Francis Cellini

Francesco (Francis) Cellini, CM ( – January 6, 1849) was an American Vincentian priest who served in the Midwestern United States during the mid-1800s. After serving in Louisiana, Missouri, and Illinois, Cellini's ministerial work concluded with a posting in St. Louis, where he was made Vicar General of the St. Louis Diocese.

Biography Cellini was born in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche, Italy. By 1818, he was the chaplain of the Hospital Santo Spirito in Rome in the Rione neighborhood near Vatican City. That same year (at age 37), he joined the Vincentians.

Journey to America Through the command of Bishop Louis Dubourg of St. Louis, who was seeking priests to fulfill missionary work in the United States, Fr. Cellini and two other priests, Filippo Borgna and Antonio Potini, traveled to the Midwestern section of the U.S.

Missouri The clergymen ultimately settled at St. Mary of the Barrens in Perryville, Missouri in 1819. In the early 1800s the parish church and its surrounding community was in a very primitive state. The young community lacked basic shelter and so Cellini and others, including Du Bourg, “labored like hired work [men]” There is historical debate on why he left Grand Coteau, especially when his work was needed there and he not only ministered spiritual needs but his medical abilities were extensive, owing to the fact he'd reportedly been “a surgeon in the Italian army” so his skills were commanded.

Cellini's combination of clergyman-doctor was unique and was a bonus to the Catholic Church in the Midwest. “… the good Father found himself he also found body miseries and ills that called forth his sympathy and healing power.”

It was Cellini's (and possibly Potini's) personal acceptance of the donation consisting of slaves, personal effects and real estate holdings that troubled church hierarchy. Even Smith reportedly asked Cellini to “annul the donation” so to avoid trouble over the “appearance of the transaction”. Tensions involving Cellini reached a climax to the point there were “threats on his life”. Cellini's superiors (chiefly Dubourg and Rosati) made a decision at that point to suspend him as well as to remove him from his post.

Brief return to Europe Over this, Cellini became angry and met with Rosati to appeal for a “demission of vows” and a return to Rome. Following his departure from Illinois, Cellini was appointed pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Fredericktown, Missouri. Cellini either purchased the land for the sanctuary through his own funds or made the purchase on behalf of the curia. Per Rosati's report to the Leopoldine Society of Europe on March 10, 1830, he notes, “As the Catholic population was increasing, Cellini in 1829 started the work of building a church on his land in Fredericktown”. It is estimated the new church was completed by 1831. In his advanced age, he remained primarily in St. Louis and retired to the structure that is today the House of the Guardian Angel, founded by the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Death At the time of his death on January 6, 1849, Cellini was reportedly the eldest priest in the St. Louis Diocese. Subsequently, that same year, his godchild died of cholera as did diocese benefactor Smith. Cellini is buried at Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, St. Louis, Missouri.