Died 29 January 1973 | ||
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Bishop Gaetano Mignani, C.M.
Born Aug. 31, 1882 in Piumazza di Castelfranco Emilia, Bologna, Italy, Monsignor Gaetano Mignani was a member of the Congregation of the Mission, professing at 21 years of age in 1904. Ordained to the priesthood on March 19, 1905, Mignani served as a missionary in China. Aged 45, he was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Kianfu, receiving his Episcopal Consecration with the Titular See of Cassandria on February 17, 1929. Succeeding to the Vicariate of Kianfu on October 15, 1931, following the retirement of Monsignor Nicola Cicero CM., when Kianfu [Ji'an], was elevated to a Diocese on April 11, 1946, by Pope Pius XII, Mignani became its first bishop. Expelled from China by the Communist Regime, Mignani retained his office until his death, which occurred in Rome, Italy, on January 29, 1973, at 90 years of age. The funeral mass, presided by Archbishop Annibale Bugnini CM., saw the participation among others of the Superior General of the Congregation of the Mission, as well as of Cardinal Antonio Samoré and Archbishop Bernardin Gantin. Bishop Mignani requested to be buried in his Cathedral of Ji'an in his will, but due to political unrest in China, his remains still lie at the Verano Cemetery of Rome.