| Antonio Mennini | |
|---|---|
| Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain | |
Antonio Mennini during Invocation 2011 |
|
| Appointed | 18 December 2010 |
| Predecessor | Faustino Sainz Muñoz |
| Other posts | Titular Archbishop of Ferentium |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 14 December 1974 by Ugo Poletti |
| Consecration | 12 September 2000 by Angelo Sodano |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Antonio Mennini |
| Born | 2 September 1947 Rome, Italy |
| Nationality |
|
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
|
| Styles of Antonio Mennini |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | not applicable |
Antonio Mennini (born 2 September 1947) is an Italian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He serves as the Nuncio to Great Britain from 18 December 2010, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI.
Contents |
Born in Rome, Italy, Antonio Mennini was ordained to the priesthood on 14 December 1974. Mennini obtained Doctor of Theology degree from the Pontifical University.
Mennini is known in Italy as the priest who heard the final confession of the country’s murdered Prime Minister, Aldo Moro, in the 1970s. Moro who had been kidnapped and was being held captive in a secret location by the Red Brigades, a leftist Italian militant group. Archbishop Mennini, then an assistant priest, is believed to have delivered a letter to the terrorists from Pope Paul VI and a letter to Mr Moro from his wife. Shortly after his secret mission, the Prime Minister was killed and his body dumped in central Rome. The Vatican has shielded the priest from ever having to testify in subsequent state hearings concerning Moro’s abduction and murder.[1]
Archbishop Mennini's family has strong links with the Holy See. His father (Luigi Mennini) worked for Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the former president of the Holy See's Institute for Religious Works Mr Mennini, who died in 1997, was managing director of the Vatican Bank at the time allegations of money laundering were made against Archbishop Marcinkus.[2] Archbishop Mennini has 13 siblings,[3] among them Pietro Mennini, prosecutor of Repubblica di Chieti.[4]
After obtaining Doctor of Theology degree he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1981, serving as an attache in the Pontifical Representations in Uganda and Turkey, and then in the Council of Public Affairs of the Church of the Vatican Secretariat of State.
In 2000 he was made the Holy See’s liaison with Bulgaria (2000–2002) where after arriving in Sofia he began preparing Pope John Paul II’s 2002 pastoral visit to the Eastern European country amid great controversy. The visit was hailed as a success, largely because the new nuncio established excellent working relations with Orthodox leaders who had originally opposed it.[1]
On 8 July 2000, he was appointed Titular Archbishop of Ferentium by Pope John Paul II. Mennini received his episcopal consecration on 12 September from Cardinal Angelo Sodano, with Cardinals Camillo Ruini and Jean-Louis Tauran serving as co-consecrators.
In 2002 he was posted to Russia and from 2008 to Uzbekistan. He is credited with dramatically improving the Holy See’s relations with the former Soviet countries in the federation and with the Russian Orthodox Church.
As recently as 2001 Rome was criticised by the Russian Orthodox for establishing dioceses, with little consultation in Russia. However, through the nuncio’s fence-mending efforts the situation gradually began to change and in December 2009 President Dmitry Medvedev ordered that full diplomatic relations between the two states be established.[5] On 13 February 2011 Dmitry Medvedev awarded Miennini with the Order of Friendship for his contribution to the development of Russian-Vatican relations.[6]
Mennini was named Nuncio to Great Britain on 18 December 2010[7] following the early retirement of Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz on 2 December 2010.[8] As the new Apostolic Nuncio to the UK, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, presented his diplomatic papers to HM Queen Elizabeth on 2 March 2011.[9]
One of the most important duties facing him will be to oversee the vetting process for the appointment of a substantial number of new bishops for England, Wales and Scotland. For example, three of Scotland's eight bishops have applied to retire on age and health grounds; these include Vincent Logan of Dunkeld and John Cunningham, Bishop of Galloway, while three more, including Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the de facto leader of Scotland's Catholics, are expected to have left by the end of 2013. A writer in the English Catholic publication The Tablet considered it likely that Archbishop Mennini's appointment was recognition of the delicate diplomatic work that will be required for the establishment of the personal ordinariate for former Anglicans in Britain.[1]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Blasco Francisco Collaço |
Nuncio to Bulgaria 2000–2002 |
Succeeded by Giuseppe Leanza |
| Preceded by Giorgio Zur |
Nuncio to Russia 2002–2010 |
Succeeded by Ivan Jurkovič |
| Preceded by Józef Wesołowski |
Nuncio to Uzbekistan 2008–2010 |
Succeeded by Ivan Jurkovič |
| Preceded by Faustino Sainz Muñoz |
Nuncio to Great Britain 18 December 2010–present |
Incumbent |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||