Rocco Caporale was born in Santa Caterina dello Ionio, Italy in 1927. He spoke nine languages, a testament to his capacity for proficiency in a number of academic areas: Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Greek, Latin, Singalese. He was married to Finnish actress and dancer Taina Elg for 26 years. He was professor emeritus and former chair of the department of Sociology and Anthropology at St. John's University in New York and taught there for thirty years. Caporale also held teaching positions at Manhattanville College in New York, Columbia University, the University of California at Berkeley, and Pitzer College in Claremont, California. His education was quite global: he received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University in New York, an M.S.W. in Social Research from Tata University in Bombay, India, a D.D. in Comparative Religion from De Nobili College in Poona, India, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Aloisianum College in Milan, Italy. Caporale published 9 books and countless articles on a variety of topics, including Italian immigration, religious systems, urban studies, and value systems. He also worked on the dell'AIRE (Register of Italians Abroad). His work on religious systems extended beyond research and led to him cofounding the Ecumenical Catholic Diocese of America with Bishop Peter Brennan, Raymond Kelly, and Joseph Fradale in 1984. The motto of this organization is to "Move forward with the work begun by the Spirit at Vatican II toward being an inclusive and just Church." One of his seminal works was a ten-year sociological study on the aftermath of the 1980 earthquake in Irpinia-Basilicata, Italy. Caporale was an active member of a number of organizations associated with promoting Italian-American research and global exchange, including the Institute for Italian-American Studies, the Pontes International, the International Committee for the Mezzogiorno, and the International Association Magna Grecia. He served as a consultant on a number of different organizations including the Agnelli Foundation in Turin, Italy, the Vatican Secretariat in Rome, the Italian Parliament, the National Science Foundation, and the Southern California Association of Governments. Some of his notable awards included a Fulbright Fellowship and a visiting fellowship at the Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw. He died of after open-heart surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York on June 30th, 2008 at age 80. His death was mourned by Italians and Americans alike, as all remembered his contributions to both Italian studies and his role as an educator in America.
The collection contains the various parts and processes of Caporale's dissertation research, conducted between 1964 and 1965. It includes over 2,000 handwritten and typed index cards containing transcripts from his interview with the Vatican II participants (as a note, his handwriting is difficult to read). Caporale selected respondents who were influential leaders within the episcopate, articulate in a way that he could represent his episcopate. 73 prelates (cardinals and bishops) were interviewed, plus six of the outstanding non-Catholic observers and nine of the outstanding theologians/experts were interviewed for a total of 89 interviewees. The participants had a wide geographical distribution, ranging from North America, to Portugal, to Africa. Each interview was about 2 hours. Approximately 90% of those approached agreed to be interviewed. Additionally, because his research was sociologically based, many of Caporale's notes are attempts at categorizing the leanings (conservative, moderate, liberal) of the interviewees. He also sought to assess the sense of community/friendships at Vatican II, so some of his notes also attempt to connect some of the relationships among participants. Finally, the collection contains 2 copies of his dissertation "The Dynamics of Hierocracy: A Study of Continuity-in-Change of a Religious System. The Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church."
The Rocco Caporale collection consists of 2 series:
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At the American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives:
This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.
After utilizing Caporale's research for her own dissertation, Dr. Melissa Wilde (via Professor Joseph Komonchak) donated the collection of Vatican II related material to the ACUA in 2001, with Caporale's permission.
Processing completed in April 2012 by Vansesa Taylor. EAD markup completed in April 2012 by Vanessa Taylor.
There are over 2,000 notecards containing notes (primarily typed) from Caporale's 89 interviews with Vatican II participants, which took place from 1964 to 1965 (although the cards themselves are not dated). This was part of Caporale's meticulous note-taking system. He classified the cards and interviewees according to 3 classifications (liberal, moderate, or conservative leanings). The index cards comprise the majority of this collection, and factored heavily into his research on the sense of community that emerged at the Second Vatican Council. Some are lightly damaged. Caporale separated the index cards into 16 categories, including observations, personal reactions, opinions on the changes in the liturgy, communication among participants, etc. Caporale made 2 sets of his notes, both available in this collection.
This series contains Caporale's notes during his dissertation research. This includes questionnaires that guided his interviews, his various methods of categorizing the interviewees and their responses, and his preliminary outlines for the scope of his dissertation.
2 copies