Mourning in the Byzantine Catholic Church of Bari: Papas Antonio Magnocavallo has passed away
Սուգ Բարիի բյուզանդական կաթոլիկ եկեղեցում. մահացել է Պապաս Անտոնիո Մագնոկավալոն. Կառլո Կոպպոլայի հոդված.
“With deep sorrow and hope in the Resurrection, we announce the birth into heaven of our beloved parish priest, Papas Antonio Magnocavallo, of the parish of San Giovanni Crisostomo in Bari. We invite all the faithful to join in prayer for his soul, so that the Lord may welcome him in his infinite mercy.”
This message appeared yesterday morning, Sunday 4 August 2024 on the Facebook page of the Parish of San Giovanni Crisostomo - Bari and was disclosed by the Catholic Community of Byzantine Rite of Bari. Papàs Antonio was born in San Costantino Albanese (Pz) on 11/02/1940 and was ordained on 17 April 1966. He had been ill for some time, however he did everything he could to ensure that the Sunday Divine Liturgy was not missed.
This parish, which is often mistakenly perceived as an Orthodox church, probably because of the imposing iconostasis, is actually a Catholic Church, or in Communion with the Roman Pontiff, although referring to the Liturgy and the Greek-Byzantine calendar. The Church is located in Barivecchia a few steps from Santa Chiara and behind the former Refugee Camp. If, as many historians believe, it was actually to be identified with the Church of St. John the Baptist, its original structure would have been built around 1032 and would have first hosted the relics of St. Nicholas as we read in the Legend of Kiev relating to the translation of St. Nicholas: "... They saw the people of Bari who were arriving with the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra, and all the citizens came out to meet them, men and women, from children to adults, with candles and incense burners, and welcomed them with joy and great honor; and they placed them in the church of St. John the Forerunner by the sea".
The Church then became the property of King Roger II and subsequently the property of the patricians of Bari, including the Calò Carducci family, who made it one of their mausoleums. In 1957, the Archbishop of Bari, Monsignor Enrico Nicodemo, at the request of the families who were returning to the Peninsula after being expelled from the Italian overseas territories, with the prior consent of the Holy See, entrusted the church to the care of the Eparchy of Lungro, Diocese of Greek Rite for Southern Italy. The Greek-Albanian clergy took possession of it even though the faithful were not, at least initially, Arbëreshë, and Papàs Giuseppe Ferrari and then Papàs Antonio Magnocavallo took turns as rectors of the Parish. Both also held school teaching positions, were members of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Bari and participated intensely in the ecumenical dialogue.
The funeral of Papàs Antonio Magnocavallo will be celebrated on August 6th at 11:00 in the Parish of S. Giovanni Crisostomo in Bari in the presence of local and Italian-Albanian civil authorities, while the religious authorities of Bari and Greek-Albanian of the Eparchy of Lungro will officiate the funeral rite. At the end of the funeral, the body will continue to S. Costantino Albanese, the town of origin of Papas Antonio.
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