Nunzio Galantino

Coat of arms of Nunzio Galantino

Nunzio Galantino (b. 16 August 1948) is the Bishop emeritus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cassano all'Jonio and the Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Galantino was born in Cerignola, Italy, in 1948. He received a theology degree after studying from 1968 to 1972 at the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Benevento, Campania, and was ordained a priest on 23 December 1972. He earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Bari in 1974. From 1972 to 1977 he was Vice-Rector of the Seminary of Foggia, Italy and Assistant of Catholic Action (Youth). In 1974 he became the Professor at the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Benevento, a post he held until 1972. From 1977 he was a Priest at the parish of Saint Francis of Assisi in Cerignola. In that time he held the offices of Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Care and for Culture and Continuing Education. From 1977 he was Professor of Anthropology at the Faculty of Theology for Southern Italy. In 2004 he became Head of National Service for the Higher Study of Theology and Religious Science at the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI).[1]

He was named a bishop on 9 December 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI and consecrated on 25 February 2012 in Cerignola by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco. On that occasion, he asked that money ordinarily spent on gifts for him should be spent on services for the poor. While bishop he has lived at the seminary not the bishop's palace, eschewed the services of a secretary and chauffeur. He asked to be called "Don Nunzio" instead of the customary title "Your Excellency."[2]

On 30 December 2013, Pope Francis named him interim General Secretary of the CEI.[3] As he did so, Francis wrote to the people of Galantino's diocese to "ask permission" to borrow their bishop. He wrote: "I know you won't like that he's being taken away, and I understand".[2] Rather than leave his diocese, Gallantino asked to be allowed to divide his time between his new post and his duties as bishop.[4] The Corriere della Sera described Galantino's appointment as the selection of someone who had not sought the appointment and said it represented a break with recent popes' political approach to the CEI, reflected Francis' emphasis on pastoral activity, and signaled his expectations for the next president of the CEI.[5] On Wednesday, 26 March, 2014, Pope Francis made the appointment permanent (for a full term).[6]

In May 2014 it was reported that Bishop Galantino, secretary-general of the Italian episcopal conference, told the Florence-based La Nazione newspaper that he wanted church leaders to open their minds to different views on these issues. He said: “My wish for the Italian Church is that it is able to listen without any taboo to the arguments in favour of married priests, the Eucharist for the divorced, and homosexuality." Bishops from around the world are due to debate the Church’s teaching on such issues at their Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Family in October 2014, having dispatched questionnaires to every diocese for feedback. Bishop Galantino, 65, said that the Church had invested a lot of its time on issues relating to the sanctity of life, perhaps at the expense of other important issues. He said: “In the past we have concentrated too much on abortion and euthanasia. It mustn’t be this way because in the middle there’s real life which is constantly changing.[7]

In August 2014 Bishop Nunzio Galantino said the Church must make everyone feel at home, including "unconventional couples". "Couples in irregular matrimonial situations are also Christians, but they are sometimes looked upon with prejudice," he said, according to Italian news agency ANSA. “The burden of exclusion from the sacraments is an unjustified price to pay, in addition to de facto discrimination," the prelate maintained. Avvenire reported that he said the Eucharist “is and must remain a ‘universal assembly’”, and that it must also be an “eloquent sign of the divine and his free gift for the ‘uninitiated’.”[8]

In February 2015 Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Galantino as bishop of the Diocese Cassano all'Jonio.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Pontifical Acts - 9 December". Vatican News. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Allen Jr., John L. (3 January 2014). "The top five under-covered Catholic stories of 2013". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  3. ↑ "Nomina del Segretario Generale della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana". Rinunce e Nomine, 30.12.2013. Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  4. ↑ "Vaticano, il nuovo segretario generale della CEI è Monsignor Nunzio Galantino". Cerignola La Viva. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  5. ↑ Melloni, Alberto (2 January 2014). "Nunzio Galantino Segretario Cei meno Politica e più Religiosità". La Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  6. ↑ http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/03/26/0211/00471.html
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ "Rinuncia del Vescovo di Cassano all’Jonio (Italia) e nomina del successore" (in Italian). Vatican Press Office. February 28, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Vincenzo Bertolone		 Bishop of Cassano all'Jonio
9 December 2011 – 28 February 2015 		Succeeded by
Francesco Savino
Preceded by
Mariano Crociata		 Secretary-General of the Italian Episcopal Conference
30 December 2013 – present 		Incumbent