Alfonso Capecelatro (

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, 5 February 1824 – 14 November 1912) was an Italian

Archbishop of Capua The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Capua ( la, Archidioecesis Capuana) is an archdiocese (originally a suffragan bishopric) of the Roman Catholic Church in Capua, in Campania, Italy, but its archbishop no longer holds metropolitan rank and has no e ...

, ecclesiastical writer, Vatican librarian, and

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

Life

He was descended from the family of the dukes of Castelpagano. His father served under

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

, adopted the political principles of the Napoleonic period, and voluntarily exiled himself to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

and Marseilles, when

Ferdinand I of Naples Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the Naples branch, universally known as Ferrante and also called by his contemporaries Don Ferrando and Don Ferrante (2 June 1424, in Valencia – 25 January 1494, in Naples), was the only son, illegitimate, of ...

, after his restoration by the

Congress of Laibach The Congress of Laibach was a conference of the allied sovereigns or their representatives, held in 1821 as part of the Congress System (the forerunner of the Concert of Europe) which was the decided attempt of the five Great Powers to settle inte ...

, set about the repression of political Liberalism. The family returned to Italy in 1826 and to

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 adm ...

in 1830. At sixteen Alfonso entered the

Oratory of St. Philip Neri The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri ( la, Confoederatio Oratorii Sancti Philippi Nerii) abbreviated CO and commonly known as the Oratorians is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men (priests and lay- ...

at Naples. Ordained priest in 1847, he devoted himself to the confessional, preaching, and various charitable enterprises, but also to ecclesiastical studies, giving especial attention to ecclesiastical history. He was particularly drawn to

Peter Damian Peter Damian ( la, Petrus Damianus; it, Pietro or '; – 21 or 22 February 1072 or 1073) was a reforming Benedictine monk and cardinal in the circle of Pope Leo IX. Dante placed him in one of the highest circles of '' Paradiso'' ...

Catherine of Siena Catherine of Siena (Italian: ''Caterina da Siena''; 25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380), a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, was a mystic, activist, and author who had a great influence on Italian literature and on the Catholic Church ...

Philip Neri Philip Romolo Neri ( ; it, italics=no, Filippo Romolo Neri, ; 22 July 151526 May 1595), known as the "Second Apostle of Rome", after Saint Peter, was an Italian priest noted for founding a society of secular clergy called the Congregation of ...

, and

Alphonsus Liguori Alphonsus Liguori, CSsR (27 September 1696 – 1 August 1787), sometimes called Alphonsus Maria de Liguori or Saint Alphonsus Liguori, was an Italian Catholic bishop, spiritual writer, composer, musician, artist, poet, lawyer, scholastic philoso ...

, whose biographies he wrote. He attacked

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote in ...

's "Life of Christ", then widely circulated in Italy, and afterwards himself published a "Life of Jesus Christ". He devoted three volumes to an exposition of Catholic doctrine and two to the Christian virtues, and published several volumes of sermons. Meanwhile, he maintained personal relations with various persons, particularly priests and religious at Naples, among them the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

Ludovico da Casoria, whose biography he wrote, and two priests Ignatius Persico and Casanova, with whom he often discussed methods of catechetical instruction. He corresponded with other Liberal Catholics, among them Manzoni, Cesare Cantu, Dupanloup, and Montalembert.

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-ol ...

summoned him to Rome, together with Luigi Tosti, and made him assistant librarian, wishing thereby not only to honour a learned man, but also to make use of him for the work of reconciliation which occupied his mind until 1887. In 1880 Capecelatro was appointed Archbishop of Capua. There he passed his life in the administration of his diocese, literary labours, and works of charity. He was made a cardinal by Leo XIII in 1885. He received some votes in the papal conclave of 1903. In the pastoral letters and other minor works published in the last years of his life he treats the great questions of modern times, especially those relating to public life in Italy. He had little influence in ecclesiastical politics, and in the end was overwhelmed by the course of events in the modernist crisis in the Catholic Church.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capecelatro, Alfonso 1824 births 1912 deaths Bishops of Capua 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops Archbishops of Capua 19th-century Italian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Leo XIII 20th-century Italian cardinals