STURLA, LUIGI. - Born in Genoa on 27 Aug. 1805, died there on 19 Apr. 1865. Formerly apostolic prefect of Aden.

A priest of great piety and zeal, a friend of Giuseppe Frassinetti (v.) and founder of the Pious Works of St. Raphael and St. Dorothy for the teaching of the catechism and of the "Congregation" of Bl. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio (v.) for the education of the clergy. Hated by the liberals, who expelled him from Genoa in 1848, he offered himself to the S. C. de Propaganda, which sent him to Aden, where he was military chaplain of the English garrison and ministered to that Catholic community; he was also, for several years, procurator and vicar general of Massaja (v.), who loved him greatly. Bl. De Jacobis (v.) called Sturla "the angel of all those regions." He was held in the highest esteem also by the English authorities, who helped him generously in his works of charity. He returned to Italy in 1857, when the mission could finally have a stable organization, with its passing to the Capuchins. He died in the odor of sanctity.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: G. Frassinetti, Memorie intorno alla vita del soc. L. S., 2nd ed., Genoa 1905; G. B. Tragella, Un « gesuitante » missionario per caso, in Studia missionaria, Rome 7 (1923), pp. 357-68.

Giovanni Battista Tragella

@incollection{ec11_sturla_luigi, author = {Tragella, Giovanni Battista}, title = {Sturla, luigi}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {1449}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/sturla-luigi} }

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Sturla, Luigi

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