Giovanni Battista Franzoni (8 November 1928 – 13 July 2017) was an Italian

Christian communist Christian communism is a theological view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel Christians to support religious communism. Although there is no universal agreement on the exact dates when communistic ideas and practices in Christianity beg ...

and dissident

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. A former

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

, he was

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

of St. Paul's Outside the Walls from 1964 to 1973. Having become involved in activism and politics, he was

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

in 1976.

Biography

Franzoni was an Italian born in

Varna, Bulgaria Varna ( bg, Варна, ) is the third-largest city in Bulgaria and the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in the Northern Bulgaria region. Situated strategically in the Gulf of Varna, the city has been a m ...

. He professed as a member of the

Order of Saint Benedict , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

(OSB) on 5 July 1951. He was ordained to the priesthood on 25 January 1955, began his work as a priest in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

, Italy. He was the author of numerous theological works. An

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

at St. Paul's Outside the Walls, one of the most popular churches in Rome, he was

defrocked Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or ...

, with whom he had feuded over theology, during the Cold War, after he had announced his intention to vote for the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

1976 Italian general election The 1976 Italian general election was held in Italy on 20 June 1976.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1048 It was the first election after the voting age was lowered to 18. The Christian Democracy re ...

, which Franzoni had joined in June of that year. Franzoni was a longtime peace activist, having stood against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

' armed involvements in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. Franzoni opposed the initiated

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

process for

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

. In 2005, Franzoni joined ten other theologians to appeal to Catholics critical of the canonization process to voice their concerns.Pullella, Phillip
"Don't Make John Paul Saint: Dissident Theologians".
''redOrbit''. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 23 July 2009. At the time of his death Franzoni was no longer a member of the Catholic priesthood. He was married to a Japanese

pedagogist Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

.Magister, Sandro
"Turnover at St. Paul's Outside the Walls: Here Come the Monks from the Countryside".
Trans. Matthew Sherry. ''Chiesa News''. 9 March 2004. Retrieved 21 July 2009.

Works

In Italian: * ''La terra è di Dio'' (1973) * ''Omelie a S. Paolo fuori le mura'' (1974) * ''Il posto della fede'' (1977) * ''Il diavolo mio fratello'' (1986) * ''Le tentazioni di Cristo'' (1990) * ''La solitudine del samaritano'' (1993) * ''Farete riposare la terra'' (1996) * ''Giobbe, l'ultima tentazione'' (1998) * ''Lo strappo nel cielo di carta'' (1999) * ''Anche il cielo è di Dio'' (2000) * ''Ofelia e le altre'' (2001) * ''La morte condivisa'' (2002) * ''Del rigore e della misericordia'' (2005)

References

1928 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Italian politicians 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Anti–Iraq War activists Anti–Vietnam War activists Catholic socialists Christian communists Christian socialist theologians Italian anti-war activists Italian Benedictines Italian Christian socialists Italian Communist Party politicians 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Laicized Roman Catholic priests People from Varna, Bulgaria Italian expatriates in Bulgaria {{Italy-politician-ItalianCommunistParty-stub