Giovanni Calabria (8 October 1873 – 4 December 1954) was an Italian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

who dedicated his life to the plight of the poor and the ill. He established two congregations, the Poor Servants of Divine Providence and the Poor Sisters Servants of Divine Providence.''Ann. Pont. 2007'', p. 1490. to take better care of poor people in various Italian cities and later abroad while underpinning the need to promote the message of

the gospel The gospel or good news is a theological concept in several religions. In the historical Roman imperial cult and today in Christianity, the gospel is a message about salvation by a divine figure, a savior, who has brought peace or other benefits ...

to the poor.

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 ...

beatified him in 1988 and then canonized him a decade later in 1999."St. Giovanni Calabria", Vatican News Service
/ref> His liturgical feast is 4 December.

Life

Giovanni Calabria was born in Verona, Italy on 8 October 1873"St. Giovanni Calabria", Archdiocese of Baltimore
/ref> as the youngest of seven sons to Luigi Calabria and Angela Foschi. His mother was taught by

Nicola Mazza Nicola Mazza (10 March 1790 – 2 August 1865) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest. Mazza was born in and served as a priest in Verona and was dedicated to both the evangelization of Central Africa (he used to be called "Don Congo" due to this) ...

. His education was interrupted due to the death of his father in 1882 and it was around this time that the rector of San Lorenzo Pietro Scapini saw Calabria's potential and became his private tutor in order to prepare him for the examination that would determine if he could commence his studies for the priesthood. The death of his father saw him drop out of school to become an apprentice. He entered but was forced to drop out due to service with the armed forces where he converted fellow soldiers and was known for his faith and show of devotions. One cold night in November 1897 he returned home from the hospital where he was visiting the ill to find a child on his doorstep who told him that he was fleeing those who would beat him. Calabria took him in and shared his room with him. In 1898 he founded the "Charitable Institution for the assistance to poor sick people" and started homes for abandoned teens. Calabria was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest on 11 August 1901 and was then appointed as a confessor and also the curate of Saint Stephen's church. He became the rector of San Benedetto del Monte also in 1907. On 26 November 1907 he founded the "Poor Servants of Divine Providence" in Case Rotte and it relocated in 1908 to Via San Zeno. It received diocesan approval on 11 February 1932 from the

Bishop of Verona 235px, The facade of ''Palazzo del Vescovado'' The Diocese of Verona ( la, Dioecesis Veronensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy. The diocese belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Venice. The bishop of Verona ...

Girolamo Cardinale and then the decree of praise on 25 April 1949 before receiving full pontifical approval on 15 December 1956 from

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 ...

. Bartolomeo Bacilieri who suggested to him that he look into starting a female branch of the institute. On 17 April 1910 he established the Poor Sisters Servants of Divine Providence. The first members of that congregation made their vows on 13 December 1911 and appointed Maria Galbraith (1874-1917) as the first superior of the order. It received diocesan approval on 25 March 1952 before receiving papal approval decades later on

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

in 1981. He had a great friend and admirer in the Giulio Facibeni and on 8 September 1943 - during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

- helped hide the Jewish doctor Mafalda Pavia near Verona among his female congregation; the doctor assumed the name of Sister Beatrice and spent eighteen months there while disguised as a sister. He also corresponded in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

with the noted author

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

. Calabria died on 4 December 1954 and on 3 December offered himself to God to die in the place of the ill Pius XII. The pope rallied and learned of Calabria's death and sent an official telegram of condolence.

Sainthood

The beatification process commenced in both an informative and apostolic process in order to collect documentation and a range of witness interrogatories. Theologians collected his writings to assess if such writings were in line with the faith and approved them on 1 June 1968. The official start to the cause came on 6 March 1981 and Calabria was titled as a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

. The two processes were later validated on 31 March 1984 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the

Positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

was sent a short time after in 1985 to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Theologians approved the Positio on 8 October 1985 and the cardinal and bishop members of the C.C.S. did so as well on 10 December.

named Calabria as

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

on 16 January 1986 after confirming that the priest had indeed lived a life of heroic virtue. The miracle needed for him to be beatified was investigated and was validated on 31 March 1984 before receiving the approval of a medical board on 2 July 1986. Theologians approved it on 19 December 1986 while the C.C.S. did so as well on 17 February 1987 before receiving the approval of John Paul II on 16 March 1987 who beatified Calabria on 17 April 1988. The second miracle that was needed for full sainthood was investigated and validated on 10 February 1995 in Rome and went on to receive the approval of the medical board on 4 July 1996 and then that of the theologians on 10 January 1997. The C.C.S. also approved it on 8 April 1997 while John Paul II issued the final approval needed for it on 7 July 1997 and then canonized Calabria on 18 April 1999.

References

*Martin Moynihan (ed.) ''The Latin Letters of C. S. Lewis: C. S. Lewis & Don Giovanni Calabria.'' Indiana: St. Augustine's Press, 1998

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPNCatholic OnlineSanti e Beati

Opera don Calabria Napoli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calabria, Giovanni 1873 births 1954 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholics 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Christian saints 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Founders of Catholic religious communities Italian beatified people Religious leaders from Verona Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II 20th-century Latin-language writers