Servant of God Vincenzo Maria Sarnelli

Vincenzo Maria Sarnelli (5 April 1835 – 7 January 1898) was an Italian Catholic archbishop. He served as the Bishop of Castellammare di Stabia from 1879 to 1897 and then as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Naples from 1897 to 1898. Following the opening of his beatification process, he was named a Servant of God. Vincenzo Maria Sarnelli was born on 5 April 1835 in Naples, Italy to Nicola and Adelaide. He was baptized on the day of his birth. At the age of seven, he was orphaned and received his First Communion at the age of ten. He was then confirmed on 2 June 1846. He began studying law at the University of Naples and, while there, decided to enter the priesthood. He was ordained a priest on 20 December 1862 and continued his studies, with a theological-juridical specialization. The Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Sisto Riario Sforza, sent Sarnelli to Rome to further study canon law from 1868 to 1869. Upon returning to Naples, Sforza made Sarnelli responsible for teaching canon law at the Archepiscopal Athenaeum and history at the Troise Lyceum. In May 1875, Sarnelli was appointed pastor of the Church of Santa Maria Avvocata in Piazza Dante of Naples. Sarnelli was then appointed coadjutor bishop to Francesco Petagna, the Bishop of Castellammare di Stabia. Upon Petagna's death on 18 December 1878, Sarnelli succeeded him as Bishop of Catellammare di Stabia, being officially appointed by Pope Leo XIII on 28 February 1879 and receiving his episcopal consecration on 2 March 1879. He took possession of the diocese on 30 March. During the Italian cholera epidemic of 1884, he was awarded the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic for his ministry to the afflicted and for his material generosity to the poor. Sarnelli became a tertiary of the Servite Order and wrote a book about the seven founding saints of the order. On 19 April 1897, Pope Leo XIII appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Naples, of which diocese he took possession on 11 July 1897.