Vincenzo Labini (28 April 1735 – 30 April 1807) was an Italian archbishop who served as Bishop of Malta from 1780 till 1807.

Biography

Labini was born in

Bitonto Bitonto (; ) is a ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, in the Italian region of Apulia. It lies to the west of Bari. It is nicknamed the "City of Olives", due to the numerous olive groves surrounding the city. Geography Bitonto lies a ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on April 28, 1735. In 1758 he was ordained priest of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem better known as the Knights of St John. In 1780

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

appointed Labini as Bishop of Malta upon the resignation of Bishop Giovanni Carmine Pellerano. He was consecrated on June 25, 1780, by Cardinal Bernardino Giraud. It was on March 3, 1797, that the Cathedral Church of Malta was elevated to the Archiepiscopal dignity, since the bishops of Malta became Archbishops of Rhodes and Bishops of Malta thus Labini was the first to be given this title. Vincenzo Labini was an intimate friend of St Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori the Bishop of St Agata dei Goti and founder of the

Redemptorists The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (), abbreviated CSsR, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scala ...

. Some of the changes that Labini brought in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

were that the procession of St Gregory was transferred from March 12 to the Wednesday after Easter, he ordered daily Sacramental Benediction in all parish churches and that bells must be rung every Thursday, an hour after sunset, in memory of the institution of the Eucharist. He also consecrated many of the churches in

. Labni led the diocese under three different occupants: the Knights, the French and the British. Archbishop Labini died on April 30, 1807, and was buried in the Cathedral at Mdina.Grech Cremona, Josep
"Archbishop Vincenzo Labini"
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The Times of Malta The ''Times of Malta'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Malta. Founded in 1935, by Lord and Lady Strickland and Lord Strickland's daughter Mabel, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in Malta. It has the widest circu ...

'', Malta, 29 April 2007. Retrieved on 08 April 2014.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labini, Vincenzo 1735 births 1807 deaths Archbishops of Malta 18th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Knights of Malta Bishops of Malta 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops