BARCELLONA, ANTONINO. - Oratorian theologian, b. in Palermo on 22 Nov. 1726, d. there on 28 June (5 May, according to A. Narbone) 1805. Having entered the Filippini of Palermo while still young, he spent his whole life there in study and ministry, directing the library, which was open to the public and which he greatly enriched. For 50 years he taught ecclesiastical history to laypeople every Wednesday, according to the Filippini method, concluding the lesson with moral reflections. He was an esteemed adviser to the archbishops of Palermo.
He published the theological-ascetical work, in 9 books, La felicità dei santi, 3 vols., Palermo 1800-1801. He left many manuscript works, of which the following were published posthumously: Parafrasi delle profezie di Gerencia e Baruch, 2 vols., Venice 1827 (Parafrasi dei profeti, 5 vols., ibid. 1810 and 1827, according to Scinà, Villarosa, Narbone, with the history of the prophetic times and of the Jewish people from the Babylonian exile to A.D. 70); Parafrasi de quattro Evangeli posti in armonia, 2 vols., Palermo 1839, in 6 books and 13 dissertations on the most difficult subjects of Gospel exegesis. B.'s vast learning was that of a self-taught man, often imprecise.