Joseph Anthony Ferrario (March 3, 1926 – December 12, 2003) was the third
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 ca ...
of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu
The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu ( la, Diœcesis Honoluluensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church that comprises the entire U.S. state, state of Hawaii, Hawaii and the unincorporated Hawaiian Islands.
T ...
and served from 1982 to 1993.
Early life and priestly ministry
Born in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...
, Ferrario was ordained to the priesthood on May 19, 1951 at the age of 25. Part of a religious order of educators, the
Sulpicians
The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (french: Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice), abbreviated PSS also known as the Sulpicians is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, ...
, Ferrario taught at various schools and seminaries.
Auxiliary bishop
On staff at the
Saint Stephen Diocesan Seminary, Honolulu
Saint Stephen Seminary was a diocesan minor seminary staffed by the Sulpician Fathers in the diocese of Honolulu that closed in 1970.
The seminary land was founded in 1946 when the Diocese of Honolulu obtained the 22 acre (89,000 m2) estate of ...
on the island of
O`ahu
Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...
, Ferrario was appointed auxiliary bishop of Honolulu on November 8, 1977. On January 13, 1978, he was consecrated titular bishop of Cusae and auxiliary to the Bishop of Honolulu.
Msgr.
Charles Kekumano
Charles Alvin Kekumano (12 May 1919 – 19 January 1998) was a Roman Catholic priest from Hawaii. He is considered the first ordained Native Hawaiian priest.
Life
Charles Kekumano was born in 1919 in Kona on the island of Hawai‘i. Educated at ...
, Hawai‘i's first native-born priest named a domestic prelate by
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
, left the diocese to work in the
Diocese of Juneau in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
when Ferrario was elevated to the episcopate.
Bishop of Honolulu
With his predecessor's retirement, Bishop Ferrario was appointed Bishop of Honolulu on May 13, 1982. One of his first actions as the ordinary of Honolulu was the removal of
Msgr. Francis A. Marzen as editor of the diocesan newspaper, the
Hawai‘i Catholic Herald. Msgr. Marzen had served as editor of the newspaper for approximately twenty years under the two previous bishops and publicly complained of his dismissal in an acerbic parting editorial published in the Hawai‘i Catholic Herald.
Bishop Ferrario revamped major diocesan offices and appointed pastors to parishes that were supportive of his vision of implementing the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. Ferrario's work in renewing the Honolulu diocese earned him the respect of many people in the Church in Hawai‘i.
Decree of excommunication
Bishop Ferrario's harshest critics were the conservative followers of the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's Priestly Society of Saint Pius X. Bishop Ferrario, through his judicial vicar, Father
Joseph Bukoski, J.C.L., issued a canonical decree of
excommunication
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
to six individuals in 1991.
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
as
Prefect
Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area.
A prefect's ...
of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from Heresy in Christianity, heresy and is ...
later reversed Bishop Ferrario's action.
">Honolulu Diocese & "The Hawaii Six"
Retirement
In 1993, Bishop Ferrario retired from active ministry. The Vatican appointed Bishop Francis Xavier DiLorenzo, S.T.D., Titular Bishop of Tigia and Auxiliary of Scranton, as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Honolulu, after accepting Msgr. Ferrario's resignation from the See of Honolulu, for health reasons.
The simultaneous notice of the Vatican's acceptance of the retirement of Bishop Ferrario for health reasons and the appointment of Bishop DiLorenzo as Apostolic Administrator was read at solemn vespers at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, on October 12, 1993. Bishop DiLorenzo would serve as Apostolic Administrator until his appointment as Bishop of Honolulu in 1994.
After retirement, Msgr. Ferrario resided near Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua
Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the North Koolaupoko, Hawaii, Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu, Oahu on the windward and leeward, windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is i ...
and continued his charitable work with the Augustine Educational Foundation. He kept a vigorous schedule to raise money for Catholic education in the Hawaiian Islands through the Augustine Educational Foundation.
Death
He died of cardiac arrest on December 12, 2003, aged 77, and was buried at Hawaiian Memorial Park in Kane‘ohe. He was remembered for his compassion for the poor children in the Diocese of Honolulu.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrario, Joseph Anthony
1926 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American educators
Roman Catholic bishops of Honolulu
American people of Italian descent
People from Scranton, Pennsylvania
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
Catholics from Pennsylvania
Educators from Pennsylvania