Joseph Anthony Ferrario (March 3, 1926 – December 12, 2003) was the third bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu

Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu

The Catholic Diocese of Honolulu, officially in Latin Dioecesis Honoluluensis, is an ecclesiastical territory or particular church of the Catholic Church in the United States...

 and served from 1982 to 1993.

Early life and priestly ministry

Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton, Pennsylvania

Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...

, Ferrario was ordained to the priesthood on May 19, 1951 at the age of 25. Part of a religious order of educators, the Sulpicians

Society of Saint-Sulpice

The Society of Saint-Sulpice is a Catholic Society of Apostolic Life named for Eglise Saint-Sulpice, Paris, in turn named for St. Sulpitius the Pious. Typically, priests become members of the Society of St. Sulpice only after ordination and some years of pastoral work. Uniquely, Sulpicians retain...

, Ferrario taught at various schools and seminaries.

Auxiliary bishop

On staff at the Saint Stephen Diocesan Seminary, Honolulu

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 acquired by the Diocese of Honolulu in 1946 and is located at the former 22-acre estate of Harold K.L. Castle just above Maunawili valley in...

 on the island of O`ahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

, 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 Kekumano

-Life:Charles Kekumano was born in 1919 in Kona on the island of Hawai‘i. Educated at Saint Louis High School in Honolulu, he studied for the priesthood and was ordained for the Diocese of Honolulu. He earned a doctorate in Canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C...

, Hawai‘i's first native-born priest named a domestic prelate by Blessed Pope John XXIII

Pope John XXIII

-Papal election:Following the death of Pope Pius XII in 1958, Roncalli was elected Pope, to his great surprise. He had even arrived in the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice. Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although archbishop...

, left the diocese to work in the Diocese of Juneau in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

 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

Msgr. Ferrario's harshest critics were the conservative followers of the Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's Priestly Society of Saint Pius X. Msgr. Ferrario, through his judicial vicar, Father Joseph Bukoski, J.C.L., issued a canonical decree of excommunication to six individuals in 1991. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the 265th and current Pope, by virtue of his office of Bishop of Rome, the Sovereign of the Vatican City State and the leader of the Catholic Church as well as the other 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with the Holy See...

 as Prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition....

 of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , previously known as the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition , and after 1904 called the Supreme...

 later reversed Msgr. Ferrario's action.

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 permanent appointment as Bishop of Honolulu in 1994.

After retirement, Msgr. Ferrario resided near Saint Anthony of Padua Church in Kailua, 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.