MONS. CELESTINO ANNIBALE CATTANEO

MONS. CELESTINO ANNIBALE CATTANEO

Refuge for the Armenians and Apostolic Vicar of Eritrea

Father Celestino Cattaneo (1864-1946), a priest of the Capuchin Friars Minor, had always had an apostolic vocation in his heart and so made himself available for the missions. He was first sent to the Apostolic Prefecture of Mesopotamia, then a vast region part of the Turkish-Ottoman Empire, among the Syrian Orthodox and persecuted Armenians, settling in what is now southeastern Turkey. He spent twenty years in the missionary apostolate, dedicating himself to charitable works for the neediest and most vulnerable. He was subsequently sent to Eritrea for about ten years. In 1920 he returned to Turkey to lead the new Mission in Anatolia. In 1925, Father Celestino was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Eritrea, where he spent another ten years of his intense life of evangelical charity. In addition to his biography, this book also contains letters and reports from the mission.