Mons. Giovanni Angelo Anzani.
Giovanni Angelo Anzani was born in 1698 in Ariano Irpino into a noble family. Immediately devoted to culture, he studied with great enthusiasm first in Naples then in Rome, specializing in " Iure Utroque ". Having become a priest in 1723, he was commissioned first in his Ariano then in other cities.
On November 19, 1735 he was appointed bishop of Campagna by Pope Clement XII and, in January of the following year, he took possession of the diocese, taking over from Bishop Fontana.
Mons.Anzani poured out a lot of energy for churches and ecclesial buildings: he strengthened and reinvigorated the activities of the country seminary by adapting the rooms most suited to the preparation of clerics for priestly ordinations and he established singing activities in the Gregorian style, his great passion. He established the library by equipping it with precious books, so much so that it became second only to that of the abbey of Cava de 'Tirreni.
He also did a lot for the Cathedral: in 1752, at his behest, work began on the altar of the Sacrament; in 1759 the new organ was installed; on 8 December 1760 the large bell 1 was installed on the bell tower; in 1762 he had the new pulpit, a high altar and a large life-size crucifix placed, an exact copy of the existing mosaic in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. 2 Another credit we owe to Anzani is the church of the Holy Spirit. It replaced, in an ex novo way, the medieval church of the Trinity (which tried to recover it with drainage systems, given the danger of collapse). During the works, the bishop suggested architectural solutions while Giuseppe Astarita, a Neapolitan artist already known in Campagna, took care of the interiors.
Anzani died in Naples on February 12, 1770.
Text by Cristian Viglione.
Revisions: Francesco Pezzuti.
READING LIST:
1. Valentino Izzo - Telling the Campaign ... Illustrious people. Vol. P - Year 2005
2. Valentino Izzo - Telling the Campaign ... Illustrious people. Vol. P - Year 2005
