Michael Anthony Anfossi
Michael Anthony Anfossi , religious name Michael Anthony of St. Louis Gonzaga OCD , (born October 31, 1799 in Sanremo , Italy , † December 18, 1878 in Kollam , Kerala , India ) was a Carmelite, as well as Catholic Titular Bishop and Apostolic Vicar of Mangalore in India.
Live and act
Carmelite and Missionary
Michael Anthony Anfossi and his two brothers, who also became clergymen, come from the long-established Anfossi family from Liguria , which also includes the Italian composer Pasquale Anfossi (1727–1797).
On September 27, 1816, the young man joined the Discalced Carmelites , where he was given the religious name "Michael Anthony of St. Louis Gonzaga" . After his ordination he was sent to the Indian mission. Here he landed in Bombay in 1825, after an eight-month crossing, first became vicar of his congregation in Surat , then commissioner for the entire Gujarat mission area . In 1842 he was appointed a Catholic military chaplain in Belgaum , an important garrison town in southwest India. Finally he was appointed vicar general to the diocese of Bombay .
Vicar Apostolic and Bishop
On March 15, 1853, Pope Pius IX appointed the Carmelite Father as Apostolic Vicar of the newly founded Vicariate of Mangalore and Titular Bishop of Mennith . Mangalore was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate Malabar as Apostolic Pro-Vicariate on May 12, 1845 and has since been ruled by Bishop Bernardine of St Agnes OCD. When he died in Rome on March 13, 1853, Mangalore was elevated to the status of a regular Apostolic Vicariate just two days later and Anfossi was appointed the first Vicar Apostolic. He received his episcopal ordination on May 15th of that year in Bombay from the Vicar Apostolic there, Bishop Anastasius Hartmann .
Michael Anthony Anfossi served as head shepherd of Mangalore for 17 years, where he particularly endeavored to expand pastoral care and to found schools and convents of sisters. He is described as a tall, stately figure, taught and described as a good speaker. In addition to his native Italian and the English required in India, he also spoke perfect Portuguese and Hindi .
An Indian website of his order wrote about him in 2011:
“The bishop lived strictly and simply, eating only once a day and traveling by the most primitive modes of transport. The money he saved went to the poor and orphans of the diocese. He never turned away people who asked for alms. As innocent and sincere as a child, just straightforward, humble in all his ways, he enjoyed dealing with the poorest and most uneducated as well as with the rich and learned. "
Michael Anthony Anfossi resigned his position as Apostolic Vicar in 1870 and retired in 1871, after the personal introduction of his successor, as Emeritus to Quilon (now Kollam ), St. Sebastian, in the Tuet district, where he continued to work as a pastor. This church with attached Carmel served the Apostolic Vicars of Quilon as a residence and cathedral church. There he had already ordained the new Vicar Apostolic of Quilon, Marie Ephrem Garrelon , as bishop on November 7, 1868 . This became his successor in Mangalore.
Bishop Anfossi died in Quilon-Tuet in 1878 and was buried in the local church of St. Sebastian; the grave and the grave slab have been preserved (2011).
literature
- Robert Streit: Bibliotheca missionum , Volume 8. Herder Verlag, Freiburg 1951, p. 364; Excerpt from the source
- Devadatta Kamath: The burning bush; a history of the Karnataka Jesuit Province . Volume 1. 2006, p. 18
- The Catholic directory, ecclesiastical register, and almanac . Burns and Lambert, London 1856, p. 186; Scan from the source
Web links
- Entry about Michael Anthony Anfossi on catholic-hierarchy.org (incorrect, instead of Bangalore it has to be called Mangalore )
- Website of the Indian Carmelites with multiple, detailed mentions of Bishop Anfossi ( memento of July 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Devadatta Kamath: The burning bush; a history of the Karnataka Jesuit Province , Volume 1. 2006, p. 18; Excerpt from the source
- ↑ Website of the Indian Discalced Carmelites ( Memento of July 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (quotation in subsection "Shimoga")
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Anfossi, Michael Anthony |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Michael Anthony of St. Louis Gonzaga OCD (religious name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian bishop in India, Carmelite |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 31, 1799 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Sanremo , Italy |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 18, 1878 |
| Place of death | Kollam , India |