Bishop Elzear Torreggiani OFMCap
Title:
Bishop
First Name:
Aloysius
Middle Names:
Preferred Name:
Elzear
Surname:
Torreggiani
Order:
OFMCap
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Porto Recanati, Loreto district, Papal States
Country of Birth:
Italy
Date of Ordination:
Place of Ordination:
Ancona
Country of Ordination:
Italy
Ordination Diocese:
Seminary:
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Armidale NSW
Country of Death:
Australia
Date of Burial:
Place of Burial:
Armidale NSW
Country of Burial:
Australia
Find A Grave URL:
Appointments Table
Diocese | Place | Role | Start Day | Start Month | Start Year | End Day | End Month | End Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armidale | Armidale | Bishop | 1879 | 28 | Jan | 1904 | ADB |
Episcopal Ordinations Table
Diocese | Day | Month | Year | Place | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armidale | 3 | Mar | 1879 | Peckham | England |
Biographical Notes
Second Bishop of Armidale.
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Australian Dictionary of Biography entry: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/torreggiani-elzear-4738
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T.W. Campbell, The Priests of the Diocese of Armidale: A Necrology, Braddon ACT, 2005:
Torreggiani, Aloysius (Fr Elzear) (OSFC)
Born 28 March 1830 in Borgo di Porto Recanati, province of the Marches on the central east coast of Italy, the son of a share farmer, who subsequently moved the family into the town. Educated by the Jesuits at Loreto he joined the Capuchin order at Camerino on the advice of his confessor, instead of the Society of Jesus, as he had intended. Professed as a novice on 20 October 1846 he took the name 'Elzear', and was then ordained on 23 May 1853 at Ancona by Archbishop Benedetto Antonucci. Originally destined for mission work in India he was sent instead to England, arriving at Peckham on 7 February 1856. He then worked among Irish miners at Pantasaph, Mold, Flint and Pontypool, where he became acquainted with the Vaughan family, including Roger Bede Vaughan; subsequently Archbishop of Sydney. Vaughan later nominated him as the second Bishop of Armidale to replace Timothy O'Mahony, following the difficulties that followed his time in office and resignation. He was consecrated bishop on 25 March 1879 in the Capuchin church of Our Lady of Seven Dolours, Peckham, England. He arrived in Armidale on 25 November 1879, and immediately began his constant travels around the diocese which at that time comprised the north coast region of New South Wales. He introduced various religious congregations into his sprawling diocese, and was a strong defender of Mother Mary McKillop against efforts to exert episcopal control at diocesan level over the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. He attended to matters requiring episcopal action in the Sydney Archdiocese after the departure (and subsequent death in England) of Archbishop Vaughan, survived an attempted assassination on Christmas Day 1884 in his cathedral while saying Mass, and saw the rearrangement of his diocesan borders in 1887, resulting in the excision of the coastal portion to form the new diocese of Grafton (later Lismore). Portions of the Maitland and Bathurst dioceses were annexed to the Armidale diocese as part of that process. In 1902 he sought and obtained a co-adjutor bishop, his long serving vicar general, Armidale based P J O'Connor, who was consecrated in Armidale on 3 May 1903. He died in Armidale on 28 January 1904, and was buried in Armidale cemetery.
(Sources: ADB, Colbourne, MDHC A-Z T26).
(Reproduced by permission of Tom Campbell.)