Antonius Grech Delicata Testaferrata (21 February 1823 – 31 December 1876) was a Maltese bishop who became the second Bishop of Gozo in 1868. Grech Delicata Testaferrata was born in

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

on February 21, 1823, and was baptized in the

Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck The Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck, also known as simply the Church of St Paul's Shipwreck, is a Roman Catholic parish church in Valletta, Malta. It is one of Valletta's oldest churches. History Saint Paul the Apostle is cons ...

. He was ordained priest of the Diocese of Malta on October 19, 1845.

Episcopacy

In 1867

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

appointed him as the Titular Bishop of Calydon. Grech Delicata Testaferrata was consecrated by Cardinal Lodovico Altieri on July 14, 1867, in the chapel of

Villa Lante al Gianicolo Villa Lante al Gianicolo is a villa in Rome on the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo). It is a summer house designed by Giulio Romano in 1520-21 for Baldassare Turini, as one of Romano's first independent commissions after the death of his master Raph ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. On November 16 of the same year he was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of Gozo. He succeeded Paolo Micallef as administrator who was later appointed as

Archbishop of Pisa The Archdiocese of Pisa () is a Latin Church metropolitan see of the Catholic Church in Pisa, Italy.

in 1871. The see of

Gozo Gozo ( ), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as Gaulos, is an island in the Malta#The Maltese archipelago, Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After the Malta Island, island of Malta ...

was vacant for two years after the death of its bishop

Michael Franciscus Buttigieg Michael Franciscus Buttigieg (3 November 1793 – 12 July 1866) was a Maltese prelate who became the first Bishop of Gozo in 1864. Buttigieg was born on November 3, 1793, in Qala, Gozo, Malta and baptized in St Peter and St Paul parish chur ...

. It was in 1868 that Bishop Grech Delicata Testaferrata was appointed as the official bishop of the Bishop of Gozo."Bishop Antonius Grech-Delicata-Testaferrata"
''Catholic Hierarchy''. Retrieved on 31 March 2014. He was formally installed in the cathedral on January 24, 1869. He spent the remaining seven years as the Bishop of Gozo until 31 December 1876 when he died in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grech Delicata Testaferrata, Antonius 1823 births 1876 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Malta People from Valletta Roman Catholic bishops of Gozo