Raniero Cantalamessa

Raniero Cantalamessa was born in Colli del Tronto, Italy, on 22 July 1934.{{Cite web | title = Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap | work = Cantalamessa.org | url = http://www.cantalamessa.org/?page_id=201 | access-date = March 13, 2013|language=it}} He was ordained as a priest in the Franciscan Capuchin order in 1958.{{cite book|last=Hocken|first=Peter D.|title=The New International dDctionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements|year=2002|publisher=Zondervan Pub. House|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|isbn=0310224810|edition=Rev. and expanded|editor=Stanley M. Burgess|page=454|chapter=Cantalamessa, Rainero}} He holds doctoral degrees in theology and classical literature. He formerly served as a professor of ancient Christian history and the director of the Department of Religious Sciences at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, resigning in 1979. Cantalamessa also served as a member of the International Theological Commission from 1975 until 1981.{{Cite web | title = Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap | work = Cantalamessa.org | url = http://www.cantalamessa.org/?page_id=201&lang=en | access-date = March 13, 2013}}

In his 1988 book The Mystery of Christmas, Cantalamessa wrote that the Church must reassess its identity based upon its Jewish roots: "Quite a few in the Jewish religion have started to acknowledge Jesus as 'the glory of Israel.' They openly acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah and call themselves 'Messianic Jews.' ... These help us to overcome certain gloomy prospects of ours, making us realize that the great original schism afflicting the Church and impoverishing it is not so much the schism between East and West or between Catholics and Protestants, as the more radical one between the Church and Israel." He then wrote: "We are not saying this in a spirit of proselytism but in a spirit of conversion and obedience to the Word of God because it is certain that the rejoining of Israel with the Church will involve a rearrangement in the Church; it will mean a conversion on both sides. It will also be a rejoining of the Church with Israel."{{cite book | page= 101 | title= The Mystery of Christmas | location = Sydney | date = 1988 | publisher= St. Paul's Publications}}

Cantalamessa was appointed the Preacher to the Papal Household by Pope John Paul II in 1980 and was confirmed in this position by Popes Benedict XVI and Francis. In this capacity, he provided meditations to the Pope and other high-ranking officials each Friday during Lent and Advent, and was "the only person allowed to preach to the Pope."{{Cite news | title = Call for Church sex abuse penance | newspaper = BBC News | date = December 15, 2006 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6184477.stm | access-date = January 3, 2011}}

In December 2006, Cantalamessa urged Pope Benedict XVI in an Advent sermon to declare a day of fasting and penitence in response to child sex crimes by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. There was no reported reaction from the pope.

In 2010, Cantalamessa's sermon during Good Friday prayers in St Peter's Basilica was reported as implying that the coverage of alleged child abuse and cover-ups within the Roman Catholic Church was evidence of anti-Catholicism and that this coverage bore similarities to the "more shameful aspects of anti-Semitism".{{Cite news | title = Pope's preacher compares abuse row to anti-Semitism | newspaper = BBC News | date = April 2, 2010 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8601084.stm | access-date = January 3, 2011}} Cantalamessa responded that he was reading directly from a letter received earlier in the week from a Jewish friend who was expressing his contempt for what he considered a blatant media assault on the pope.{{Cite news | last = Pentin | first = Edward | title = What Fr. Cantalamessa Really Said | newspaper = National Catholic Register | date = April 2, 2010 | url = http://www.ncregister.com/blog/what_fr._cantalamessa_really_said/ | access-date = January 3, 2011 | archive-date = 6 April 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100406030022/http://www.ncregister.com/blog/what_fr._cantalamessa_really_said | url-status = dead }} Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi issued a statement saying that Cantalamessa was not speaking as a Vatican official and that Cantalamessa's comparison could "lead to misunderstandings and is not an official position of the Catholic Church".

On 29 March 2013, in a Good Friday homily delivered in St Peter's Basilica, Cantalamessa preached in favor of clearing away "the residue of past ceremonials, laws and disputes, now only debris". He then referred to Francis of Assisi as a model for the creative destruction of ecclesial traditions:

{{Quote|As happens with certain old buildings, over the centuries, to adapt to the needs of the moment, they become filled with partitions, staircases, rooms and closets. The time comes when we realize that all these adjustments no longer meet the current needs, but rather are an obstacle, so we must have the courage to knock them down and return the building to the simplicity and linearity of its origins. This was the mission that was received one day by a man who prayed before the Crucifix of San Damiano: "Go, Francis, and repair my Church".{{cite web|last=Cantalamessa|first=Raniero|title=Good Friday 2013, Celebration of the Passion of Our Lord, Homily of Father Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM, Cap|url=https://www.vatican.va/liturgical_year/holy-week/2013/documents/holy-week_homily-fr-cantalamessa_20130329_en.html|access-date=30 March 2013}}}}

Cantalamessa, a frequent speaker, is a member of the Catholic Delegation for Dialogue with the Pentecostal Churches. He hosted{{when|date=May 2025}} a weekly program on Radiotelevisione Italiana.

At the suggestion of Pope Francis, Cantalamessa led a retreat for the bishops of the US at Mundelein Seminary from 2 to 8 January 2019 to seek spiritual guidance in addressing the clerical sex abuse crisis in the US Catholic Church.{{Cite web|url=https://zenit.org/2019/01/03/chicago-us-bishops-gathered-for-spiritual-retreat/|title=Chicago: US Bishops Gathered for Spiritual Retreat|work = Zenit | access-date = 10 November 2024 | first = Jim | last = Fair | date=3 January 2019}}{{cite news | url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/40212/father-cantalamessa-preaching-to-us-bishops-on-retreat-this-week | access-date = 9 November 2024| date = 2 January 2019|title= Father Cantalamessa preaching to US bishops on retreat this week | publisher = Catholic News Agency }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.usccb.org/news/2019/us-bishops-receive-letter-pope-francis-they-gather-spiritual-retreat-cardinal-daniel|date = 4 January 2019 | access-date = 10 November 2024 |title=U.S. Bishops Receive Letter from Pope Francis As They Gather for Spiritual Retreat; Cardinal Daniel DiNardo Offers Message to Holy Father on Behalf of U.S. Bishops |website= USCCB}}

On 25 October 2020, Pope Francis announced he would raise him to the rank of cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 28 November 2020.{{cite news| access-date=25 October 2020 | date= 25 October 2020 | url= https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/10/25/pope-francis-new-cardinals-wilton-gregory-washington | title= Pope Francis names 13 new cardinals, including Wilton Gregory, the archbishop of Washington D.C. | first=Gerard | last= O'Connell | publisher =America }} On his request,{{cite web|first1=Antonio|last1=Sanfrancesco|url=https://m.famigliacristiana.it/articolo/padre-cantalamessa-chiede-al-papa-di-non-essere-ordinato-vescovo-voglio-morire-con-il-saio-francescano.htm|title=Cantalamessa chiede al papa di non essere ordinato vescovo: "voglio morire con il saio"|trans-title=Cantalamessa asks the pope not to be consecrated bishop: "I want to take till the end the tunic"|date=November 11, 2020|access-date=April 17, 2021}} the pope granted Cantalamessa dispensation from the requirement that he be consecrated a bishop.{{cite news | access-date = 20 November 2020 | url = https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2020/11/majority-of-cardinals-designate-expected-to-attend-consistory/ | date = 19 November 2020 | title = Majority of cardinals-designate expected to attend consistory | agency = Catholic News Service | first = Carol | last = Glatz | work = Crux}} At that consistory, Pope Francis made him Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Apollinare alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine.{{cite web |title=Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli, 28.11.2020| language = it |date=28 November 2020 |website=Holy See Press Office|access-date=28 November 2020| url= https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/11/28/0618/01449.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201128155120/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2020/11/28/0618/01449.html|archive-date= 28 November 2020 |url-status=live}} Aged more than 80 at the time of his elevation to the cardinalate, Cantalamessa was never eligible to serve as a cardinal elector.

His office of Preacher to the Pontifical Household ceased on 9 November 2024, when his successor was appointed.{{cite press release | access-date = 9 November 2024 | publisher = Holy See Press Office | date = 9 November 2024 | title = Resignations and Appointments, 09.11.2024 | url = https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2024/11/09/241109c.html }} He planned in retirement to live at the Hermitage of Merciful Love in Cittaducale and serve on occasion as chaplain to a community of Poor Clare nuns there.{{cite news | work = Vatican News | access-date = 9 November 2024 | date = 9 November 2024 | url = https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-11/pope-francis-preacher-papal-household-roberto-pasolini.html | title =Pope appoints Fr. Pasolini as new Preacher of Papal Household }}

Two papal conclaves were held while Cantalamessa was serving as preacher to the papal house, and both times he was invited to deliver one of the two public exhortations that begin a conclave, in 2005 and 2013.{{cite web|url=https://www.agensir.it/quotidiano/2020/11/19/concistoro-padre-cantalamessa-chiede-la-dispensa-dallordinazione-episcopale-voglio-morire-con-labito-francescano/|title=Concistoro: padre Cantalamessa chiede la dispensa dall'ordinazione episcopale, "Voglio morire con l'abito francescano"|date=November 19, 2020|language=it|publisher=AgenSIR|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201119164112/https://www.agensir.it/quotidiano/2020/11/19/concistoro-padre-cantalamessa-chiede-la-dispensa-dallordinazione-episcopale-voglio-morire-con-labito-francescano/|archive-date=November 19, 2020|url-status=live}} A third occurred after he had retired from that position and for that 2025 conclave he gave the second of the two exhortations, the one that immediately precedes the first ballots cast in the conclave.{{cite web|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2025-04/general-congregation-third-college-cardinals-thursday.html|title=Cardinals hold third General Congregation, begin conversation about Church}}

Cantalamessa is the primary subject of the award-winning{{Citation |last=Zahorian |first=Ashley |title=The Preacher to the Popes: Raniero Cantalamessa |date=2021-12-18 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14878502/?ref_=sc_tt_2 |type=Documentary, Biography |publisher=CMAX Media |access-date=2023-01-14}} documentary [https://thepreachertothepopes.com The Preacher to the Popes: Raniero Cantalamessa] from [https://cmax.tv CMAX Media] and [https://awakeningthedomesticchurch.com Awakening the Domestic Church]. The film premiered in December 2021 in Norfolk, VA. As of January 14, 2022 the documentary has won 8 awards in 12 different festivals.

Cantalamessa is the author of numerous books on theological and spiritual topics. A selection follows:{{Cite web | title = Bibliography | work = Cantalamessa.org | url = http://www.cantalamessa.org/en/libri.php | access-date = January 3, 2011 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314180703/http://www.cantalamessa.org/en/libri.php | archive-date = March 14, 2007 }}

{{columns-list|colwidth=30em|

• Glorify God in Your Bodies: Our Call to Horizontal Holiness (1986)
• The Mystery of Christmas: A Commentary on the Magnificat (1988)
• Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God (1991)
• The Holy Spirit, Soul of Evangelization (1992)
• The Eucharist, Our Sanctification (1993)
• Easter in the Early Church (1993)
• The Mystery of Easter (1993)
• The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus, The Mystery of Christ's Baptism (1994)
• The Mystery of God's Word (1994)
• Virginity (1995)
• The Power of the Cross (1996)
• The Ascent to Mount Sinai (1996)
• Poverty (1997)
• Life in Christ: A Spiritual Commentary on the Letter to the Romans (1997)
• The Mystery of Pentecost (2002)
• Spiritual Healing (2003)
• Come, Creator Spirit: Meditations on the Veni Creator (2003)
• Loving the Church (2005)
• Sober Intoxication of the Spirit (2005)
• This Is My Body (2005)
• Contemplating the Trinity (2007)
• Beatitudes: Eight Steps to Happiness (2009)
• The Gaze of Mercy: A Commentary on Divine and Human Mercy (2015)
• The Power of the Cross:Good Friday Sermons from the Papal Preacher (2023){{cite web | url=https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/the-power-of-the-cross | title=The Power of the Cross }}
• Faith, Hope, and Charity (2024){{cite web | url=https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/faith-hope-and-charity | title=Faith, Hope, and Charity }}}}

• Cardinals created by Francis
• Prefecture of the Papal Household

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{cite web|url=https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_cantalamessa_r.html|title=Cantalamessa Card. Raniero, O.F.M. Cap.|website=Holy See Press Office|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129021910/https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/documentation/cardinali_biografie/cardinali_bio_cantalamessa_r.html|archive-date=29 November 2020|url-status=live}}
• {{Official website|http://www.cantalamessa.org/?lang%3Den}}

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{{s-bef|before=Alfredo Marchesi}}

{{s-ttl|title=Preacher for the Papal Household|years=23 June 1980 – 9 November 2024}}

{{s-aft|after=Roberto Pasolini}}

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{{s-bef|before=Jean-Louis Tauran}}

{{s-ttl|title=Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Apollinare
alle Terme Neroniane-Alessandrine|years=28 November 2020 – present}}

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{{College of Cardinals}}

{{History of Catholic theology}}

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{{Portal bar|Biography|Catholicism|Italy}}

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Category:1934 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century Italian male writers

Category:20th-century Italian non-fiction writers

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Category:Capuchins

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Category:Pentecostalism

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Category:People from Ascoli Piceno