he carried out his apostolate earned him, together with the love of Catholics, the implacable hatred of Calvinists. Falsely accused in 1608 of being the instigator of the attempted murder of a «preacher», he had to leave the city, to which he returned six months later (Jan. 1609), acquitted by the court of Chur. In 1617 he opposed the opening of a Calvinist college at Sondrio: this became the immediate cause of violent Protestant unrest. R. was imprisoned (24 July), on specious accusations, mostly of a political nature, and tried by the famous Strafgericht of Thusis. He died after two days of torture. His cause of beatification is in progress.