Raffaele Calabria (11 December 1906–24 May 1982) was an Italian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

bishop. During his career, he served as Archbishop of Otranto and

Archbishop of Benevento The Italian Catholic metropolitan Archdiocese of Benevento ( la, Archidioecesis Beneventana) has a long history; it now has five suffragan dioceses: the diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia, the diocese of Avellino, the diocese of Cerreto Sannit ...

Biography

Raffaele Calabria was born on 11 December 1906 in the town of Lucera in Apulia, Italy. He studied 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 ...

and received his degree in philosophy and theology, subjects he later taught in

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. He was ordained a priest on 16 March 1929 and then consecrated a bishop on 29 June 1950, when he was appointed the Titular Archbishop of Soterioupolis on 6 May 1950, which he held until 10 July 1952. Calabria was then appointed the Metropolitan Archbishop of Otranto on 10 July 1952, a position he held until 12 July 1960. Upon resigning as Archbishop of Otranto, he was made the Titular Archbishop of Heliopolis in Phoenicia on 12 July 1960, which he held until 1 January 1962. Finally, on the same date, Calabria was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Benevento. He held this title until 24 May 1982, when he resigned from pastoral governance. Calabria was a participant in the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

, where he sided with more conservative positions. At the end of the council, he became engaged in a spirited debate with future Cardinal Yves Congar about

modernism Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, ...

. Calabria was also responsible for renovating the Benevento Cathedral, including the large organ and the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The stations grew out of imita ...

. On 24 May 1982, Raffaele Calabria died in

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and t ...

at the age of 75.

References

External links

Archdiocese of Benevento

Archdiocese of Otranto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calabria, Raffaele 1906 births 1982 deaths People from Lucera Archbishops of Benevento 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops Pontifical Gregorian University alumni