Giustino Sebastiano Pasquale de Jacobis, CM (9 October 1800 – 31 July 1860) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

bishop and member of the Congregation of the Mission who became a

Vicar Apostolic A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

and Eritrea and the Titular Bishop of Nilopolis. He is often known in English-speaking countries as Justin de Jacobis.

Life

Giustino Sebastiano Pasquale de Jacobis was born on 9 October 1800 at San Fele in the Province of Potenza. On 17 October 1818 he entered the Congregation of the Mission at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and made his religious vows there on 18 October 1820. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood at Brindisi on 12 June 1824. After spending some time in the care of souls at Oria and

Monopoli Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,24 ...

he became superior first at Lecce and then at

.Ott, Michael. "Blessed Justin de Jacobis." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 15 October 2021 In 1839 he was appointed as the first

Prefect Apostolic An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

and entrusted with the foundation of Catholic missions there, a jurisdiction that included what is now Eritrea. He worked first in Adwa, celebrating the liturgy in the local language following the Alexandrian Rite. After laboring with great success in Ethiopia for almost a decade he was appointed as the Titular Bishop of Nilopolis in 1847 and not long afterwards the

. However he declined the episcopal honor until 1849 when he was prevailed upon to accept it and receive

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

."Feast of St. Giustino de Jacobis", ''The Catholic Sun'', Diocese of Phoenix
/ref> Jacobis built schools in

Agame Agame () was a former province in northern Ethiopia. It includes the northeastern corner of the Ethiopian Empire, borders Akele Guzai in Eritrea, Tembien, Kalatta Awlalo and Enderta in the south, and both the Eritrean and Ethiopian Afar lowlan ...

and Akele Guzay for the training of a native priesthood and in the process founding the beginnings of the

Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ካቶሊክ ቤተ ክርስቲያን; la, Ecclesia Catholica Aethiopica) is a metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Eastern particular church within the Catholic Church, established in 1930 in Eth ...

and the

Eritrean Catholic Church The Eritrean Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesia Catholica Erythraea; ti, ኤርትራዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን, translit=Chiesa Eritrea) is a metropolitan '' sui iuris'' Eastern particular church headquartered in Asmara, Eritrea. It was e ...

. His missionary efforts aroused opposition on the part of Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch

Abuna Salama III Salama III (died 25 October 1867) was Abuna or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (1841–1867). Salama was originally brought to the Ethiopian Empire by Dejazmach Wube Haile Maryam. He afterwards attached himself to the party of Em ...

and Emperor Tewodros II which resulted in imprisonment and exile. Despite various other kinds of persecution, he founded numerous Catholic missions. He died in 1860 at Hebo of what is now the Southern Administrative Region of Eritrea, while en route to Halai, where he hoped to regain his health.

Gabra Mika'el

Jacobis befriended an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

monk named Ghébrē-Michael. After some time Jacobis converted his friend to Catholicism and eventually ordained him to the priesthood. Together they co-wrote a catechism and established a seminary. Ghébrē-Michael was imprisoned at the same time as Jacobis, but Ghébrē-Michael not survive the maltreatment by his jailers. For his martyrdom, Ghébrē-Michael was beatified in 1926. The pair's friendship is recognized in a preamble to Catholic prayer: "Eternal Father, through the intercession of Saint Justin de Jacobis, grant me friends who will accompany me in joy and in suffering."

Sainthood

The canonization process commenced in Ethiopia in 1891 in an informative process that finished in 1894. Theologians approved his writings in 1902 as being in line with the magisterium of the faith. The apostolic process then opened not long after in 1904 and concluded less than a decade later in 1913. The formal commencement of the cause - in the pontificate of Pope Pius X - came on 13 July 1904 after having received the approval of the Congregation of Rites. Jacobis was declared to be

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cat ...

on 28 July 1935 after Pope Pius XI acknowledged the late bishop's life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

. Pope Pius XII beatified him on 25 June 1939 while

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

canonized him as a saint on 26 October 1975. olenne rito di canonizzazione del vescovo Giustino de Jocobisvatican.ve, article in Italian

References

Sources

*Devin, A., (English trans by Lady Elizabeth Herbert of Lea), ''Abyssinia and its Apostle'' (biography) (1867) London: Burns and Oates.
Edition of A. Devin biographySaint of the Day, July 31: ''Justin of Jacobis''
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''

External links