BARCELONA, ANTONINO. - Oratorian theologian, born in Palermo on 22 Nov. 1726, died there on 28 June (5 May, according to A. Narbone) 1805. Having entered the Oratory of St Philip Neri in Palermo while still young, he spent his entire life there in study and ministry, directing the public library which he greatly enriched. For 30 years he taught ecclesiastical history to laypeople every Wednesday, following the Oratorian method, and concluded each lesson with moral reflections. He was highly regarded as a counsellor by the archbishops of Palermo.
He published the theological and ascetical work, in 9 books, *La felicità dei santi*, 3 vols., Palermo 1800-1801. He left many manuscript works, some of which were published posthumously: *Parafrasi delle profezie di Geremia 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 Hebrew people from the Babylonian exile to 70 A.D.); *Parafrasi de' quattro Evangelii posti in armonia*, 2 vols., Palermo 1839, in 6 books and 13 dissertations on the most difficult themes of evangelical exegesis. Barcelona’s vast erudition was that of an autodidact, often imprecise.