Adorno Fathers and brothers in
India. The Clerics Regular Minor : 400 years of
service in to the Church
The Clerics Regular Minor , commonly
known as the Adorno Fathers, are a religious Order of priests and
brothers founded by St. Francis Caracciolo, Venerable John Augustine
Adorno and Fabrizio Caracciolo in 1588. Belonging to the family of
Clerics Regular, they desired to sanctify themselves and the People
of God by imitating in their lives the Paschal Mystery of Christ.
The Indian Mission
The Order is not an Institute specifically
missionary. In the course of four centuries never was a house
opened for the pastoral service ad gentes, but the Second Vatican
Council and the solicitations of the Popes inviting all religious
Orders to a new re-evangelization of the world, have matured
in us the decision to open ourselves to the missions not only
in Africa, but also in Southern India, where we have built our
seminaries with a good number of candidates currently in training
in Mallikassery, Kerala and Bangalore, Karnataka.
St. Francis Caracciolo
Saint Francis Caracciolo was born Ascanio
Caracciolo on October 13, 1563 in Villa Santa Maria, Abruzzi, Italy.
At twenty-two, Ascanio Caracciolo was a young man enjoying the exceedingly
comfortable life available to an Italian nobleman of the sixteenth
century. More pious than his comrades, he still did not allow religion
to interfere with his other activities especially hunting. Then the
unthinkable happened: he contracted a terrible skin disease, similar
in appearance to leprosy, and apparently was going to die. Facing
death was a fruitful experience for the youth; he vowed that if he
recovered he would give the rest of his life to God, and after his
miraculous recovery he immediately began studying for the priesthood
and was ordained in 1587 at the age of twenty-five.
Ven. Augustine Adorno
Venerable Augustine Adorno,
born John Augustine Adorno, is considered the first founder and the
first father of the Clerics Regular Minor. He was born in Genoa in
1551 to Michele Adorno, and Nicoletta dei Campanari. His father was
a senator of Genoa and was a respected personage of this city. His
father's family was very much involved in the political affairs of
Genoa. His mother was a woman of virtue and religious piety.
