John Canepa
John B. Canepa (born June 24, 1877 in Italy; died February 14, 1954 in Birmingham) was the first Italian Catholic priest in Birmingham and the founding pastor of St Mark's Catholic Church in Thomas.
Canepa was ordained in Genova, Italy on May 29, 1904 and was assigned by Pope Pius X to answer the request of Bishop of Mobile Edward Allen for a priest to serve the fast-growing community of Italian immigrants working in the Birmingham District. He was initially assigned as chaplain at the East Lake Orphanage. He founded St Mark's, the first Italian congregation in the Diocese of Mobile, as a mission of that institution on January 20, 1905.
By 1913 Canepa had established another mission from St Mark's which became St Joseph's Catholic Church in Ensley. In the early 1920s he also founded St John's Catholic Church in East Lake.
In 1938 Canepa was honored as a Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Corona d'Italia (Knight of the Order of the Crown of Italy) by King Victor Emanuel. The award was presented by Vice Consul to the Italian Embassy in New Orleans G. A. Firpo on May 28. The following year, during a banquet at the Tutwiler Hotel to mark the dedication of Marconi Park on April 22, the Consul, Marquis Gian Girolamo Chiavari, again presented Canepa with that recognition. Italy honored Canepa for "his exceptional services to the Italian community of all the district: for his devotion, his unselfishness and his exceptional acts of charity, and for the assistance he has always given our laboring class."
Canepa died in 1954 and is buried at Elmwood Cemetery.
References
- "Park Dedication Will Be Attended by Italian Consul." (April 20, 1939) The Birmingham Age-Herald - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- "Catholic Priest Gets High Honor." (May 29, 1938) The Birmingham News, p. 2
- Lovett, Rose Gibbons (1980) The Catholic Church in the Deep South: The Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama, 1540-1976 Birmingham, AL: The Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama
- Norrell, Jeff (1981) The Italians: From Bisacquino to Birmingham. Birmingfind - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
External links
- John B. Canepa at Findagrave.com