His
extraordinary years "at the service of the True Face of Jesus"
Text and photos by Antonio Bini
Father Carmine Cucinelli
has reached the milestone of fifty years
of priesthood at the service of the universal Church. Born in Trasacco (L'Aquila)
on October 20, 1946, he entered the Order of the Capuchin friars at a young
age, in a region of Marsica characterized at the time by the presence of
numerous friaries. After his priestly ordination on March 28, 1972, he was assigned to the friary of Our
Lady of Pietraquaria in Avezzano. In the following years he was transferred first
to the Shrine of the Madonna dell'Incoronata at Vasto then to Penne and afterwards
to Caramanico Terme. In 1989 he became superior of San Francesco di Paola in
Sulmona, where he also assumed the functions of parish priest. In 2004 Father
Carmine was appointed superior of the Shrine of the Holy Face of Manoppello,
precisely in the years in which the sacred image, until then an expression of
local devotion, became the center of studies and research that was bounding into
the international arena.
Father Carmine was
part of a very intense phase of the life of the Shrine. In his first editorial for
the shrine’s magazine Il Volto Santo di Manoppello (n. 2/2004) Father Carmine,
while admitting to experiencing some sadness at having had to leave Sulmona, wrote
that he was nevertheless "happy to begin the new experience that leads me
to be at the service of the True Face of Jesus".
It is interesting to reread the sense of wonder he felt while immersing himself
for the first time in the reality of the Shrine of the Holy Face in those days of early September 2004, quite
different from the life of other friaries. Sensations expressed with his usual
frankness and simplicity, giving the measure of the vitality of the Shrine just
left by Father Germano Di Pietro: "I have arrived" - wrote Father
Carmine - "at a time full of ferment. I found a coming and going of people
of all kinds: journalists, photojournalists, scholars, prelates, researchers
and simple pilgrims ... all full of interest in the sacred relic, to be studied
and venerated".
Father Carmine would
immediately insert himself into the dynamics "exploding" around the
Holy Face which emanated from the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, placing
himself totally "at the service of the True Face of Jesus" remaining for
over sixteen years in Manoppello.
On the first of
September 2006, two years after his arrival, he received Pope Benedict XVI. A
historical visit, especially because the German pope by his mere presence was
in fact confirming the theses which identified the Holy Face with the legendary
Roman Veronica, supported with strength and rigor by the studies of the late Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, professor of Christian art at the Pontifical Gregorian
University in Rome.
In the following
years there were many commitments in Italy and especially abroad, with missions
to the United States, the Philippines, Canada, Mexico, Poland and France.
Especially in the Philippines, the most Catholic country in Asia, the extraordinary
results in the dissemination of the Holy Face spread from there to other
countries of the continent. And then with humility and tireless dedication he
faced many new experiences, such as the preparation of the exhibition on the
Holy Face in Lourdes, at the request of the local bishop Most Reverend Philipp Perrier
or in the group effort for the Rimini exhibition of 2013, (then replicated in
New York in 2014), curated by Raffaella Zardoni and the Association "Il
Volto Ritrovato" of Milan. And then conferences, meetings as well as the
familiarization with the use of the web and social networks to reach the
increasingly large audience of faithful and also his commitment to learning the
English language. Intense years, lived with a Franciscan spirit and maintaining
a willing and always positive attitude towards those who turned to him. A
presence that was always discreet but at the same time effective. Then in
October 2020 the transfer to the Shrine of Our Lady of Splendor in Giulianova
(Teramo), following the principle of rotation established by the Capuchin Order.
His figure remains however linked to the Holy Face of Manoppello, whose
knowledge and devotion he has nurtured as never before, maintaining contacts
with numerous priests and groups of devotees active in the countries touched by
his mission.
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| The Basilica of Saint Cesidio and Saint Rufino |
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| Fr. Carmine on the day of his priestly ordination |
His 50 years of
priesthood were celebrated on March 19 in the ancient thirteenth-century
Basilica dedicated to the martyrs Saint Cesidio and Saint Rufino of Trasacco, a
village in the region of Marsica, precisely where his priestly life began in
1972. A solemn ceremony attended by numerous priests, including the former
provincials of Lazio and Abruzzo, Fr. Giovanni Ferri, Fr. Domenico Del Signore
and Fr. Carmine Ranieri, the episcopal vicar of the Diocese of Marsi, Mgr.
Francesco Tudini and the parish priest Don Francesco Grassi, as well as twelve
novices from Viterbo.
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| Fr. Carmine Ranieri |
For health reasons,
Matteo Siro, who leads the new province of the Capuchins of Abruzzo, Lazio and
Molise, could not participate, delegating Father Carmine Ranieri to give the
homily.
The former provincial
wanted to recall some significant periods of the priestly life of Father
Carmine, not failing to emphasize some of his personal characteristics. Father
Ranieri highlighted some significant experiences of Fr. Carmine’s priestly
ministry, recalling his first years dedicated to the promotion of vocations at
the Shrine of the Madonna dell’Incoronata of Vasto, where he had been assigned
by his superiors because of his personable nature, as he was led to approach
others in a humble, open, simple, fraternal, familiar way, then in Sulmona,
where he continued to devote his energies to the parish reality, always with his spirit of meekness and with
the ability to approach others, with a good and familiar approach.
Then the lengthy
period spent in Manoppello where Father Carmine - said Father Carmine Ranieri -
"was able to reinvigorate his experience of God. Where the Face of the
crucified and risen Christ is kept, he was able to revive this primordial
experience, the one that we heard in the Book of Exodus narrated in today's
Gospel regarding Moses and his encounter with the burning bush, with the very source of
life, of the love that allows us to renew our mission towards others". He
concluded by thanking Fr. Carmine affectionately for his priestly service to the Church, always marked "by his welcoming and meek spirit", which
has allowed so many people to find themselves at ease, bringing them closer to
the Lord.
Not a conventional
discourse but an expression of an active and fraternal relationship. It was in
fact Fr. Carmine Ranieri, then
Provincial, who supported the two international missions of the Holy Face and
considered the opportunity to launch the process of canonization of Father
Domenico da Cese, following the important work carried out by the unforgettable
Br. Vincenzo D'Elpidio and also by Father
Carmine Cucinelli himself and the vice postulator Father Eugenio Di Gianberardino.
At the end of the
celebration, the parish priest Fr Francesco Grassi read the Apostolic Blessing
of Pope Francis, sent through the Polish cardinal papal almoner Konrad Krajewski, with the hope - welcomed by the
general applause - that "his ministry will continue to be an icon and
transparency of that of Christ". A clear and unequivocal message.
The next day, Father
Carmine’s priestly jubilee was celebrated in the Shrine of Our Lady of Splendor
of Giulianova, together with his Capuchin brothers and the wider community of
the town on the Adriatic.
The cycle of
celebrations ended in Manoppello on Saturday March 26. At the Shrine where Father
Carmine admitted to having left a piece of his heart, he was welcomed by his
successor, Father Antonio Gentili, who thanked him for having wished to
celebrate the anniversary before the Holy Face and in the community that for so
many years he had served. An emotional crowd waited to greet him, hug him again
and also give him gifts.
Father Carmine had
recalled – in Trasacco – his ties with the church of San Cesidio, where he was
baptized, the town, his parents, teachers, childhood friends and the Capuchins
who first welcomed him. He thanked his sister Anna for organizing the "celebrations"
for the 50th priestly anniversary, It
was through Anna that he had come to know that their mother Bernardina, throughout
her life had expressed a number of times her intention to have the anniversary
properly celebrated.
In Manoppello Father
Carmine thanked the Lord for having wanted him at His service for all these
years, to dispense His gifts and graces to many faithful in the various
pastoral activities he carried out, without ever neglecting the local community
and invoking His blessing and mercy for the dead, in particular for the priests
and confreres who served the Shrine,
Father Pfeiffer, Brother Vincenzo D'Elpidio, Mario Ferrante (member of
the Choir) and many devoted friends and benefactors, including the
unforgettable Daisy Neves.
With palpable emotion
he admitted that he had lived a very special period in Manoppello. He then recalled his first days there and the
sight of the faithful intent on climbing the stairs with devotion, kneeling, and
then descending with tears in their eyes. "I understood that it was a
mysterious and in many ways an inexplicable sacred object," said Father
Carmine. He recalled the first time that, after having become well informed
about the sacred image, he had placed himself for a long time in solitary
contemplation of the Holy Face, noting that "the image imprinted in the
transparent veil, changed its appearance, I observed that from wherever I put
myself He looked at me as a living person. I felt a great joy and I understood
that it was truly an image not made by human hands, a precious gift left to us
by Jesus in his perpetual memory. So I saw Jesus in his sudarium, or as Simeon
said: my eyes have seen the salvation of
our God! Subsequently, I had many confirmations from scholars and researchers
that things were just like that, so that I was convinced that here in
Manoppello there is a relic of Jesus, the most important of Christianity".
His desire to make
the Veil known was the natural consequence, making his own the perspective of
the "contemplation of the face of Christ" requested for the third
millennium by Pope John Paul II with the Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio
Ineunte, released on January 6, 2001, at
the end of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000,
He recalled for all the
visit to the shrine of Benedict XVI, the growth in the number of pilgrims from
all over the world, up to 1400 buses in 2007 and the accomplishment of projects
that led to the improvement of the reception of the faithful and religious,
such as the new confessionals and the expansion of the sacristy, to accommodate
also substantial groups of religious. And then the memory of Mrs. Daisy Neves
who supported the work of spreading devotion to the Holy Face beyond Italy
developed by the two missions of 2014 and 2015. In this regard, one cannot help
but mention the significant presence - in the celebration of Trasacco - of Fr
Danny Flores and Fr Bonifacio (Ted) Lopez, priests of the Diocese of Rome who
accompanied Fr. Carmine in the international missions of 2014 and 2015,
becoming themselves active disseminators of the Holy Face.
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| Fr. Lopez, Fr. Carmine and Fr. Flores |
Among the works
carried out he also wished to remember the work of collecting testimonies and documents for the start of the process of
canonization of Father Domenico da Cese, a prophetic and extraordinary figure
of devotion to the Holy Face.
Very emotional, he admitted several times that:
" I still have my heart in Manoppello ", thanking the community for
the good that that they had wished him and for their prayers for his recovery
from Covid-19 that a year ago saw him face very difficult moments.
At the end of the
Mass before the blessing he addressed a heartfelt thanks to Father Antonio
Gentili, rector of the shrine, to Brother Valerio Di Bartolomeo, guardian of
the Capuchin fraternity of Manoppello and to all the friars. He publicly
thanked the rectors who preceded him (Fr. Germano and Fr. Luciano), all the
collaborators, from the first hour to today and in particular, Fabrizio Tricca,
the late Tonino D'Intinosante, Antonio Bini, Sister Blandina, Paul Badde,
Father Heinrich Pfeiffer, Saverio Gaeta, Sister Petra-Maria Steiner , the
Sisters Handmaids of the Most Holy Blood, the various publishers, journalists,
Italian and foreign writers, bloggers, including Raymond Frost, Tamara
Klapatch, and all those who animated the liturgy: the conductor Nicola
Costantini and the choir of the basilica.
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| Fr. Carmine embracing Fabrizio Tricca |
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| Fr. Carmine with some of the Sisters Handmaids of the Precious Blood |
And finally, he
expressed his hope that the Holy Face will awaken new priestly vocations and
religious life.
Some
concluding (and personal) reflections from Antonio Bini
I remember that
in the first days of September 2004 I wrote a short letter to Father Carmine
Cucinelli declaring myself willing to continue the positive collaboration
started since 1998 with his predecessor Germano Di Pietro. He called me and it
was easy to establish a climate of trust and resume the journey in the common
goal of disseminating and making known the Holy Face. I believe that one of the
merits of Father Carmine,
as indicated by Father Carmine Ranieri during the homily given in Trasacco, is to be
found in his welcoming and mild spirit, and therefore also open, which allowed
him to involve and motivate in the "mission" different people from
Italy and abroad, with different professional backgrounds and cultures, united by
devotion to the Holy Face, often putting them in relation to each other,
allowing for the Shrine to travel along paths not even remotely imaginable
before. I think I can say this by having followed and accompanied him in
various initiatives, some to be considered almost unrepeatable. I can say this
from personal experience, considering that only a few years before I did not
even know the Holy Face, despite living only 30 km away.
In recent years
I have met on several occasions scholars and journalists who expressed
amazement at the importance of the Holy Face and what was being done to promote
its knowledge, despite the small fraternity of the Capuchins present in
Manoppello, even less than in other friaries.
While being
aware of the crisis of vocations that affects the Church and also the Capuchin
Order, I believe that the custody of what is increasingly and authoritatively
considered the "most important relic of Christianity"
deserves more appropriate consideration. There are many open questions,
networks of relationships, relationships developed over the years with scholars
and groups of faithful scattered around the world that are not easily
transferable in the short term.
I was struck by the
circumstance that saw Carmine, even during the two months of hospitalization
for Covid, continue to be a "point of reference" from his hospital
bed - thanks to technologies - for many followers of the Holy Face in Italy and
abroad known during his missions whom he continues to address, even if only for
a word, with advice, encouragement. This
happened, with a heroic spirit of service, even in periods when the severity of
his health conditions did not even allow him to speak. Still in the
convalescence phase, on July 3, 2021, he did not miss the third enthronement of
the Holy Face in Rome, in the church of San Francesco Saverio, better known as
the Oratory of Caravita, thanks to the will of Don Bonifacio (Ted) Lopez. The
replica of the Holy Face had previously been blessed by Cardinal Luis Antonio
Tagle. Currently he follows at a distance the preparatory phase of an upcoming
enthronement scheduled for August 6, coinciding with the feast of the Transfiguration
of Jesus, at St. James Parish in Abbotsford, a Canadian city of 130 thousand
inhabitants in the Vancouver area, with the full consent of the parish priest Father
William Ashley and thanks to the impulse of the Canadian Apostolate of the Veil of
Manoppello, a group of passionate devotees composed of Ethelyn David, Leila
Gueco, Norma Reyes and Corgie Bernardo, who have already fostered enthronements
in the Immaculate Conception Church of the city of Delta and in the church of
St. Patrick in Vancouver. It was the same Father
Carmine, during the mission to Canada in September 2015 to encourage the group,
then linked to the American Daisy Neves.
We hope that Father Carmine can continue
to collaborate with the community of Manoppello, while remaining in his present
post, ensuring his presence "from a distance", also
experiencing within the reality of the life of a friar the
formula tested in the last two years to overcome the distances and break down
the isolation imposed by Covid. This action
"from a distance" could continue to interconnect the activities
already set in motion in foreign countries, especially to avoid pauses and discontinuities
in the relationships that ought to favor more than ever the united involvement
of communities around the world - bonded by the Holy Face – to resume the journey
towards the next Jubilee of 2025.
Text of
blessing of Pope Francis upon Fr. Carmine
His
holiness Francis imparts from his heart the apostolic blessing to Father
Carmine Cucinelli of the Order of Capuchin Franciscans Minor on the occasion of
the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination, and while extending it to his
family, his confreres and all who unite themselves to his offering of
thanksgiving for the gift of the priesthood invokes a copious celestial reward for the good he has accomplished through it and a new outpouring of
lights and gifts of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of the Blessed Virgin
Mary so that his ministry may continue to be an icon and transparency of that
of Christ who”did not come to be served but to serve and to give his own life
for the many” (Matthew 20:28)
L’Aquila
March 18 1972 – Trasacco (AQ) Church of Saint Cesedio Martyr, March 19, 2022
From
the Vatican Konrad Krajewski
Cardinal Almoner
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