Stephen Ferrando was born on 28 September 1895 in
Genoa. Ferrando was
ordained to the
priesthood on 18 March 1923 at the Salesian Institute of
Borgo San Martino in
Alessandria. A few months later he was assigned to serve in
British India as part of the third batch of missionaries dispatched. Ferrando left
Venice on 2 December 1923 along with nine companions, reaching
Shillong, then the capital of the
Assam province of British India and headquarters of the Prefecture Apostolic of Assam, on 23 December. There he was entrusted with the task of forming future missionary personnel for the Prefecture, serving as the
Master of Novices. He also served as the
catechist and then the
Rector of Our Lady's House in Shillong. In 1929, he became a Council Member of the Provincial team of the Salesians in the diocese. At that time, the
Holy See had entrusted the
Archdiocese of Madras, and the diocese of Krishnanagar, and the Apostolic Prefecture of Assam to the Salesians. On 9 July 1934, Ferrando was appointed the
bishop of
Krishnanagar in Nadiab, the island-city in the province of
Bengal; he choose
Apostolus Christi ("An apostle for Christ") as his motto. He received his
episcopal consecration on the following 10 November. Ferrando was transferred to the Diocese of Shillong and became the second Bishop of Shillong on 26 November 1935, a position he held until 26 June 1969 when he retired. The young diocese was faced with many challenges, none greater than the shortage of personnel. Ferrando immediately threw himself into the work of increasing the diocesan personnel. On 18 March 1932, he wrote to the Rector Major of the Salesians: "
St. Francis Xavier made that emotional appeal to the studious youth of his times. From the same wonderful land of India I renew his appeal so that many may come to work in Assam ... The harvest is rich... but the laborers are few". At that time, missionaries were valued as facilitators for social improvement and uplift, and delegations were continually calling on Ferrando from the
Asom,
Khasis,
Mundas,
Karbis,
Tiwas,
Bodos, the
Manipuris,
Garos,
Nagas and other tribes requesting that he assign priests, nuns, doctors, educationists and other personnel to their communities. In his annual report of 1945–46, Ferrando wrote: "This makes me very anxious, because if once a favorable occasion is lost, it is difficult to regain it". Missionaries such as L. Piasecki, A. Pianazzi, C. Vendrame and A. Ravalico expended themselves to conform and strengthen the Christians of the large and extensive diocese. On 10 April 1936, the Bishop's House went up in flames. Ferrando immediately began plans to build the diocese a proper
catgedral with adjacent
seminary, bishop's house and a
resthouse for missionaries. At the beginning of 1937, Ferrando spent several weeks visiting villages and baptized hundreds of
catechumens and confirmed two hundred others. During
World War II, the British Government ordered the internment of most of the Italian and
German missionaries throughout British India. While fifty-six of his missionaries were
interned or expelled, he was left with thirty priests and twenty other clerics to staff the diocese. Believing it necessary to organize the local people to take up clerical positions, Ferrando founded the Missionary Sisters of Mary, Help of Christians (MSMHC) in 1942. In 1962, he succeeded in setting up the St. Paul's Minor Seminary in Shillong. In early 1969, the
Government of India declared that foreign missionaries must be recalled and replaced by locals. As a result of this, Ferrando submitted his resignation to
Pope Paul VI and made way for an Indian citizen to be appointed. He was given the title
Titular Archbishop of Troyna and retired to Italy, where he lived in his hometown of Genoa. Ferrando was a regular contributor of articles of
missiological,
cultural,
anthropological,
geographical and
historical nature on the Assam Mission to such publications as the
Bollettino Salesiano,
Gioventù Missionaria and more. Ferrando died in Genoa on 21 June 1978. ==Beatification process==