Giovanni Battista Marenco SDB, more often known as Giovanni Marenco (27 April 1853 – 22 October 1921) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the Roman Curia, led an Italian diocese briefly, and then joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See.

Biography

Giovanni Marenco was born on 27 April 1853 in

Ovada Ovada (''Uà'' and ''Guà'' in Ligurian, ''Ovà'' in Piedmontese) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 11,484 inhabitants in the Province of Alessandria in the northern Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about south of ...

, Italy. He joined the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in the late 19th century by Italian priest Saint John Bosco to help poor children du ...

in 1873 and was ordained a priest as a member of that order on 18 December 1875. He headed various Salesian houses and in 1890 he was appointed provincial of the Ligurian province. In 1892 he served as the rector major's delegate to the Salesian Sisters. In 1899 he was named procurator general of the order. He was attached to the

Congregation of the Council The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regardin ...

and a consultor to the

Congregation for Religious The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, formerly called Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (CICLSAL; la, Congregatio pro Institutis Vitae Consecratae et Soci ...

when, on 29 April 1909,

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

named him Bishop of Massa Carrara. He received his episcopal consecration on 16 May 1909 from Cardinal Francesco di Paolo Satolli. On 7 January 1917,

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His ...

appointed him titular archbishop of

Edessa in Macedonia Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...

, and on 2 February he was named Apostolic Internuncio to

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, and

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, Marenco returned to Italy because of illness and died in Turin on 22 October 1921 at the age of 68.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marenco, Giovanni Battista 1853 births 1921 deaths People from Ovada Officials of the Roman Curia Salesian bishops Apostolic Nuncios to Costa Rica Apostolic Nuncios to Nicaragua Apostolic Nuncios to Honduras Bishops of Edessa