Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro (born 16 January 1948) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was appointed secretary of the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...

and given the rank of archbishop on 25 February 2020. He was the Bishop of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, a diocese of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

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 ...

from 2015 to 2020.

Biography

Gallaro was born in

Pozzallo Pozzallo ( scn, Puzzaddu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ragusa, Sicily, southern Italy. Pozzallo is now a major summer tourist destination: as of March 2020, two beaches in Pozzallo hold a Blue Flag award, presented by the FEE ...

, Sicily, on 16 January 1948. He began his studies in preparation for the priesthood in the seminary of

Noto Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...

, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

where he studied at St. John's Seminary and was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1972. He then worked for eight years as a parish priest in two parishes of the Eastern Rite in Los Angeles. He then studied in Rome at the

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

of Rome and at the

Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy ...

, obtaining his doctorate in canonical eastern law and a licenciate in ecumenical theology. He then carried out parish and teaching activities in the Melkite Eparchy of Newton, Massachusetts, including as in-house instructor of canon law to the Melkite seminarians residing at St. Gregory's seminary in Newton Centre, MA. He was also active in the Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford, Connecticut, and in the Ruthenian Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in 2011 he was Vice-President of the Society of Oriental Law. In 2013 he was named a consultor to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. He continued to hold several other positions, including sincello for canonical affairs and judicial vicar in the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, professor of canon law and ecumenical theology at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Pittsburgh, and judge of appeal for the Philadelphia Archeparchy of the Ukrainians. On 31 March 2015 he was named by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

to the bishopric of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi. He was consecrated a bishop on 28 June by the bishop of Lungro

Donato Oliverio Donato Oliverio ( Cosenza, 5 March 1956) is the Bishop of the Eparchy of Lungro, a diocese of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church in Calabria, Italy. He replaced the most rev. Ercole Lupinacci. Episcopal genealogy * Archbishop Nilo Isvoroff * ...

as principal consecrator, and the bishops Dimitrios Salachas and Nicholas James Samra as co-consecrators. On 25 February 2020, Pope Francis appointed him secretary of the

and gave him the personal title of archbishop.

References

External links

Eparchy's Bishop page

Byzantine Catholic Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallaro, Giorgio Demetrio 21st-century Italian Roman Catholic archbishops St. John's Seminary (California) Italian people of Arbëreshë descent 1948 births Living people People from Pozzallo Bishops of Piana degli Albanesi Officials of the Roman Curia