The oldest of six children, Celestine Damiano was born on November 1, 1911, in Dunkirk, New York, to Vito and Stella (née Zaccari) Damiano, both Italian immigrants.[1] Receiving his early education at public schools in Dunkirk, he studied at St. Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario, for two years. Damiano then entered the Urban College of the Propaganda in Rome, where he studied philosophy and theology.[1]
Damiano was ordained to the priesthood in Rome for the Diocese of Buffalo on December 21, 1935, by Archbishop Giuseppe Palica.[2] After Damiano returned to Buffalo, the diocese assigned him to pastoral postings at parishes in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York. In 1947, he went back to Rome to serve as an official of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith.[3][4]
On November 27, 1952, Damiano was appointed apostolic delegate to South Africa and titular archbishop of Nicopolis in Epiro by Pope Pius XII.[2] He 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.[4][2]
While in South Africa, Damiano was highly influential in changing the face of the local church in South Africa, becoming a vocal opponent of the South African Government's apartheid policies.[3]
Following the death of Bishop Justin J. McCarthy in December 1959, Pope John XXIII appointed Damiano as the third bishop of Camden (with the personal title of archbishop) on January 24, 1960. He was installed at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Camden on May 3, 1960.[2]
In September 1960, Damiano launched a drive to raise $5 million for the construction and improvement of Catholic secondary schools in the diocese.[1] He established the following high schools in New Jersey:
Damiano also opened 17 new elementary schools in the diocese, with total enrollment for all schools increasing by more than 3,000. He also founded a diocesan school board in 1965, and greatly expanded the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine program for children.[1]
Concerned with the welfare of the 25,000 Catholic Puerto Ricans living in his diocese, Damiano established the Spanish Catholic Center at Vineland in 1962.[3] Damiano initiated the diocese's Brazil mission project in 1961, and the House of Charity Appeal for funding diocesan human services in 1964.[3] He was a member of the Central Preparatory Commission in Rome and attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council there (1962–1965). He delivered the invocation for the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.[4]
In 1966, Damiano established a new rule to allow interracial weddings in diocesan churches without permission from the diocese. Previously, these couples were married only in church rectories.[4]
