Francis Caracciolo
| Saint Francis Caracciolo | |
|---|---|
Saint Francis Caracciolo
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| Confessor | |
| Born |
October 13, 1563 Villa Santa Maria, Province of Chieti, Region of Abruzzo, Kingdom of Naples (modern-day Italy) |
| Died | June 4, 1608 (aged 44) Agnone, Province of Isernia, Region of Molise, Kingdom of Italy |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | June 4, 1769, Rome by Pope Clement XIV |
| Canonized | May 24, 1807, Rome by Pope Pius VII |
| Major shrine | Church of Santa Maria di Monteverginella, Naples |
| Feast | June 4 |
| Patronage | Naples (Italy), Italian cooks |
Francis Caracciolo (October 13, 1563 – June 4, 1608), born Ascanio Pisquizio, was an Italian Catholic priest who co-founded the Congregation of the Clerics Regular Minor with John Augustine Adorno. He decided to adopt a religious life at the age of 22. In Italy, he is known as San Francesco Caracciolo, but should not be confused with the 18th century Neapolitan Admiral, and relative, of the same name.
St Francis Caracciolo was born in Villa Santa Maria in the Abruzzo region, in the Kingdom of Naples. He belonged to the Pisquizio branch of the Caracciolo family and received in baptism the name of Ascanio. From a young age, he had a reputation for gentleness and uprightness. When he was 22, he was attacked by one of the several skin complaints collectively described as "leprosy" in those days. So serious was this attack that he was considered hopeless. With death so near, he made a vow that if he regained his health, he would spend the rest of his life in the service of God and his fellow men. He recovered so quickly after this vow, that his cure was considered miraculous. Eager to fulfil his promise to God, he went to Naples to study for the priesthood. In 1587 he was ordained priest and joined the confraternity of the Bianchi della Giustizia (The White Robes of Justice), whose object was to assist condemned criminals to die holy deaths.
Five years after he went to Naples, a letter from Venerable Fr. Giovanni Agostino Adorno of Genoa to another Caracciolo, Fabrizio, begging him to take part in founding a new religious institute, was delivered by mistake to the newly ordained priest, and he saw in this circumstance an assurance of the Divine Will towards him (1588). He assisted in drawing up rules for the new congregation, which was approved by Pope Sixtus V, July 1, 1588, and confirmed by Pope Gregory XIV on February 18, 1591, and reconfirmed by Pope Clement VIII on June 1, 1592.
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