Sacra Famiglia

About

The Church of the Holy Family (Italian: Chiesa della Sacra Famiglia) is a Catholic place of worship located in the territory of the Italian municipality of Barletta, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani in Apulia. It is a parish complex built in the 1990s in Via Canosa, replacing the church building erected in the early 20th century in the Borgovilla-Patalini district, more precisely in Via Trento. The original church still exists, although it is closed to the public due to its precarious structural condition.

The origins of the parish of the Holy Family are rooted in the early twentieth century, when the expansion of the city beyond the urban boundaries dictated by the railroad tracks to the suburbs prompted a perceived need for a house of worship for the emerging Borgovilla Tempio district. Thus it was that there was the construction of a small church among the alleys and twentieth-century tenements, which had as its primary need a constant physical presence of the church rather than large dedicated areas and aggregative spaces, a factor that was also due to economic constraints that did not allow for further building projects. In 1908 a first small church was built with its rectory, which would later become the sacristy of the new church building. The only two parishes existing up to that time in Barletta were the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Church of San Giacomo Maggiore: along with them, the church of the Holy Family would be the third to be raised to the title of parish. The actual church would be erected only in 1917 but would never be consecrated. In order to increase primary education in the emerging ward, in addition to the church built on Via Trento, the St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Institute was built in 1930, located along the road leading to Canosa di Puglia and entrusted to the nuns of the same name. The Second Vatican Council induced, at the end of the 1960s, the contribution of changes that on the one hand highlighted the longitudinality and axiality of the space, in compliance with the conciliar dictates, by means of the resurfacing of the pavement, and on the other would highlight the main altar through the replacement of the side ones with respective aediculae, which would contain two canvases depicting the Madonna of Pompeii and the Christ of Warner Sallman, the latter reproduced by a Barletta painter. The two paintings were then moved to the church's new location; ultimately the altar was rotated, so that the celebrant would be facing the assembly instead of his back according to the requirements of the Second Vatican Council. [ citation needed ]

In 1959 Barletta was struck by the tragic event of the collapse of a building in Canosa Street. The parish priest, Fr. Tobia Mascolo, while thinking of the possibility of erecting, in a symbolic way to remember the victims of the collapse, a possible new headquarters of the Holy Family in that very place, which had become small in size by then for the ever-growing suburban town, preferred to abandon the intent immediately because of the long bureaucratic procedures that would have allowed its concession. A few years earlier, precisely in 1951 and 1953, testamentary bequests had been made to the Archdiocese of Barletta-Nazareth of a piece of land just off Canosa Street, at Villa Placida. That same year, 1959 an explicit request was made to the diocese to take possession of that land, and so it was that in 1965 the Archbishop was able to grant it for the construction of the new parish. After due procedures to acquire the surrounding land in 1981, work began on the excavation of the parish center and basement auditorium, currently dedicated to Pope Wojtyla, in which the first liturgical services would be celebrated. The work was completed in 1983 with the inauguration of the new parish and the same auditorium. [ citation needed ]

The foundation stone of the new church was laid on May 6, 1984. In 1985 there was the delivery of the bells with the subsequent blessing solemnized by the performance of a bell concert performed by pianist and musicologist Francesco Lotoro, organist of the same parish. From 1986 to 1988 the construction of a second parish center was carried out, to be used for educational and liturgical purposes. Once the work was completed, on December 8, 1990, on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the consecration ceremony of the church was celebrated in the presence of Archbishop Monsignor Giuseppe Carata and parish priest Don Donato Lionetti, the initiator and main promoter of the entire architectural work.

With the consecration of the new Church of the Holy Family, the phase of temporary splitting of functions between the old and the new location that had taken place until 1990 came to an end. In 1993 the parish center was raised by one level, taking advantage of the substantial foundations and the height of the stairwell tower, which allowed the construction of an additional floor while still maintaining a projecting cornice. In that same year, moreover, it was planned to use the space of the courtyard, located between the parish buildings and the residential buildings outside the complex, to design and construct an underground auditorium, consecrated to the memory of Archbishop Addazi, who had previously made possible the construction of the church complex by means of the authorization to proceed with the donation to the parish of some land in the possession of the diocese, donated long before by Canon Rizzi, who lived there. In those years a memorial plaque was affixed to one of the two side tribunes of the church commemorating the dedication of the temple, which reads verbatim:

In the year of the Lord 1990 on the 8th day of the month of December, the feast of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, ruling the universal Church H.H. John Paul II, being Pastor of the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie and Nazareth H.E. Archbishop Giuseppe Carata and Parish Priest of this community the Rev. Don Donato Lionetti, the Archbishop consecrated this Sacred Temple to the greater Glory of God and the Redemption of men. The soil was donated by Canon Don Domenico Rizzi, by Salvatore Rizzi and the children of Ruggero and Immacolata Rizzi.

The work is dedicated to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Nicola and Immacolata Lionetti, parents of the parish priest and distinguished benefactors, and to all those who contributed to the realization of this work that parish priest Don Donato Lionetti for long years planned and brought to completion in the 35th year of his priesthood and 34th year of pastoral activity carried out in this parish. Project designers: Eng. Gabriele Lionetti, Arch. Franco Martino, Eng. Alfonso Laurora. Builders: Edildomus s.p.a. of Santoro and Seccia.

In 2000, a grotto was built near the main entrance of the church, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. In 2008 in honor of the first centenary of the establishment of the parish, a book written by parish priest Fr. Donato Lionetti was published in memory of the events that affected the church of the Holy Family before and during his years of priesthood. On Sept. 6, 2009, after 35 years of priesthood, 34 of them in the same parish, Fr. Donato Lionetti, having exceeded by two years the maximum age limit allowed for the presbyterate at the behest of Diocesan Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri, took his leave, becoming monsignor and parish priest emeritus. On the same day, with a solemn ceremony, the Eucharistic celebration of canonical induction of the new parish priest, Fr. Giuseppe Tupputi, who was also like his predecessor born in Barletta, was held.

Due to its precarious structural condition, the original church of the Holy Family was included in the program agreement for the municipal district contract, which provides for its renovation.

The origins of the parish of the Holy Family are rooted in the early twentieth century, when the expansion of the city beyond the urban boundaries dictated by the railroad tracks to the suburbs prompted a perceived need for a house of worship for the emerging Borgovilla Tempio district. Thus it was that there was the construction of a small church among the alleys and twentieth-century tenements, which had as its primary need a constant physical presence of the church rather than large dedicated areas and aggregative spaces, a factor that was also due to economic constraints that did not allow for further building projects. In 1908 a first small church was built with its rectory, which would later become the sacristy of the new church building. The only two parishes existing up to that time in Barletta were the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Church of San Giacomo Maggiore: along with them, the church of the Holy Family would be the third to be raised to the title of parish. The actual church would be erected only in 1917 but would never be consecrated. In order to increase primary education in the emerging ward, in addition to the church built on Via Trento, the St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Institute was built in 1930, located along the road leading to Canosa di Puglia and entrusted to the nuns of the same name. The Second Vatican Council induced, at the end of the 1960s, the contribution of changes that on the one hand highlighted the longitudinality and axiality of the space, in compliance with the conciliar dictates, by means of the resurfacing of the pavement, and on the other would highlight the main altar through the replacement of the side ones with respective aediculae, which would contain two canvases depicting the Madonna of Pompeii and the Christ of Warner Sallman, the latter reproduced by a Barletta painter. The two paintings were then moved to the church's new location; ultimately the altar was rotated, so that the celebrant would be facing the assembly instead of his back according to the requirements of the Second Vatican Council. [ citation needed ]

The origins of the parish of the Holy Family are rooted in the early twentieth century, when the expansion of the city beyond the urban boundaries dictated by the railroad tracks to the suburbs prompted a perceived need for a house of worship for the emerging Borgovilla Tempio district. Thus it was that there was the construction of a small church among the alleys and twentieth-century tenements, which had as its primary need a constant physical presence of the church rather than large dedicated areas and aggregative spaces, a factor that was also due to economic constraints that did not allow for further building projects. In 1908 a first small church was built with its rectory, which would later become the sacristy of the new church building. The only two parishes existing up to that time in Barletta were the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore and the Church of San Giacomo Maggiore: along with them, the church of the Holy Family would be the third to be raised to the title of parish. The actual church would be erected only in 1917 but would never be consecrated. In order to increase primary education in the emerging ward, in addition to the church built on Via Trento, the St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Institute was built in 1930, located along the road leading to Canosa di Puglia and entrusted to the nuns of the same name. The Second Vatican Council induced, at the end of the 1960s, the contribution of changes that on the one hand highlighted the longitudinality and axiality of the space, in compliance with the conciliar dictates, by means of the resurfacing of the pavement, and on the other would highlight the main altar through the replacement of the side ones with respective aediculae, which would contain two canvases depicting the Madonna of Pompeii and the Christ of Warner Sallman, the latter reproduced by a Barletta painter. The two paintings were then moved to the church's new location; ultimately the altar was rotated, so that the celebrant would be facing the assembly instead of his back according to the requirements of the Second Vatican Council. [ citation needed ]

In 1959 Barletta was struck by the tragic event of the collapse of a building in Canosa Street. The parish priest, Fr. Tobia Mascolo, while thinking of the possibility of erecting, in a symbolic way to remember the victims of the collapse, a possible new headquarters of the Holy Family in that very place, which had become small in size by then for the ever-growing suburban town, preferred to abandon the intent immediately because of the long bureaucratic procedures that would have allowed its concession. A few years earlier, precisely in 1951 and 1953, testamentary bequests had been made to the Archdiocese of Barletta-Nazareth of a piece of land just off Canosa Street, at Villa Placida. That same year, 1959 an explicit request was made to the diocese to take possession of that land, and so it was that in 1965 the Archbishop was able to grant it for the construction of the new parish. After due procedures to acquire the surrounding land in 1981, work began on the excavation of the parish center and basement auditorium, currently dedicated to Pope Wojtyla, in which the first liturgical services would be celebrated. The work was completed in 1983 with the inauguration of the new parish and the same auditorium. [ citation needed ]

The foundation stone of the new church was laid on May 6, 1984. In 1985 there was the delivery of the bells with the subsequent blessing solemnized by the performance of a bell concert performed by pianist and musicologist Francesco Lotoro, organist of the same parish. From 1986 to 1988 the construction of a second parish center was carried out, to be used for educational and liturgical purposes. Once the work was completed, on December 8, 1990, on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the consecration ceremony of the church was celebrated in the presence of Archbishop Monsignor Giuseppe Carata and parish priest Don Donato Lionetti, the initiator and main promoter of the entire architectural work.

With the consecration of the new Church of the Holy Family, the phase of temporary splitting of functions between the old and the new location that had taken place until 1990 came to an end. In 1993 the parish center was raised by one level, taking advantage of the substantial foundations and the height of the stairwell tower, which allowed the construction of an additional floor while still maintaining a projecting cornice. In that same year, moreover, it was planned to use the space of the courtyard, located between the parish buildings and the residential buildings outside the complex, to design and construct an underground auditorium, consecrated to the memory of Archbishop Addazi, who had previously made possible the construction of the church complex by means of the authorization to proceed with the donation to the parish of some land in the possession of the diocese, donated long before by Canon Rizzi, who lived there. In those years a memorial plaque was affixed to one of the two side tribunes of the church commemorating the dedication of the temple, which reads verbatim:

In the year of the Lord 1990 on the 8th day of the month of December, the feast of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, ruling the universal Church H.H. John Paul II, being Pastor of the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie and Nazareth H.E. Archbishop Giuseppe Carata and Parish Priest of this community the Rev. Don Donato Lionetti, the Archbishop consecrated this Sacred Temple to the greater Glory of God and the Redemption of men. The soil was donated by Canon Don Domenico Rizzi, by Salvatore Rizzi and the children of Ruggero and Immacolata Rizzi.

The work is dedicated to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Nicola and Immacolata Lionetti, parents of the parish priest and distinguished benefactors, and to all those who contributed to the realization of this work that parish priest Don Donato Lionetti for long years planned and brought to completion in the 35th year of his priesthood and 34th year of pastoral activity carried out in this parish. Project designers: Eng. Gabriele Lionetti, Arch. Franco Martino, Eng. Alfonso Laurora. Builders: Edildomus s.p.a. of Santoro and Seccia.

In 2000, a grotto was built near the main entrance of the church, dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. In 2008 in honor of the first centenary of the establishment of the parish, a book written by parish priest Fr. Donato Lionetti was published in memory of the events that affected the church of the Holy Family before and during his years of priesthood. On Sept. 6, 2009, after 35 years of priesthood, 34 of them in the same parish, Fr. Donato Lionetti, having exceeded by two years the maximum age limit allowed for the presbyterate at the behest of Diocesan Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri, took his leave, becoming monsignor and parish priest emeritus. On the same day, with a solemn ceremony, the Eucharistic celebration of canonical induction of the new parish priest, Fr. Giuseppe Tupputi, who was also like his predecessor born in Barletta, was held.

Due to its precarious structural condition, the original church of the Holy Family was included in the program agreement for the municipal district contract, which provides for its renovation.

In 1959 Barletta was struck by the tragic event of the collapse of a building in Canosa Street. The parish priest, Fr. Tobia Mascolo, while thinking of the possibility of erecting, in a symbolic way to remember the victims of the collapse, a possible new headquarters of the Holy Family in that very place, which had become small in size by then for the ever-growing suburban town, preferred to abandon the intent immediately because of the long bureaucratic procedures that would have allowed its concession. A few years earlier, precisely in 1951 and 1953, testamentary bequests had been made to the Archdiocese of Barletta-Nazareth of a piece of land just off Canosa Street, at Villa Placida. That same year, 1959 an explicit request was made to the diocese to take possession of that land, and so it was that in 1965 the Archbishop was able to grant it for the construction of the new parish. After due procedures to acquire the surrounding land in 1981, work began on the excavation of the parish center and basement auditorium, currently dedicated to Pope Wojtyla, in which the first liturgical services would be celebrated. The work was completed in 1983 with the inauguration of the new parish and the same auditorium. [ citation needed ]

The foundation stone of the new church was laid on May 6, 1984. In 1985 there was the delivery of the bells with the subsequent blessing solemnized by the performance of a bell concert performed by pianist and musicologist Francesco Lotoro, organist of the same parish. From 1986 to 1988 the construction of a second parish center was carried out, to be used for educational and liturgical purposes. Once the work was completed, on December 8, 1990, on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the consecration ceremony of the church was celebrated in the presence of Archbishop Monsignor Giuseppe Carata and parish priest Don Donato Lionetti, the initiator and main promoter of the entire architectural work.