Giovanni Battista della Pietra, SJ (17 October 1871 – 26 August 1940) was an Italian Jesuit of the Catholic Church who became an archbishop and worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and then returned to his normal religious life.
Biography
Giovanni Battista della Pietra was born on 17 October 1871 in
Society of Jesus
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, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
on 18 September 1904.
On 9 March 1927,
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
named him titular archbishop of
Chalcedon
Chalcedon ( or ; , sometimes transliterated as ''Chalkedon'') was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the cit ...
and Apostolic Delegate to Albania. He received his episcopal consecration on 19 March 1927 from Cardinal Willem van Rossum.
In Albania he sought to promote conversions among the Orthodox and develop missions for Latin rite Catholics, while contending with the government's promotion of a national Orthodox church. He also served as Apostolic Administrator of some dioceses.
After he made repeated requests to the
Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith
A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship.
Congregation may also refer to:
* Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship
*Congregation (Roman Curia), an administr ...
, the Jesuit superior general, and the pope, della Pietra was allowed to return to his earlier religious life in 1936, without any of the honors associated with the rank of bishop. He became head of the postulates house in
Lonigo Lonigo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, northern Italy, its population counts around 16,400 inhabitants.Source: ISTAT - Bilancio demografico al 31/12/200
In its ''frazione'' of Bagnolo is the Villa Pisani, a Renaissance ...
and then rector of the diocesan seminary in
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
. His gravestone in the Fiume cemetery identifies him as a priest, not a bishop.
Della Pietra died on 26 August 1940 at the age of 68.