Gaudenzio Orfali

Gaudenzio Orfali OFM (Latin Gaudentius , French Gaudence ), baptismal name Giuseppe (born February 19, 1889 in Nazareth , † April 20, 1926 in Jerusalem ) was a Franciscan and Biblical and Christian archaeologist .

Memorial inscription for Gaudentius Orfali on a column of the ancient synagogue in Capernaum

Life

Giuseppe Orfali entered the novitiate of the Franciscans in the monastery at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth in 1905 and took the religious name Gaudentius . In the following years he studied philosophy and theology in the convents of En Kerem ( St. John in the Desert ), in Bethlehem St. Catherine and in Jerusalem. He made his perpetual vows on March 19, 1909; he was ordained a priest on December 21, 1912 .

In 1913 his superiors sent him to the Collegium Sancti Antonii Patavini in Urbe in Rome for biblical studies . Two years later he went to the Faculty of Theology of the University in Friborg , where he received his doctorate in 1917 in theology. He received another academic degree in 1918 with the Licentiatus bibliorum in Rome.

On his return to the Holy Land, he was entrusted with teaching positions in Biblical Studies and Exegesis in the Franciscan monastery of the Holy Redeemer in Jerusalem. In 1924 he became rector of the newly founded Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in the Scourged Jesus monastery in Jerusalem's old town. He was involved in numerous excavations and is considered one of the pioneers of Franciscan archaeologists. In 1925 he became president of the Palestine Oriental Society (founded in 1920).

Orfali died in a car accident on the way to the International Archaeological Congress in Beirut on April 20, 1926 between Ramallah and Jerusalem. A commemorative inscription of the International Archaeological Association and the Office for the Care and Preservation of Antiquities on a column in Capernaum commemorates him , the text of which reads: In the pious memory of the venerable Father Gaudentius Orfali, Franciscan, through whose devotion the northern stones (north wall ) and four pillars of the ancient synagogue could be erected again. He died two days after completing this work.

Ancient synagogue in Capernaum, north wall and pillars

Excavations

As early as 1919/1920 Orfali was working on the excavations on the Mount of Olives , especially the Byzantine basilica in Gethsemani . The basilica of agony was built there.

Orfali reorganized the museum there during his time as rector of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum.

In Capernaum, the Franciscans carried out systematic excavations since 1905, including Wendelin Hinterkeuser . Orfali dug an octagonal church with mosaics and an ancient synagogue from the 2nd – 4th centuries. Century AD and took care of the reconstruction. The synagogue had the shape of a three-aisled basilica with a three-sided columnarea, of which the north wall and several columns have been preserved. It is one of the archaeological sights of Capernaum. Orfali also explored the areas between the synagogue and the church. After Orfali's death, the excavations were suspended for about 40 years until the Franciscans Virgilio Corbo and Stanislao Loffreda resumed them in 1968 and explored the octagonal St. Peter's Church.

Fonts (selection)

• De arca foederis. Dissertatio archaeologico-historica veteris testamenti delineationibus ornata pro gradu doctoratus in facultate theologica Friburgensi obtinendo. Picard, Paris 1918.
• Capharnaüm et ses ruines d'après les fouilles accomplies à Tell-Houm par la Custodie franciscaine de Terre Sainte (1905-1921). Picard, Paris 1922.
• Gethsémani ou notice sur l'église de l'Agonie ou de la Prière d'après les fouilles récentes accomplies par la Custodie Franciscaine de Terre Sainte: 1909 and 1920. Picard, Paris 1924.
• Orfali continued to publish numerous articles in professional journals.

literature

• P. Gaudentius (Josephus) Orfali OFM. In: Antonianum 1 (1926) pp. 508-509.
• RP Gaudentius Orfali. Custodiae Terrae Santae In: Acta OFM 45 (1926) p. 251.
• Stefan Heid : Gaudenzio Orfali. In: Stefan Heid, Martin Dennert (Hrsg.): Personal Lexicon for Christian Archeology. Researchers and personalities from the 16th to the 21st century . Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-7954-2620-0 , Vol. 2, p. 975.

Web links

• Distinguished professors of the SER: Brief biography and picture of Orfalis
• Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (multilingual)
• Custody of the Holy Land - Franciscans Serving the Holy Places and the Christian communities (multilingual)
• Report on Orfali's accident in the Jewish News Archive

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archivum franciscanum historicum, 16 (1923), p. 291.
2. ^ Convent on Via Dolorosa
3. ↑ "one of the pioneer Franciscan archaeologists" ( memento of the original from February 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ "Died untimely in a road accident". ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ SBF Museum: Mount of olives ( Memento of the original dated November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ The Archaeological Museum SBF ( Memento of the original from March 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ^ Obituary on Palestine-family.net
8. ↑ SBF Museum: Capernaum ( Memento of the original dated November 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ The excavation history of Capernaum