SACCONI, ANTONIO MARIA. — Franciscan friar, apostolic vicar of Shansi and Shensi, secular name Vincenzo, born at Osimo on 23 March 1741 and died at Taigun on 3 February 1785.
Ordained priest on 24 February 1764, in 1771 he set out for China, arriving at Macao on 13 August 1772. Assigned to the mission of Shantung, he reached it on 10 May 1774 after overcoming several difficulties. He immediately devoted himself to the study of the language and in October 1775 was able to begin his apostolate, frequently visiting the faithful threatened by persecution. On 2 September 1778 he was named apostolic vicar of Shansi and Shensi, and on the 4th of the same month was elected bishop of Domiziopoli. The briefs of appointment were sent to China on 26 September 1778 and arrived there in April 1780. He was consecrated on 24 February 1781 at Si-gan-fu. The conditions of the vicariate of Shansi and Shensi were similar to those of Shantung. In those vast provinces, to which Kansu and Hukwang were added, only 11 missionaries were at work: 5 in Shensi, 3 in Shansi, 2 in Hukwang and 1 in Kansu. In 1784, during a new persecution, Bishop S. was forced to hide near Taigun, but to spare reprisals against the Christians he presented himself to the authorities, who imprisoned him and put him to death the following year in prison.