Joseph Anthony Ferrario

infobox bishopbiog
name = Most Rev. Joseph Anthony Ferrario †


religion = Catholic Church
See = Honolulu (emeritus)
Title = Bishop Emeritus of Honolulu
Period = May 13, 1982 — October 12, 1993
Predecessor = Most Rev. John Joseph Scanlan †
Successor = Most Rev. Francis Xavier DiLorenzo
date of birth = birth date|1926|3|3|mf=y
date of death = death date and age|2003|12|12|1926|3|3|mf=y
place of birth = Scranton, Pennsylvania

Joseph Anthony Ferrario (March 3, 1926 – December 12, 2003) was the third bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu and served from 1982 to 1993.

Early life and priestly ministry

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Ferrario was ordained to the priesthood on May 19 1951 at the age of 25. Part of a religious order of educators, the Sulpicians, Ferrario taught at various schools and seminaries.

Auxiliary bishop

On staff at the Saint Stephen Diocesan Seminary, Honolulu on the island of O`ahu, 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, Hawai‘i's first native-born priest named a domestic prelate by Blessed Pope John XXIII, left the diocese to work in the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska 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 a large part of the church in Hawai‘i; it also alienated a vocal minority of traditionalist Catholics supportive of the Tridentine Rite liturgies who scrutinized him for the remainder of his episcopate.

exual abuse accusation

In 1989 Bishop Ferrario became the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States to be [http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2006/05_06/2006_06_27_Abbott_SodomyBook.htm publicly accused of sexual assault] . The Hawai‘i Supreme Court dismissed the case after determining that it had passed the statute of limitations for trial. Bishop Ferrario maintained his innocence.

Decree of excommunication

In 1991, Bishop Ferrario issued a decree of excommunication for six supporters of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X. [ [http://www.sspx.org/diocesan_dialogues/honolulu_&_hawaii6.htm Honolulu Diocese & "The Hawaii Six" ] ] The action was later overruled by the Vatican.

Retirement and death

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 permanent appointment as Bishop of Honolulu in 1994.

Also a native of Pennsylvania, Bishop DiLorenzo was noted for having instituted stringent reforms of the Hawaii Catholic Church he inherited from Ferrario and quickly removed priests accused of sexual abuse even before the scandals erupted elsewhere in the country.

After retirement, Msgr. Ferrario resided near Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua, and continued his charitable work with the Augustine Educational Foundation.

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 work with youth, poor, as well as his ministry in service to gays and lesbians in Hawai‘i.

References