Benedict D. Coscia, O.F.M. , (10 August 1922 − 30 April 2008) was an American Friar Minor and a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishop.

Life

Early life

He was born Vito Coscia in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, in 1922 and

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

at the Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians, on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

. He attended Public School 104 in the

Fort Hamilton Fort Hamilton is a United States Army installation in the southwestern corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, surrounded by the communities of Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. It is one of several posts that are part of the region which ...

section of Brooklyn for his elementary education (1928-1935) and then Immaculata High School in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

(1935-1939). After graduation, he enrolled at St. Francis College in Brooklyn. Coscia then felt called to enter the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

. He was admitted as a candidate for Holy Name

Province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, based in New York City, and entered St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, New York, where he was admitted to the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

and given the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

of Dominic Coscia. He made his initial profession of

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

on December 8, 1943. He was then sent to complete his college studies at St. Bonaventure College (1943-1945), followed by seminary studies at Holy Name College in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

(1945-1949). During this same period, he earned a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Latin American history (1945-1948). He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on November 6, 1949.

Missionary and bishop

After his ordination, Coscia immediately volunteered to serve in the missions being established in South America by his province. He was sent to Brazil in 1950, where he assumed the name of Benedict Dominic Coscia to honor

Benedict the Moor Benedict the Moor (; 1526 – 4 April 1589), also known as Benedict of Palermo, Benedict the Black, or Benedict the African, was a Afro-Sicilian Order of Friars Minor, Franciscan friar. Born to enslaved Africans in San Fratello, he was freed at b ...

, a Franciscan friar and saint, whom he greatly revered. He initially served as a parish

vicar 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 p ...

Anápolis Anápolis ( , ) is a Brazilian city in the state of Goiás. It is located between two capitals, the federal capital Brasília and state capital Goiânia. It is the third most populous city in the state, with 398,869 inhabitants according to the ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

, for seven years. From 1957 to 1961 he then served as a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

, high school teacher and the

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

of the community of Friars Minor in

Pires do Rio Pires do Rio is a municipality in Goiás state, Brazil. It is a prosperous town and a major producer of poultry. Location It is located in the Pires do Rio MicroregionCitybrazil It is located 144 kilometers from the state capital and is served b ...

. In 1961, Coscia was selected to serve as the Bishop of Jataí by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

. His

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

took place at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn on September 21, 1961. Returning to Brazil, he spent his career as bishop building up church institutions to serve a population scattered throughout the region, both Brazilian farmers and the indigenous population. He worked hard in the social arena, especially health care, personally driving a health van mobile unit himself to the rural zones of his diocese, as well as supervising the establishment and operation of orphanages and daycare centers. During this time, he attended all four sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

Later life

Coscia retired as bishop in 1999 and moved to

Goiânia Goiânia ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian federative units of Brazil, state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West Region and the 10th-larges ...

, where he continued to minister to the needy. He died in 2008 and was buried in his former cathedral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coscia, Benedito Domingos Vito 1922 births 2008 deaths Religious leaders from Brooklyn American Friars Minor Brazilian Friars Minor American Roman Catholic missionaries Franciscan missionaries Franciscan bishops Participants in the Second Vatican Council 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Brazil Burials in Goiás Roman Catholic missionaries in Brazil American expatriates in Brazil Catholics from New York (state) Roman Catholic bishops of Jataí