Bishop Ferrario, retired head of Honolulu Diocese, dead at 77

Published: 2003-12-15

HONOLULU (CNS) -- Bishop Joseph A. Ferrario, who retired 10 years ago as head of the Honolulu Diocese, died Dec. 12 at St. Francis Medical Center in Liliha after experiencing chest pains. Funeral arrangements were pending for the 77-year-old bishop, who underwent quintuple bypass surgery in 1992 and resigned because of ill health the following year. In a 1997 interview with Catholic News Service, Bishop Ferrario said he had "no problem" with death. "I don't know how to explain it. It actually goes back to when I was in the major seminary," he said. "I had a classmate who died two days before Christmas. I wrestled with the thought of death for a time. Then I came to the perspective that we go from death to life, and it's never been a problem for me ever since."

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