Sebastiano Martinelli was born in Borgo Sant'Anna within the Archdiocese of Lucca, Italy.[1] He was the son of Cosma Martinelli and Maddalena Pardini. His brother was Cardinal Tommaso Martinelli.[2] He studied in the San Michele Seminary in Lucca and later the Collegio Sant'Agostino in Rome. He joined the Order of the Hermits of Saint Augustine (Augustinians) on 6 December 1863 and was professed on 6 January 1865.[2]
Ecclesiastical career
Priesthood
He was ordained on 4 March 1871 in Rome.[1] He served as a professor of theology at the Santa Maria in Posterula College, Rome. He was named postulator causarum servorum Dei of the Augustinian Order in 1881. He became prior general of his Order in 1889 and was reelected in 1895.[2]
The New York Times, upon Martinelli's arrival in America as the new apostolic delegate in 1896, published a thorough assessment of the bishop's personal appearance and personality. The newspaper described him thus:
[Bishop Martinelli speaks] excellent English, with only a slight accent.[note 1] His voice is soft and musical, and he is very graceful, with an attractive manner. He is a small man, not over 5 feet 5 inches in height, of good build, and he has a typical Italian face. He is very dark, his hair is black and his eyes brilliantly black. The eyes are of the kind that seem to look clear through one. They are the most pronounced feature of their possessor. He has a very square jaw, and when he smiles there is a slight curl of the under lip [sic]. Altogether the face is one that strikes an observer as that of a more than ordinarily intelligent man.[6]
Notes and references
Notes
^The same article mentions that Martinelli had learned to speak English while a teacher of the Irish Augustinians, in the house of Santa Maria in Posterula in Rome.[6]
^"A Popular Ablegate". New York Tribune. 1900-06-03. p. 3. Retrieved 2011-12-10. But on the rare occasions when he does come in contact with people he is as responsive and agreeable as a man of the world.
