Felice Accrocca (born 2 December 1959) is an Italian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

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who has been the Archbishop of Benevento since 2016.

Biography

Felice Accrocca was born on 2 December 1959 in Cori in the

province of Latina The Province of Latina ( it, Provincia di Latina) is an area of local government at the level of province in the Republic of Italy. It is one of five provinces that form the region of Lazio. The provincial capital is the city of Latina. It is bo ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. He studied at the seminary of the in

Anagni Anagni () is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, Latium, central Italy, in the hills east-southeast of Rome. It is a historical and artistic center of the Latin Valley. Geography Overview Anagni still maintains the appear ...

. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno on 12 June 1986. Following ordination, he became an associate pastor at the Church of the Assumption of Mary in

Cisterna di Latina Cisterna di Latina is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Latina in Lazio, of central Italy. It was the scene of the Battle of Cisterna in January 1944. The Garden of Ninfa is located in the commune's territory. The town, then known as ''T ...

. In 1989, he became a parish priest at the Church of Saint Luke in

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

, where he remained until 2004. He was then transferred to the Church of Saint Pius X, also in Latina. Finally, he was appointed a parish priest at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Latina in 2012. He was also the coordinator of the diocese's lay groups, managing editor of the monthly diocese magazine "Chiesa Pontina," and was the episcopal vicar for pastoral affairs. Accrocca was also a professor of medieval history at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he furthered his studies of the medieval

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, publishing numerous books and essays.

Episcopal ministry

On 18 February 2016,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

appointed Accrocca Archbishop of Benevento, succeeding Andrea Mugione who retired due to age. On 15 May he was consecrated a bishop by

Mariano Crociata Mariano Crociata (born 16 March 1953) has been bishop of the Diocese of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno since 19 November 2013. He was previously the Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), the first to come from a southern ...

, Bishop of Latina-Terracina-Sezze-Priverno and co-consecrators Archbishop

Giuseppe Petrocchi Giuseppe Petrocchi (born 19 August 1948) is an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who has served as the Archbishop of L'Aquila since 2013. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 28 June 2018. Life Giuseppe Petrocchi was born on 19 August 1948 in Asc ...

and Archbishop Andrea Mugione in the Church of the Sacred Heart where he had been pastor. He was installed on 12 June and received his

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

as metropolitan from Pope Francis on 29 June in St. Peter's Basilica. He chose as his episcopal motto ''Nisi dominus ædificaverit'' (Unless the Lord build the house), the opening verse of (). On 5 December 2020, Pope Francis named him a member of the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pass ...

. Within the

Italian Episcopal Conference The Italian Episcopal Conference ( it, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church, the official assembly of the bishops in Italy. The conference was founded in 1971 and carrie ...

he is a member of the commissions for evangelization and for interchurch cooperation.

Works

*''Angelo Clareno. Seguire Cristo povero e crocifisso'', Messaggero di Sant'Antonio Editrice, 1994. *''Francesco e le sue immagini. Momenti della evoluzione della coscienza storica dei frati Minori (13th to 16th centuries),'' 1997. *''Francesco. Un folle per amore'', , 1998. *''Viveva ad Assisi un uomo di nome Francesco. Un'introduzione alle fonti biografiche di san Francesco'', Messaggero di Sant'Antonio Editrice, 2005. *''Francesco fratello e maestro'', Messaggero di Sant'Antonio Editrice, 2012. *''Schiavo in Egitto. La storia di Giuseppe'', Edizioni Paoline, 2013. *''Francesco, un nome nuovo. Vita di un uomo santo'', Messaggero di Sant'Antonio Editrice, 2014. *''Identità complessa. Percorsi francescani fra due e trecento'', 2014. *''La leggenda dei tre compagni'', Messaggero di Sant'Antonio Editrice, 2014. *F. Accrocca - L. Bertazzo - P. Maranesi - L. Pellegrini, ''L'identità in cammino. Povertà e penitenza, predicazione e studi nello sviluppo dei testi legislativi dei frati Minori (13th-16th centuries)'', edited by A. Czortek, Cittadella editrice, 2014. *''Francesco e la Santa Chiesa Romana. La scelta del Vangelo e la codificazione difficile di un ideale'', Cittadella editrice, 2015.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Accrocca, Felice 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Living people 1959 births Archbishops of Benevento People from the Province of Latina Academic staff of the Pontifical Gregorian University