Giorgio La Pira

Giorgio La Pira
La Pira in 1946
Mayor of Florence
In office
7 March 1961 – 15 February 1965
Preceded bySpecial Commissioner
Succeeded byLelio Lagorio
In office
5 July 1951 – 27 June 1957
Preceded byMario Fabiani
Succeeded bySpecial Commissioner
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
5 July 1976 – 5 November 1977
ConstituencyFlorence
In office
12 June 1958 – 18 April 1961
ConstituencyFlorence
In office
8 May 1948 – 22 December 1952
ConstituencyFlorence
Member of the Constituent Assembly
In office
25 June 1946 – 31 January 1948
ConstituencyFlorence
Personal details
Born
Giorgio La Pira

(1904-01-09)9 January 1904
Pozzallo, Kingdom of Italy
Died5 November 1977(1977-11-05) (aged 73)
Florence, Italy
Resting placeBasilica di San Marco, Florence, Italy
Political partyChristian Democracy
Alma materUniversity of Messina
ProfessionTeacher

Giorgio La Pira, TOSD (Raimondo in religious life; 9 January 1904 – 5 November 1977) was an Italian Catholic politician who served as the Mayor of Florence.[1] He also served as a deputy for Christian Democracy and participated in the assembly that wrote the Italian Constitution following World War II. In his public and private life he was a tireless champion of peace and human rights who worked for the betterment of the poor and disenfranchised.[2][3] La Pira belonged to the Third Order of Saint Dominic. From 1934 until his death he lived in the San Marco complex.

La Pira was a staunch advocate for peace and made several trips to the East to places such as China and the Soviet Union which were sometimes deemed to be controversial in the Cold War era. Those trips were undertaken to discuss peace ventures and ends to conflict with La Pira also prioritizing ecumenism as a reason for visiting Moscow where he often met with members of the Russian Orthodox Church.[4] La Pira's cause for sainthood opened in the 1980s and he was a Servant of God. He became titled as Venerable on 5 July 2018 when Pope Francis confirmed that he had lived a life of heroic virtue.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference LP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Deirdre Pirro (8 April 2010). "The monk-like mayor". The Florentine. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  3. ^ "The extraordinary La Pira". 30 Giorni. Giulio Andreotti. 25 February 2004. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  4. ^ Dr. Carol Byrne. "What Was La Pira Doing Behind the Iron Curtain?". Tradition in Action. Retrieved 18 September 2017.