Theatines

Order of Clerics Regular
Latin: Ordo Clericorum Regularium
Saint Cajetan (1480-1547), co-founder of the Theatines
Abbreviation	CR
Formation	14 September 1524
Founders	Saint Gaetano Thiene, CR Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa
Type	Order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men
Headquarters	Sant'Andrea della Valle Piazza Vidoni, 6 Rome, Italy
Members	161 members (124 priests) (2020)
Superior General	Salvador Rodea González, CR
Parent organization	Roman Catholic Church
Website	teatinos.org/en/home/

The Theatines, officially named the Congregation of Clerics Regular (Latin: Ordo Clericorum Regularium; abbreviated CR), are members of a Catholic order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men. The order was founded in virtue of faculties granted by Pope Clement VII on 24 June 1524 in the Brief Exponi Nobis.

Foundation

The order was founded by Saint Cajetan (Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene), by Archbishop Gian Pietro Carafa (afterwards Pope Paul IV), along with Paolo Consiglieri and Bonifacio da Colle. At the time Carafa was Bishop of Chieti. Chieti (Latin: Theate) is a city of the Abruzzi in Central Italy, from which the congregation adopted its specific name, to distinguish it from other congregations (Barnabites, Somaschi, Caracciolini, etc.) modelled upon it. The Theatines combined the pursuit of evangelical perfection traditional among religious orders with pastoral ministry generally expected of diocesan clergy. Their ideal was the reform and restoration of the clergy according to the model of the life of the Apostles, thereby edifying the laity and encouraging them in the practice of virtue.

The formal act of foundation took place on 14 September 1524, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. On that day the first companions made solemn profession before the papal altar of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, in the hands of the Bishop of Caserta, Giovanni Battista Bonziano, appointed as a special papal delegate. According to the terms of the papal brief, the office of superior general or provost was for a term of one year, renewable for a maximum of 3 years. Carafa was elected to be the first incumbent. General. It was he who also wrote the constitutions of the order.

The order was dedicated in a particular manner to the Cross of Christ, which was adopted as its emblem. The new companions, soon joined by others, founded oratories (among them the celebrated Divino Amore) and hospitals, devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel, and reformed lax morals. They were exclusive, aristocratic, and formidably austere. They wore the simple black cassock of the local clergy and maintained a modest lifestyle.

Growth

The prohibition on both owning property and soliciting alms tended to limit applicants from members of the aristocracy, and so they remained relatively few in number. In 1546 they were briefly joined with the Somaschi Fathers, but as the object of the respective orders differed, they separated in 1555. In 1527 their house in Rome was sacked by the army of Charles V, and the Roman community sought refuge in Venice.

They founded many churches, among them the Sant'Andrea della Valle in Rome, a gift of Costanza Piccolomini D'Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi. This church is a masterpiece of Carlo Maderno and contains several paintings by Domenichino. The Theatines still operate the church.

In France, through the efforts of Cardinal Mazarin, they built the Church of St. Anne la Royale opposite the Louvre in 1644. In Spain, under Philip II, the Theatine Cardinal Paolo Burali d'Arezzo, filled various embassies at the command of the viceroy of Naples. In Portugal, John IV, in 1648, gave the Theatines a splendid house and college for the education of noble youth. In England, under Henry VIII, Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of St. Asaph, entered the order of Theatines. In Bavaria, the Theatine Church St. Kajetan was built from 1663 to 1690, founded by Elector Ferdinand Maria.

The Theatines were the first to found papal missions in: Golconda (in present-day India), Ava (Burma), Peru, Mingrelia (Georgia), founded by Andrea Borromeo, the East Indies, (the history of which was written by the Theatine Bartolomeo Ferro – "Missioni Teatine nelle Indie Orientali"), Arabia, and Armenia. In 1626 Theatines went to Persia.

Theatine manuscripts dating from 1530 until the end of the 18th century show there were missions established in a number of other countries. By 1700 the Theatines numbered 1400.

Decline of the Order

By the end of the eighteenth century, decline had set in, exacerbated by political upheavals. General suppression of religious orders affected the Theatines more significantly because the order historically acquired no possessions and so had no institutional infrastructure.

Pope Pius X had a hand in attempts at revival, calling upon the services of Cardinal José de Calasanz Félix Santiago Vives y Tutó. The papal Motu Proprio Auspicato, of 15 December 1909, decreed the union of the Congregation of the Regular Theatine Clergy with the youthful Spanish Congregation of the Holy Family founded at Barcelona by Josep Manyanet y Vives, but the two groups were separated again in 1916. In 1910, the Theatines were amalgamated with the Congregation of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, which had been founded in Mallorca in 1867.

Today

As of 2020, the Theatines had 161 members, of whom 124 are priests.

The Theatines are present in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States of America, where they maintain a mission at Durango, Colorado.

Prominent members

The Order has numbered among its members:

• Saints
  • Gaetano dei Conti di Thiene (6 October 1480 – 7 August 1547), founder of the Congregation, canonised on 12 April 1671
  • Andrea Avellino (c. 1521 – 10 November 1608), priest, canonised on 16 October 1690
  • Giuseppe Maria Tomasi (12 September 1649 – 1 January 1713), cardinal, canonised on 12 October 1986
• Blesseds
  • Giovanni Francesco Marinoni (25 December 1490 – 31 December 1562), priest, beatified on 5 December 1764
  • Paolo Burali d'Arezzo (c. 1511 – 17 June 1578), cardinal, beatified on 18 June 1772
• Venerables
  • Orsola Benincasa (20 October 1547 – 20 October 1618), founder of the Theatine Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, declared Venerable on 7 August 1793
  • Franceso Olimpio (5 August 1559 – 21 February 1639), priest, declared Venerable on 10 August 1783
  • Vincenzo Maria Morelli (25 April 1741 – 22 August 1812), Archbishop of Otranto, declared Venerable on 11 December 2019
• Servants of God
  • Giacomo Torno (c. 1539 – 18 January 1609), priest
  • Antonio Sagrera Gayá (31 October 1904 – 22 November 1992), priest
• Non-saints
  • Lorenzo Scupoli
  • Tommaso Del Bene
  • Guarino Guarini

It has also furnished one pope, Paul IV (Giovanni Pietro Carafa), 250 bishops, archbishops, and papal legates, and several cardinals.

Among noted 19th-century Theatines was the Sicilian Father Gioacchino Ventura dei baroni di Raulica, a philosopher, littérateur, and orator. One of his most celebrated works is his funeral oration on the death of Daniel O'Connell. The astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi (1746–1826), professor of mathematics and astronomy in Palermo, Sicily, discoverer of the first asteroid, Ceres, in 1801, became a Theatine at the age of 19.

See also

• Blue Scapular of the Immaculate Conception

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Theatines — (Clerics Regular). A religious order of men, founded by Gaetano dei Conti di Tiene, Paolo Consiglieri, Bonifacio da Colle, and Giovanni Pietro Carafa, afterwards Pope Paul IV. Carafa was Bishop of Chieti (Theate), a city of the Abruzzi in Southern Italy, from which the congregation adopted its specific name, to distinguish it from other congregations (Jesuits, Barnabites, Somaschi, Caracciolini, etc.) modelled upon it. Gaetano consecrated his order to the Cross, which he adopted as its emblem, and the foundation took place on the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, 3 May, 1524. It was approved on 24 June, 1524, by Clement VII in the Brief "Exponi Nobis". On 14 Sept., feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, St. Gaetano and his companions made solemn profession before the papal altar of St. Peter's, Rome, in the presence of Mgr. Giovanni Battista Bonziano, Bishop of Caserta, special papal delegate. The chief object of the order was to recall the clergy to an edifying life and the laity to the practice of virtue. St. Gaetano and his companions zealously endeavoured to combat the errors of Martin Luther, which, having gained a foothold in Switzerland, Germany, England, and France, then threatened Italy. They founded oratories (among them the celebrated Divino Amore) and hospitals, devoted themselves to preaching the Gospel, and reforming lax morals. Through their good example clergy and laity were induced to better living.

Notwithstanding their severe rule of life and strict vow of poverty, the congregation rapidly developed, and soon numbered among its members illustrious names of the Italian aristocracy (Vezzosi, "Illustri scrittori Teatini", Rome, 1780). They founded many beautiful churches, among them that of S.Andrea della Valle in Rome, a gift of Costanza Piccolomini D'Aragona, Duchess of Amalfi. This church is a masterpiece of Carlo Maderno, and contains several paintings by Domenichino. The Theatines were invited to Turin, Genoa, Venice, Milan, Padua, Piacenza, Parma, Modena, Florence; Naples, Palermo, Messina, Lecce, etc., by the authorities of these places. They also attained a great development in foreign countries. In France, through the efforts of Cardinal Mazarin, they built the Church of St. Anne la Royale opposite the Louvre in 1644. In Spain, under Philip II, the Theatine Cardinal Paolo Burali d'Arezzo, afterwards beatified, filled various embassies at the command of the viceroy of Naples. In Portugal John IV, in 1648, gave the Theatines a splendid house and college for the education of noble youth. In England, under Henry VIII, Goldwell, Bishop of St. Asaph, entered the order of Theatines (see GOLDWELL, THOMAS).

The Theatines were the first to found papal missions in foreign lands, as in: Golconda, Ava, Peru, Mingrelia, the Islands of Sunda, Borneo, Sumatra, the history of which was written by the Theatine Bartolomeo Ferro (Missioni Teatine nelle Indie Orientali); Georgia, Arabia, Armenia, in which latter country Father Galano, author of the history of the Armenian Church, negotiated and concluded the reconciliation and union of that Church with the Roman Catholic; Persia and in many other places, as is shown by Theatine manuscripts dating from 1530 till the end of the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century the order began to decline, and in 1860, through the well-known suppression of religious orders, it was reduced to a shadow of its former greatness. In accordance with the spirit of its rule, it had never acquired possessions and is the only order which feels the consequences of the law of suppression.

Father Francesco di Paola Ragonesi, general of the order and the last surviving representative of its ancient traditions, restored the Church of S. Andrea della Valle to its former splendour, by his care and zeal aided by the munificence of Comm. Filippo Giove Romano. The Theatines maintain a flourishing mission at Durango in Colorado, U.S.A. Pius X, in a Motu Proprio of 15 December, 1909, decreed the union of the ancient Congregation of the Regular Theatine Clergy with the youthful Spanish Congregation of the Holy Family at Barcelona. Besides the two saints, Gaetano, invoked for the interposition of Providence, and Andrea Avellino, against sudden death, the order furnished one pope, Paul IV (Giovanni Pietro Carafa), 250 bishops, archbishops, and papal legates, and the cardinals: Blessed Giovanni Marinoni, Blessed Paolo Burali d'Arezzo, Blessed Giuseppe Maria Tomasi, Giovanni Bernardino Scotti, Francesco and Domenico Pignatelli, Giuseppe Capece-Zurlo, Francesco Maria Banditi, and Ferdinando Pignatelli, the last named created cardinal by Gregory XVI. Father Anton Francesco Vezzosi (whom Clement XIII wished to make cardinal, but chose instead Fr. Ganganelli of the Conventuals who succeeded him in the papacy as Clement XIV) treats of the illustrious men of the order in his work "I scrittori de' chierici regolari detti Teatini", Rome, 1780. The last famous Theatine was the philosopher, littérateur, and great sacred orator, Father Gioacchino Ventura dei baroni di Raulica, a Sicilian. He preached and wrote in both Italian and French. His most celebrated work is his funeral oration on the death of Daniel O'Connell. He was the friend of the most illustrious men of his day, among them the Abbé de Lamennais whom he sought to save for the Catholic Church. He died at Versailles in 1860.

Theatine Nuns

Theatine Nuns, a religious congregation of women — oblates and hermitesses — existing in Naples and Sicily, founded under the name of Sisters of the immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, by Venerable Ursula Benincasa. This illustrious woman, who, according to Padre Silos ("Istorie Theatine", Palermo, 1666, XII, p. 657), united in herself the spirit of Gertrude, of Catherine of Siena, of Brigid, and of Paula, was born at Naples, 7 August, 1547. Her parents were Girolamo Benincasa and Vincenza Genuina. Her family came originally from Siena, in Tuscany, and had given to the arts, to the sciences, and to the Church both men and women of great distinction. Venerable Ursula herself displayed great talent; while still a young girl, she comprehended the most recondite meanings of Latin books and of the Holy Scriptures. Her inclination to the monastic life was strongly pronounced from her earliest years. Many of her biographies (that of Maggio; Flaminio da Latera, "Compendio della storia degli ordini regolari" s. v. "Theatine dell'immacolata Concezione"; Bonanni in "Catalogo delle Vergine dedicate a Dio") state that when ten years old she attempted to enter the monastery of S. Maria di Gerusalemme, which flourished at Naples under the rule of St. Clare, and after various pilgrimages and trials she founded the Congregation of the Theatine Oblate Sisters. Her sisters, among them Christina who became the first superioress, and some of her nieces formed the community. Little by little, other pious women joined them, to the number of sixty.

The date of this formation is fixed by some as 1581, according to others (including so weighty an authority as Padre Bonanni, S. J.) as 1583. The latter date is the better substantiated, for in 1581 Ven. Ursula merely determined the spot on which she intended a church to be erected; it was in fact built near Castel S. Elmo, with the help of the Spanish priest Gregorio Navarro, Abbot of Francavilla, whom she had told of a vision in which the Blessed Virgin had commanded her to build a church in honour of the Most Holy Conception of Mary. At this period, having created much popular excitement by her visions, her ecstasies, and the loftiness of her teaching, and having attracted enthusiastic admiration and envenomed calumny, she was accused of being possessed by a devil and was therefore summoned to Rome. Baronius and Tarugi, Oratorians and illustrious cardinals, received her and took her to have audience of Gregory XIII at Frascati, 3 May, 1582. By the pope's authority she was placed under the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri, who subjected her to the most severe trials; he was constantly astonished by her piety and humility. In 1583 the foundation proper took place, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin, St. Joseph, St. Michael the Archangel, and St. Peter.

The rules of the Congregation of the Oblates are those of the active life of St. Martha, with simple vows. They include recitation of the Office of the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Office daily; one hour of prayer in common at morning, besides the recitation of the Veni Creator and the De Profundis at None; one hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed in the church every Friday, with singing of appropriate hymns. In addition to the ordinary fasts prescribed by the Church, the Oblates fast on the vigils of the feasts of Corpus Christi, the Purification, and the Immaculate Conception, and they are exhorted to wear the hairshirt on Fridays. The daily recitation of one-third of the Rosary is also prescribed. They are recommended to labour with their hands, to practise the common life, poverty and the other virtues. The habit is that of the Theatine clerics: a white tunic under a black garment with wide sleeves and girdle of wool; on the head a white veil without wimple, the place of which is supplied by the collar of the outer garment, like that of the Theatine clerics (Baronius and Bonanni).

The Theatine Hermitesses (Romite Teatine) were founded in 1617. As Venerable Ursula wished to completely withdraw from the world she took thirty-three companions, in memory of the thirty-three years of Christ upon earth, and retired to a hermitage. The rules of the Hermitesses are much like those of the Oblates as regards works of piety; but the former religious follow the contemplative life of St. Magdalene. In addition to their solemn vows, their constitution imposes on them great austerities. They are bound to perpetual abstinence from flesh meat except in case of illness, to fast on the vigils of feasts of the Blessed Virgin and with still greater rigour on the vigils of the Immaculate Conception, the Ascension, and Corpus Christi. They also fast every Saturday and on the last two days of Carnival, besides the ordinary fasts of the church. They are bound to keep the Blessed Sacrament exposed for five hours every Friday, with continual adoration by five religious, and to practise penance regularly. The age of reception to the hermitage is twenty, and the novitiate lasts two years. On admission to solemn profession, a religious may converse with her nearest relatives for one day, but must not expect to see them again. Their enclosure is of the strictest, and they hold no communication with anyone except those charged with supplying them with food, which is given to them through a turnstile. Their habit is of white cloth with a leather girdle, light blue scapular and mantle, black veil and wimple like other nuns (Bonanni, op. cit.). The building of the Hermitage was begun on 10 June, 1633, and completed in 1667. The rules of the Hermitesses and those of the Oblates were approved by Gregory XVI in 1623.

The Theatine Sisters, more particularly the Oblates, were under the government and spiritual direction of the Fathers of the Naples Oratory, by the request of the Abbot Navarro mentioned above, until 1633. In this year the Theatine Order, under pressing and insistent solicitation of important personages, among them Pope Urban VIII, undertook this charge, under the generalship of Padre Matteo Santomagno, who was the depositary of Ven. Ursula's last wishes and desires. Oblates and Hermitesses practised fervent and incessant prayer to avert from mankind the terrible chastisements which Ven. Ursula by Divine Providence foresaw in her ecstasy. The life of the Oblates is active, that of the Hermitesses contemplative. These institutes — like many others which have not lived in touch with the world through schools, hospitals and the like — continued to live and prosper while the days were less evil than now, and their members were regarded with wonder as victims expiating with prayer the sins of humanity; but through the spoliation of monasteries they have now almost disappeared and are reduced to a shadow of their former greatness. Venerable Ursula's rule and the pious practice of the Blue Scapular, which she introduced, are still observed.

Constitutiones Clericorum Regularium (Rome, 1604, 1610); Regole per le vergine Romite Theatine dell'Immacolata Concettione (Naples, 1680); Acta SS., Aug. II, 282 sqq.; CARACCIOLI, De vita Pauli IV (Cologne, 1612); TUFFO, Storia dei chierici regolari (Rome, 1610); PEPE, Vita di S. Gaetano (Rome, 1657); SILOS, Historia clericorum regolarium (Palermo, 1666); MORELLI, San Gaetano (Verona, 1843); TRACY, Saint Cajetan (Paris, 1774); FIORI, B. Paolo Giustiniani (Rome, 1729); CANCELLIERI, Campane descritte (Rome, 1806); CURRIER, Hist. of Religious Orders (New York, 1896), 357-9; DUMORTIER, St. Gaëtan de Thienne (Paris, 1882); FERRO, Storia delle missioni dei chierici Teatini (Rome, 1704); HEIMBUCHER, Die Orden und Kongregationen, III (Ratisbon, 1908), 258-69; HÉLYOT, Dict. des ordres religieux, III (Paris, 1850), 648-73; LA CLAVIÈRE, St. Gaëtan (Paris, 1901), tr. ELY (London, 1902); LÜBEN, Der hl. Cajetan von Tiene (Ratisbon, 1893); RASTOUL, Le R. P. Ventura (Paris, 1906), Vita della Ven. Suor Orsola, scritta da un Padre Teatino (Rome, 1796); BAGOTTA, Vita della Venerabile Orsola Benincasa; BONI, La chiesa di S. Andrea della Valle (Rome, 1907); RAGONESI, Della vita di S. Andrea Avellino (Rome, 1908); DE MAULDE, San Gaetano e la Riforma Cattolica (Rome, 1480-1547), tr. SALVADORI (Rome, 1911).

Bibliography

• Bartolommeo Ferro, Istoria delle missioni de chierici regolari teatini 2 vols. (Roma 1705).
• Domenico Sangiacomo, Cenno storico sulla fondazione dell'ordine de' cc. rr. Teatini scritto in occasione di celebrarsi nella chiesa di S. Paolo di Napoli il terzo centenario dalla fondazione medesima (Napoli 1824).
• Gaetano Magenis, Vita di s. Gaetano Tiene fondatore de' chierici regolari e patriarca di tutto il regolare chiericato (Napoli 1845).
• Giuseppe Maria Ginelli, Memorie istoriche della vita di S. Gaetano Tiene, fondatore e patriarca de' Cherici (Venezia 1753).
• Herbert Vaughan, The Life of St. Cajetan: Count of Tiene, Founder of the Theatines (London: T. Richardson, 1888).
• Paul A. Kunkel, The Theatines in the History of Catholic Reform Before the Establishment of Lutheranism (Washington DC 1941).

External links

• Theatines U.S. Province
• Theatines Mexican Province (in Spanish)
• Theatines Italian Province (in Italian)
• Media related to Theatines at Wikimedia Commons