MAZZELLA, ORAZIO. - Theologian, archbishop, b. at Vitulano (Benevento) 30 May 1860, d. at Benevento 30 July 1939. Ordained priest 22 Sept. 1883, he taught philosophy, physical sciences and theology in the Seminary of Benevento, while at the same time carrying on an active pastoral ministry in the founding and directing of charitable, welfare and cultural institutions (Collegio Acheropita). Elected titular Bishop of Cuma on 11 Feb. 1896, he served as auxiliary to the Archbishop of Bari until 24 March 1898, when he was transferred to the archiepiscopal see of Rossano Calabro. On 14 Apr. 1917 he became Archbishop of Taranto and on 1 Nov. 1934 titular Archbishop of Laodicea in Syria.
He wrote: *La questione operaia* (Avellino 1898); *Il divorzio nell’ordine sociale* (Rome 1902); *Il libero pensiero* (Catania 1913); *S. Tommaso e la filosofia di Aristotele* (in *Acta hebdomadae hoministica*, Rome 1924, pp. 9-28); *La guerra nel dogma, nella morale, nella storia della Chiesa* (Taranto 1936); *I dogmi della Chiesa cattolica e il protestantismo* (ibid. 1933) and other pamphlets. His major work is the *Praelectiones scholastico-dogmaticae* (4 vols., 7-10, 12-21, with later editions), notable for its erudition (not always first-hand) and clarity.