Antonio Sozzo (born 9 May 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, including for twenty years as apostolic nuncio, before he retired in 2015.
Biography
Antonio Sozzo was born on 9 May 1942 in
Paola in
Calabria. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Verona on August 28, 1971. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 12 July 1976. He worked in Panama, Uruguay, Nigeria, Chile, Germany, Morocco, and Spain, and in the nunciature in Brussels from 1991 to 1993.
[
On 5 August 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 Concordia and Apostolic Nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...
to Algeria
)
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, relig ...
and to Tunisia
)
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, map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa
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, capital = Tunis
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, ...
, as well as Apostolic Delegate to Libya.Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...
. In 2010, after several Christians, including one Catholic priest, were forced to leave Morocco on short notice after being charged with undermining the faith of Muslims, Sozzo insisted that the Church adhere to Morocco's law against proselytizing. He resigned on 16 September 2015 at the age of 73 and was awarded the Order of Ouissam Alaouite
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
by King Mohammed VI
Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II.
Upon ascending to the throne, Moh ...
the next day.
See also
* List of heads of the diplomatic missions of the Holy See
The following is a sortable list of the heads of the diplomatic mission of the Holy See. An apostolic nuncio (also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic repres ...
References
External links
Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop Antonio Sozzo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sozzo, Antonio
Living people
1942 births
Apostolic Nuncios to Costa Rica
Apostolic Nuncios to Morocco
Apostolic Nuncios to Algeria
Apostolic Nuncios to Tunisia