Gastone Mojaisky Perrelli (born Gastone Mojaisky, 6 August 1914 – 5 March 2008) was an Italian

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

archbishop. He served as

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

to the Congo and

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

and then to

British East Africa East Africa Protectorate (also known as British East Africa) was an area in the African Great Lakes occupying roughly the same terrain as present-day Kenya from the Indian Ocean inland to the border with Uganda in the west. Controlled by Britai ...

and

British West Africa British West Africa was the collective name for British colonies in West Africa during the colonial period, either in the general geographical sense or the formal colonial administrative entity. British West Africa as a colonial entity was orig ...

, during which time he held the Titular Archbishopric of Amida. He later served as Archbishop-Bishop of Nusco and as Archbishop of Conza-Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi-Bisaccia.

Biography

Formation

Gastone Mojaisky was born on 6 August 1937 in

Buonalbergo Buonalbergo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about 70 km northeast of Naples and about twenty kilometers northeast of Benevento. Buonalbergo borders the following municipalit ...

, a ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

province of Benevento The Province of Benevento ( it, Provincia di Benevento) is a province in the Campania region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Benevento. Geography The province has an area of 2,071 km2, and, , a total population of 279,308. There are 78 ...

and the Italian region of

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

. He was born to the

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

of a Russian ambassador who was at the service of the

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

. He was the son of Alceste Perrelli of the noble family of Buonalbergo (after which the city was named) and Carlo, a lawyer and municipal secretary whose family had taken refuge in Buonalbergo for political reasons and established kinship with the illustrious families of the area, including the Perrelli, Mogavero, Cosentini, and D'Amore families, the latter two originally being from

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 the ...

and

San Marco dei Cavoti San Marco dei Cavoti () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located near the Fortore The Fortore (Latin: ''Fertor'' or ''Frento'') is a river which flows through the provinces of Benevento, ...

. In Buonalbergo, Mojaisky Perrelli was raised in the Christian religion by his family, who turned to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

after the untimely death of Alceste Perrelli and the unexpected devotion of Anna Mojaisky, Gastone's sister, who, in memory of her mother, professed her

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhism tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, many different kinds of re ...

and took the name Sister Alceste before dying at a young age in 1934. Mojaisky Perrelli was raised by his stepmother Donna Emilia D'Amore. After finishing his studies in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

at G.B. Vico high school, he decided to enter the priesthood. He entered the Pontifical Seminary of Benevento and received his cassock as a seminarian on 14 November 1932 from Archbishop

Adeodato Giovanni Piazza Adeodato Giovanni Piazza, O.C.D. (30 September 1884 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian friar of the Discalced Carmelite Order, who became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, and Patriarch of Venice, as well as a member of the Roman Curi ...

. In 1937, at the Church of San Nicola di Bari in Buonalbergo, Mojaisky Perrelli was ordained a priest by Archbishop Orazio Mazzella. He later graduated from the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...

, where he studied canon law, and from the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

, where he studied classical letters. He then added to his surname that of his mother, Perrelli.

Diplomatic career

During his schooling and university education, he became fluent in five languages, which enabled him to be sent to Bolivia in 1942 as secretary of the

Apostolic Nunciature to Bolivia The Apostolic Nunciature to Bolivia the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Bolivia. It is located in La Paz. The current Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia is Angelo Accattino, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 12 September 2017. The Apostolic Nun ...

. While there, he was appointed the

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

''ad interim'' in 1945. In 1946, he was sent to

Santiago de Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, then moved to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

three years later as an auditor of the

Apostolic Nunciature to Switzerland The Apostolic Nunciature to Switzerland is an ecclesiastical office of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. It is a diplomatic post of the Holy See, whose representative is called the Apostolic Nuncio, with the rank of an ambassador. The nunc ...

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

. In 1951, he was sent as an advisor to the Nunciature in Mexico. While rector of the Apostolic Nunciatures in Cuba and in Guatemala, he was sent by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. Before his e ...

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

in 1957 as Apostolic Delegate to

and

, an assignment he later held in

Léopoldville Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

. He was given in addition the position of Apostolic Delegate to the Congo and

on 8 August 1959.

Episcopal ministry

Mojaisky Perrelli was appointed

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Amida on 8 August 1959 and was ordained a bishop on 1 November of that year by Cardinal

Domenico Tardini Domenico Tardini (29 February 1888 – 30 July 1961) was a longtime aide to Pope Pius XII in the Secretariat of State. Pope John XXIII named him Cardinal Secretary of State and, in this position the most prominent member of the Roman Curia in ...

and co-consecrators Archbishop Pietro Sigismondi and Bishop Vittorio Longo. He was a Council Father in all four periods of 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) ...

from 1962 to 1965. Mojaisky Perrelli was appointed Archbishop-Bishop of Nusco on 10 May 1963 (archbishop being granted to him as a personal title). He was appointed Archbishop of Conza-Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi-Bisaccia on 4 August 1973, both of which he held simultaneously until 1978. In these roles, he distinguished himself for his noble, strong-willed, austere, and upright character. On 18 November 1978, after a heated conflict with the local clergy, he resigned his pastoral offices and lived near the shrine of the Most Holy Savior in

Montella Montella is an Italian town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Avellino, Campania, with a population of 7,699. The zone was inhabited already in the neolithic period. The town was founded by the Samnites in the 1st millennium BC ...

in near-

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

age. In the mid-1980s, he moved to Naples, where he lived in retirement and holding the title of Archbishop Emeritus of Nusco, in a community of Vincentian priests in Via Vergini. There, he died at dawn on 5 March 2008. Following the solemn

funeral Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

celebrated by Archbishop Andrea Mugione on 7 March in

Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It has been a historical spot of significance in mezzogiorno history. Information Geography Just on a hilltop near the Fredano ...

, he was buried in the family tomb in Buonalbergo. During his life, he was appointed a Knight of the Grand Cross of the

Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George The Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George (SMOCG) ( it, Sacro Militare Ordine Costantiniano di San Giorgio, es, Sagrada Orden Militar Constantiniana de San Jorge), also historically referred to as the Imperial Constantinian Order ...

References

External links