Abruzzo, historically known as Abruzzi, is a region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four provinces: L'Aquila, Teramo, Pescara, and Chieti. Its western border lies 80 km (50 mi) east of Rome. Abruzzo borders the region of Marche to the north, Lazio to the west and north-west, Molise to the south and the Adriatic Sea to the east. Geographically, Abruzzo is divided into a mountainous area in the west, which includes the highest massifs of the Apennines, such as the Gran Sasso d'Italia and the Maiella, and a coastal area in the east with beaches on the Adriatic Sea.
Corrado Bafile was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints from 1975 to 1980, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1976. At the time of his death, he was the oldest member of the College of Cardinals.
Telesphore Placidus Toppo was an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church and a member of the aboriginal tribal community who was archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ranchi from 1985 to 2018, after serving as coadjutor there for a year. He was bishop of Dumka from 1978 to 1984. He was made a cardinal in 2003, the first from India's tribal population.
Chieti is a city and comune (municipality) in Southern Italy, 200 kilometres east of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti, in the Abruzzo region.
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy was an Indian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985. His episcopical motto was Aedificare domum Dei which means "To build the house of God". He was the fourth cardinal from India and the first curial cardinal of Asia outside of the Middle East.
The Archdiocese of Capua is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Capua, in Campania, Italy, but its archbishop no longer holds metropolitan rank and has no ecclesiastical province. Since 1979, it is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Napoli, i.e. no longer has its own ecclesiastical province nor metropolitan status.
Achille Silvestrini was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served in the Vatican diplomatic corps, either in Rome or abroad, from 1953 to 1990, and later as Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches from 1991 to 2000.
The Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church which received that name in 1986, when the two separate dioceses, which had been governed by one and the same bishop, were united in one diocese. The diocese of Chieti had become the Archdiocese of Chieti in 1526, when promoted by Pope Clement VII. Chieti is about 8 miles (14 km) south-west of the Adriatic port city of Pescara.
Loris Francesco Capovilla was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate and a cardinal. At his death, he was the oldest living Roman Catholic bishop from Italy and the fourth oldest in the world. At the time of his elevation to the rank of cardinal in 2014, he was the oldest member of the College of Cardinals.
Pope Benedict XVI, who led the Roman Catholic Church as Pope from 2005 to 2013, continued manouevring the Church through the dynamics of modernity, which the Church had begun engaging in with the Second Vatican Council. Because the question of religious pluralism is a key issue raised by modernity, ecumenism, the establishment of harmony and dialogue between the different Christian denominations, is a significant concern of a post Second Vatican Council Church. Pope Benedict XVI's approach has been characterised as leaning toward the conservative while still being expansive and engaged, involving the full breadth of Christendom, including the Orthodox Churches and Protestant churches, as well as freshly engaging with other Christian bodies considered by Roman Catholics to be more heterodox, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Gerhard Ludwig Müller is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the Cardinal-Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 until 2017. Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal in 2014.
Edoardo Menichelli is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ancona-Osimo from 2004 to 2017. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 14 February 2015.
Caesar Busdragus or Cesare Busdrago was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Chieti (1578–1585) and Bishop of Alessano (1574–1578).
Ulpiano Volpi or Volpiano Volpi was an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Novara (1619–1629), and Archbishop of Chieti (1609–1615).
Stefano Sauli was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Chieti (1638–1649).
Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno,, is a Peruvian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Huancayo since 2004 and a cardinal since 2018.
Giuseppe Petrocchi is an Italian Roman Catholic prelate who has served as the Archbishop of L'Aquila since 2013. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on 28 June 2018.
Orazio Maffei (1580–1609) was a Roman Catholic cardinal. Born in Rome but belonging to the Mirandola branch of the Maffei, he was the son of Mario Maffei and Plautilla Fabi. Two of his father's brothers had been cardinals, Bernardino (1514–1553) and Marcantonio (1521–1583).
Vincenzo Rabatta (1589–1654) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Chieti (1649–1654).
