Celestine Joseph Damiano was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Camden from 1960 to 1967.
17 Facts About Celestine Damiano
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Celestine Damiano previously served as apostolic delegate to South Africa.
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The oldest of six children, Celestine Damiano was born in 1911 in Dunkirk, New York, to Vito and Stella Damiano, both Italian immigrants.
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Celestine Damiano was ordained to the priesthood in Rome for the Diocese of Buffalo on December 21,1935, by Archbishop Giuseppe Palica.
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On November 27,1952, Celestine Damiano was appointed apostolic delegate to South Africa and titular archbishop of Nicopolis in Epiro by Pope Pius XII.
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Celestine Damiano received his episcopal consecration on February 11,1953, from Bishop Joseph A Burke, with Archbishop John O'Hara and Bishop Leo Smith serving as co-consecrators, at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Buffalo.
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Celestine Damiano was installed at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden on May 3,1960.
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In September 1960, Celestine Damiano launched a drive to raise $5 million for the construction and improvement of Catholic secondary schools in the diocese.
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Celestine Damiano established the following high schools in New Jersey:.
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Celestine Damiano opened 17 new elementary schools in the diocese, with total enrollment for all schools increasing by more than 3,000.
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Celestine Damiano founded a diocesan school board in 1965, and greatly expanded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine program for children.
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Concerned with the welfare of the 25,000 Catholic Puerto Ricans living in his diocese, Celestine Damiano established the Spanish Catholic Center at Vineland in 1962.
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Celestine Damiano initiated the diocese's Brazil mission project in 1961, and the House of Charity Appeal for funding diocesan human services in 1964.
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Celestine Damiano was a member of the Central Preparatory Commission in Rome and attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council.
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Celestine Damiano delivered the invocation for the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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In 1966, Celestine Damiano established a new rule allow interracial weddings in diocesan churches without permission from the diocese.
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On October 2,1967, while recuperating from gall bladder surgery, Celestine Damiano died at age 55 from a thrombus at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Camden.