Antonio Lucibello (born 25 February 1942) is an Italian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

who worked in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

from 1971 to 2016. He has held the rank of archbishop and apostolic nuncio since 1995.

Biography

Antonio Lucibello was born on 25 February 1942 in

Spezzano Albanese Spezzano Albanese ( Arbëreshë: ''Spixan'') is a municipality in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. It is located on a 320 m high hill commanding the plain of Sibari and the Esaro river valley. It originated from Albani ...

, Calabria,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He was ordained a priest on 23 July 1967. He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1971. He filled positions in the Apostolic Nunciatures in Panama, Ethiopia, Haiti, Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zaire, Yugoslavia, Greece and Ireland. On 8 September 1995,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him

titular archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Thurio and Apostolic Nuncio to Gambia, Guinea and Liberia, as well as Apostolic Delegate to Sierra Leone. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano on 4 November 1995. On 27 July 1999, John Paul named him Apostolic Nuncio to

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to Türkiye and

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

on 27 August 2005. During his service in these posts, a Catholic priest was murdered in Ankara in February 2006, Pope Benedict visited Türkiye in December 2006, Bishop

Luigi Padovese Luigi Padovese (31 March 1947 – 3 June 2010) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who became a bishop and served as the Apostolic Vicar of Anatolia in Turkey. He was a Franciscan and a scholar who devoted most of his career to teachin ...

of the

Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia The Apostolic Vicariate of Anatolia ( la, Vicariatus Apostolicus Anatoliensis, tr, Anadolu Havarisel Vekilliği) is a Roman Catholic Latin apostolic vicariate in the eastern half of Anatolia (Asian Turkey). The missionary pre-diocesan jurisd ...

was murdered in 2010, and in 2015 Türkiye recalled its ambassador to the Holy See after Pope Francis used the word "genocide" to describe the deaths of Armenians in Ottoman Türkiye. With the appointment of his successor

Paul Fitzpatrick Russell Paul Fitzpatrick Russell (born May 2, 1959) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in May 2022. He was previously the Apostolic Nuncio to Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Azerbai ...

on 19 March 2016, Lucibello ended his active service as nuncio.

Notes

References

;Additional sources * Brief review of his principal assignments with quotes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucibello, Antonio Living people Apostolic Nuncios to the Gambia Apostolic Nuncios to Guinea Apostolic Nuncios to Liberia Apostolic Nuncios to Sierra Leone Apostolic Nuncios to Paraguay Apostolic Nuncios to Turkey Apostolic Nuncios to Turkmenistan People from the Province of Cosenza 1942 births

Biography

See also

Notes

References