Enrico Pascal Valtorta () (14 May 1883 – 3 September 1951) was the last Apostolic Vicar and the first

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop of

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 Delt ...

. He was born in

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 re ...

at Carate Brianza, and was ordained priest in

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on 30 March 1907 for the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (

PIME The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions or PIME ( la, Pontificium Institutum pro Missionibus Exteris; it, Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere) is a society of secular priests and lay people who dedicate their lives to missionary activities ...

). He arrived in Hong Kong on 5 October 1907 and from 1909 to 1911 was apostolic missionary for Nam Tau (San On District) and

Sai Kung Sai Kung may refer to: * Sai Kung Town, or just Sai Kung, a town and administrative area in the Sai Kung District, Hong Kong * Sai Kung Peninsula, a peninsula in Hong Kong * Sai Kung District, an administrative district in Hong Kong, which does no ...

(

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

); Rector of St. Joseph's Church at Garden Road and teacher at

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, ...

in 1913;

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

to Victoria Gaol (1921–1925). Appointed 4th

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 pref ...

of Hong Kong on 8 March 1926, was consecrated

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Lerus on 13 June 1926. Hong Kong Apostolic Vicariate was raised to a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

on 11 April 1946. Bishop Valtorta was installed as

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 Hong Kong Diocese on 31 October 1948. He died in Hong Kong in 1951. Valtorta College in Tai Po was named after him.

External links

His Biography by the Catholic Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valtorta, Enrico 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Hong Kong Roman Catholic bishops of Hong Kong 1883 births 1951 deaths 20th-century Italian titular bishops

See also

External links