Clemente Emilio Riva was an Italian Catholic bishop. His name is known for his commitment to dialogue between religions, especially with Judaism.
The second son of nine children, in 1935 he took the entrance exam for the first gymnasium at the Diocesan Seminary of Bergamo; negative result, he is directed, also for economic reasons, to apply to the Institute of Charity. In 1935 Clemente Riva then entered the Aspirantanto of Pusiano of the Rosminian fathers. In 1939 he arrives at the Sacred Mount Calvary of Domodossola, seat of the Rosminian novitiate: here he makes his first vows on 1 July 1941 (liturgical memorial of the Precious Blood of Jesus and anniversary of the death of Antonio Rosmini), his perpetual vows on 10 September 1944, the vows of spiritual coaudiator on July 27, 1963 and subsequently those of priest on February 20, 1967. He was ordained a priest in Rome on March 24, 1951: also in this case a coincidence with Rosmini, born on March 24.
In 1951 he was Assistant of the FUCI for the Vicariate of Rome. In 1953 he obtained a degree in theology at the Pontifical Lateran University; the thesis is entitled "The problem of the origin of the intellectual soul according to A. Rosmini". In 1966 Riva was Rector of the Basilica of Saints Ambrogio and Carlo al Corso, entrusted to the care of the Rosminian fathers. On 20 February 1967, the anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Charity, Don Clemente Riva made the vows of Priest to the Institute, a special vow with which a confrere solemnly and significantly promised obedience to the Supreme Pontiff. In 1971, the then Provost General of the Rosminians, Father Giovanni Gaddo, appointed Riva Vicar General of Intellectual Charity of the Curia of the Institute. On 22 June 1975 he will receive episcopal consecration in the Basilica of Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso through the imposition of hands by Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the Pope's vicar for the city of Rome. He will carry out his ministry as auxiliary bishop of Rome for the southern area, titular of Atella.
Former president of the Ecumenical Commission of Rome, Riva was a profound connoisseur of the thought of Antonio Rosmini, founding priest of the Istituto della Carità of which he belonged.
In 1982 he assumed the Presidency of the Diocesan Commission for ecumenism and interreligious dialogue (cf. Monsignor Riva's personal letter to Maria Vingiani conserved in the Center for Ecumenism in Italy - Venice), in 1984 he became a member of the Pontifical Council for unity of Christians (until 1988 see Annuario Pontificio 1985/86/87/88/89) and in the CEI, after having been a member (and secretary for two years) of the Commission for the Family (1976-1982), in 1982 becomes Secretary of the Commission for ecumenism and dialogue (Cf. Newsletter of the CEI, from 1976 onwards). In 1997, when Riva turned 75, the cardinal vicar for the city of Rome Camillo Ruini asked John Paul II to extend his mandate for one year. Thus, in 1998 Msgr. Riva becomes Bishop Emeritus; in his place was appointed Msgr. Salvatore Fisichella, who will prove to be very important for the cause of beatification of Antonio Rosmini (mons. Fisichella was among the concelebrants of the beatification of Antonio Rosmini).
On the occasion of Clemente Riva's death on 30 March 1999, Pope John Paul II sent Cardinal Ruini a message in which he recalled the Rosminian prelate as a man of profound spirituality and particularly attentive to interreligious dialogue. The Jewish community of Rome also expressed deep condolences: the former chief rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff went to the funeral home to pay him homage. His funeral took place in the Basilica of Santi Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso, officiated by the Cardinal Vicar of the Pope for the city of Rome Camillo Ruini and concelebrated by the auxiliary bishops of the city and by his Rosminian brothers.
With a resolution of 27 January 2010, the municipal council of Rome approved the proposal to name in memory of Msgr. Clemente Riva a large green area a few steps from the coast of Ostia, part of the southern sector of Rome, of which he was the guide as Auxiliary Bishop of the capital.
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