Rosendo Salvado

Dom Rosendo Salvado Rotea, O.S.B. (March 1, 1814 - December 29, 1900) was a Benedictine monk, missionary, bishop, and bestselling author, as well as the founder and first Abbot of New Norcia, in Western Australia.

Early life

Bishop Salvado was born at Tui, Galicia, Spain, the son of Pedro Salvado and Francisca Rotea. At the age of 15, he entered the Benedictine Abbey of San Martin at Compostella. He was clothed in the habit in 1829 and took his final vows in 1832.

Refugee

In 1835, he was forced to flee to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, after the Anti-Catholic government of Isabella II of Spain decreed the closing of all monasteries and the secularization of monks (see First Carlist War). He was received into the Abbey of Trinità della Cava, near Naples, where he was ordained to the priesthood in February 1839.

Missionary

Strongly desiring to labor in the foreign missions, his wish was granted after John Brady was consecrated as first Bishop of Perth. With his longtime friend Father Joseph Serra, he sailed from London with the Bishop's party and landed in Fremantle in January 1846. At Bishop Brady's instruction, Fathers Salvado and Serra, alongside a small party of their fellow Benedictines, journeyed deep into the Victoria Plains via ox drawn cart. On March 1, 1846, they founded "The Central Mission" in the midst of the bush, intending to convert the Aborigines to Catholicism. This was later renamed "New Norcia," after the birthplace of St. Benedict.

The priests soon established relations with the Aborigines, but conditions at the Mission proved so harsh that soon only Fathers Salvado and Serra remained. Then, in 1848, Father Serra was appointed Bishop of Port Essington in the Northern Territory and later to Coadjutor of the Diocese of Perth.

Return to Europe

In 1849, Father Salvado sailed for Europe to raise funds for the Mission, accompanied by two young Aboriginal boys, Joseph Conaci and Francis Dirimera. Salvado was consecrated Bishop of Port Essington in August of that year, much against his will, as he strongly desired to return to New Norcia. After Port Essington was abandoned, however, he was left as a Bishop without a See.

Author

While awaiting permission to return to Australia, he wrote and published the book "Memorie Storiche dell' Australia" in March of 1851. This book, which chronicled the beginnings of the Mission and his relations with the Aborigines, went through multiple printings in Italian, Spanish, and French. It would not be published in English, however, until 1977.

Later life

He returned to Australia in 1853, accompanied by a large number of priests and monks bound for the Australian Missions and especially for New Norcia. For four years he administered the Diocese of Perth during Bishop Serra's absence in Europe. He returned to New Norcia in 1857. In the following years he was in shifting the focus of the Mission to serving the White settlers who were pouring into the area.

In 1867, he was appointed "Lord Abbot" and the Mission was upgraded to an independent Abbey by Papal Decree.

Death and Legacy

He died in 1900 at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, while on a visit to Rome. His body was returned to New Norcia three years later and buried in a tomb of Carrara marble behind the high altar of the Abbey church.

ee also

*Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Perth
*Catholic bishops and archbishops of Perth, Western Australia

References

* [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020371b.htm Bishop Salvado's Entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Online]
* [http://newnorcia.wa.edu.au/monastery_history.htm The Official Website for the History of the Benedictine Abbey of New Norcia]
* "The Salvado Memoirs," Translated and Edited by Fr. E. J. Stormon, S. J., University of Western Australia Press, 1977.
*Dictionary of Australian Biography|First=Rosendo|Last=Salvado|Link=http://gutenberg.net.au/dictbiog/0-dict-biogSa-Sp.html