PIGNATELLI, Giuseppe Maria, Blessed. - Jesuit and first organizer of the revived Society of Jesus in Italy, b. in Zaragoza to the Italian family of the princes of Monteleone on 27 Dec. 1737; d. in Rome on 15 Nov. 1811.

Having entered the Order in 1753 and been ordained a priest in 1762, he devoted himself with zeal to the apostolate in Zaragoza, so much so that he was called the "father of the hanged" and the "father of the markets." When the Jesuits were banished from Spain in 1767, he, although he could have remained there out of regard for his family, refused to leave his confreres, but led a group of 600 of them along the road of exile, first to Civitavecchia, then to San Bonifacio in Corsica, and thence to Ferrara, sustaining and supporting them especially with the help of his sister, the countess of Acerra. When the Order was suppressed in 1773, Father Pignatelli withdrew with his brother Nicola, also a Jesuit, to Bologna, continuing his apostolate there. When, later, in 1793, Duke Ferdinand of Parma, with the help of the Jesuits of Russia, founded a new house for the Fathers in his states, Father Pignatelli was invited there, renewed his vows there, and then in 1799 was master of novices at Colorno, in 1803 provincial of Italy with his seat at Naples, and then from 1806 at Rome. Under him the colleges of Rome, Orvieto and Tivoli, and several residences of the Fathers, rose again; he also cooperated in the return of his confreres to Sardinia. "A model of manly and robust holiness" (Pius XI), he was the link between the old and the new Society of Jesus. He was beatified on 21 May 1933. Feast on 28 Nov.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: J. Novell, El ven. José M. P. y la Compañía de Jesús en su extinción y restablecimiento, 3 vols., Mauresa 1893-94; J. March, Il restaurador de la Compañía de Jesús, beato José P. y su tiempo, I, Barcelona 1935; II, ibid. 1936 (burned by the revolutionaries, reissued ibid. 1944); Italian version, Turin 1938.

Celestino Testore

@incollection{ec9_pignatelli_giuseppe_maria_beat, author = {Testore, Celestino}, title = {Pignatelli, giuseppe maria, beato}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1468--1469}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/pignatelli-giuseppe-maria-beato} }

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Pignatelli, Giuseppe Maria, Blessed

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