Antonio Feliciani, O. F. M. ( or , 4 October 1804 – 17 March 1866) was an Italian

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

and the second

Prefect Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

Biography

Feliciani was born in Marano,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1804. He joined the Order of the Friars Minor in 1823 and was then sent to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

in 1833 as an assistance to the

procurator Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to: * Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency * ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...

. Afterwards, he was sent to Shanxi, China, as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. In 1838, he was recalled to Macau again to assist the procurator and operate a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

for seminarians from Shanxi. In March 1842, he and Theodore Joset, the first Prefect Apostolic of Hong Kong, along with other priests and seminarians, were banished from Macau and arrived at Hong Kong. After the death of Joset in August 1842, Feliciani was appointed by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

as the pro-Prefect Apostolic on 19 March 1843, which was intended to be a temporary position. He led the church out of the many troubles caused by the rather unsettled and confused situation of Hong Kong, and diligently coordinated the mission work in China. To sustain the financial position of the Prefecture, he had made substantial investment in real estates, including a large area in Wanchai such as the present St. Francis Street and Star Street. On repeated requests from Feliciani himself, he was relieved from the duty of pro-Prefect in Oct 1847 by the Holy See, and handed the responsibility of the prefecture to

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

Augustin Forcade, who was then the

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of Ryukyu. However, Bishop Forcade resigned in September 1849, and Feliciani was re-appointed to be the Prefect Apostolic on 24 August 1850. His administration lasted for about 5 years, and again resigned on 20 June 1855. He left Hong Kong in October 1856 and went to work first in Shandong (from 1856 to 1859) and then in Shanxi, where he was appointed

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop' ...

and

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of seminary. Feliciani died in Shanxi, China on 17 March 1866, at the age of 69.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feliciani, Antonio 1804 births 1866 deaths 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Italian Franciscans Hong Kong Roman Catholic priests Hong Kong Christian clergy

Biography

See also

References