Throughout South Jersey, and even in India, Italy and Argentina, there are lasting legacies of Father Leonard Carrieri. They are the more than 50 life-size statues and busts of Jesus, saints and religious leaders he sculpted. In each of these pieces, he sought to find God.
In addition to being a talented artist, he is remembered as a faithful priest who ministered in areas throughout the world and served the Latino community in the Diocese of Camden.
Born in Naples, Italy, in 1914, he entered the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in 1925 and was ordained in 1936. He was sent to Argentina in 1947, serving as novice master until 1954, when he was called to Our Lady of Fatima Church in Camden to help Father Roque Longo minister to the Latino community there.
Six years later, in 1960, he returned to Italy and served as his order’s superior general until 1966.
In 1967, he returned to the Camden Diocese, and in 1975, he was named pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Linwood. He remained there until 1984, when he became pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel/Fatima in Camden.
During this time, he became active in the diocese’s Spanish Cursillo movement.
In 1989, he retired to his order’s community house, Villa Pieta in Linwood, but kept active until his death in 2009 at the age of 95.
As a sculptor, he was the recipient of national and local awards. His work was showcased in galleries and colleges, and he passed on his gift to aspiring artists in the classes he taught. Among his many works that can be seen in the Diocese of Camden are two outside of Sacred Heart Church, South Camden. One depicts Mary as Our Lady of Camden, and the other Jesus as a black man.
As a gift for missionaries living and working in India, Father Carrieri made a statue of an Indian woman, clad in a Sari, standing on a lotus flower and holding prayer beads.
Researched by Peter G. Sánchez
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