Constantine Vendrame, also known as the "Apostle of Shillong" was a

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

missionary from

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

who worked for the welfare of

Khasis The Khasi people are an Austroasiatic ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the e ...

, in North East, India.

Early life and education

Constantine Vendrame was born on 27 August 1893 to Pietro and Elena Fiori in San Martino di Colle Umberto,

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

. He joined the Salesian novitiate at Ivrea on 15 September 1913. He completed his study of philosophy and was sent for his regency to the oratory of Chioggia. He also served for a four-year compulsory military service. After the completion of his military service, he pursued his theological formation while working simultaneously in the oratories of Chioggia and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Priesthood

On 15 March 1924 Vendrame was ordained a Catholic priest by the cardinal

Eugenio Tosi Eugenio Tosi (6 May 1864 – 7 January 1929) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Milan from 1922 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1922. Biography Early life Tosi was born in Busto ...

at the chapel of the Archiepiscopal seminary of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

Missionary to India

Vendrame arrived in

Shillong Shillong (, ) is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in India, 330th most populous city ...

on 23 December 1924. At the start of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939, Vendrame and another 150 Italian missionaries were put in the concentration camp. After the war Vendrame was asked by

Louis Mathias Louis Mathias (born 20 July 1887, Paris, died 3 August 1965, Legnano, Italy) was the first Catholic bishop of Shillong who later became the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore (1935-1952). He belonged to Salesian ...

to go to Wandiwash,

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. He came back to Shillong in 1951. He was always busy in preaching gospel, helping needy and bringing people back to the church.

Death

Vendrame died in

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh () is a city in the Indian state of Assam, located 435 kms east of the state capital Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of the Dibrugarh district in Upper Assam. Dibrugarh also serves as the headquarters of the Sonowal Kach ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, India, on 30 January 1957. On 1 July 2014 the mortal remains of Constantine Vendrame were moved to the Shrine of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mawlai,

, India.

Sainthood

The process for

canonisation Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sai ...

is underway for Constantine Vendrame.

References