Andrea Candida

The first face of the Counter-Reformation in the diocese of Gerace

Belonging to the house of Candido, a family of the Syracusan patriciate who had long-standing ties with the Roman clergy, it was actually in Rome that Andrea entered the circle of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, nephew of Paul III. As a member of his family, he was appointed bishop of Gerace, having previously held the position of Commander of the Order of Rhodes in Puglia. 

Having arrived in the province of Calabria Ultra with some relatives, he changed the ending of his surname from 'Candido' to 'Candida' to adapt it to the name of a noble family already present in Gerace. However, he maintained a close link with his origins, establishing the feast of Santa Lucia, patron saint of Syracuse in the city. 

In the diocese where he took office in the years of the Council of Trent, he worked with rigor and diligence to adapt the liturgy and ecumenical life to the dictates of the Counter-Reformation, founding one of the first episcopal seminaries. 

For this reason he opposed the personal ambitions of the local nobility and the regular orders in the liturgical management of the chapels in the presbytery area of numerous churches on the episcopal territory, which he often granted instead to the confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament.