TARCISIO MARTINA (priest and Prefect Apostolic)
BORN:
ORDAINED:
DIED:
Verona (S. Leonardo) – 12.11.1961
AGE: 74
After his studies in Verona he went to Rome were he obtained the degree in theology at the Apollinare university. He served as a captain during the First World War, receiving several decorations for his heroic courage.
In 1923 he was elected provost of Milan’s S. Croce, but in 1925 he gave up the post to go on mission in China. During his 30 years in that mission he manifested all his best personal gifts, and gained the esteem of the Chinese and of the ecclesiastical superiors.
In 1936 he was elected Prefect Apostolic.
He founded a religious congregation of Chinese sisters: “The Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus” and formed also 15 Chinese diocesan priests.
In 1951 he was accused by the communists of conspiring against the regime and was condemned to life imprisonment. He was subsequently “benignly” expelled from China in 1955.
During his last years he was spiritual father of the Stigmatine students in Verona’s S. Leonardo.
